The Confession of Zacchaeus

Introduction and Review of Scene One

0:01 I would encourage you now to turn in your own Bible to Luke chapter 19, the 19th chapter of the gospel according to Luke. And I shall read the first 10 verses.

0:14 Luke 19 verses 1 through 10. According to the record of Luke, in chapter 18, verse 31 and following, our Lord has set his face to go to Jerusalem fully conscious that there at Jerusalem all that has been written by the prophets will be fulfilled in his suffering and in his death. And while on his way to Jerusalem in order to die to redeem his people, we have this wonderful account of one of those sheep for whom he was to die and who would be saved by the virtues. The virtue of that death and subsequent resurrection. Luke chapter 19. And he entered and was passing through Jericho. And behold, a man named Zacchaeus, and he was a chief publican, and he was rich.

1:14 And he sought to see Jesus who he was, and he could not for the crowd because he was little of stature. And he ran on before and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him. For he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house.

1:42 And he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, that is the Jews who witnessed this entire transaction, they all murmured saying, he has gone into life. He has gone into the lodge with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.

2:08 And if I have wrongfully exacted aught of any man, I restore fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, Today is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save. That.

2:28 Which was lost. Let us once again pause in prayer to ask the special help of God the Holy Spirit, who alone can open the word to our understanding. This is not the prerogative of the preacher to open the eyes of our hearts. This is God's prerogative.

2:47 And let us now all seek him and consciously confess our need of his help as we would seek to understand his word. Let us pray.

2:59 Our Father, we remember the words of Isaiah. The prophet who said to this man will I look, even to him who is of a poor and a contrite spirit and who trembleth at my word. O Lord, we confess with shame that we become so carnally careless in our handling of your holy word. Grant that we may listen as men and women, boys and girls, who must in that day when we stand before you meet the very word that we shall study tonight.

3:33 For again, we remember the words of our Lord Jesus who said, The word that I have spoken unto you shall judge you in the last day. God, give us grace to hear with that attention and sobriety that is fitting for those who must stand in your presence in the great day. Draw near to us. Help him who seeks to preach your word and assist every listener we plead through Jesus Christ our Lord.

4:04 Amen. Now may I ask how many of you are here tonight who were not here for the exposition of the first five verses last night. May I just see your hands for a moment. Good.

4:19 Thank you. Those of you who were here then I trust will bear with me as I take just a few minutes to catch the main threads of thought that we sought to underscore from this passage in the exposition of it last evening. The great theme of this particular passage is given to us in verse 10. For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Scene Two: The Setting and Zacchaeus' Confession

4:46 What does it mean to be sought and saved by Jesus Christ? This passage is a specific answer to that question. How does the Son of Man seek and save lost sinners? This passage is a description that answers that question.

5:06 What does it mean to be lost? What does it mean to be lost? And to be sought and saved by the Savior? Well, what happened to Zacchaeus is a pattern, is an answer to that question.

5:18 And certainly then no matter of concern could be of greater weight and moment than to think together on the great theme of the mighty Savior seeking and saving that which is lost. And we are approaching this passage as a two-act real-life drama. Or two scenes. The first scene occurs on a well-beaten footpath entering Jericho.

5:46 And the second scene occurs just inside the house of a wealthy man named Zacchaeus. Last night we studied scene one, which is bounded by verses one through six. And there were three main divisions in the text that we studied together. We had first of all the introduction of Zacchaeus.

6:08 We are given his name, indicating that he was a Jew. His occupation, a chief publican. His station, he was wealthy. Just quoted from verse two.

6:20 Then we are told something about his stature. He was small. Something about his desire. Out of curiosity he longed to see the Savior.

6:29 And then the most important thing we are told about this man Zacchaeus is his character. And he is described in, two words with reference to his character. He is called a sinner in verse seven. He is described in verse ten as one who is lost.

6:49 And we saw in our study that because his character is that of a sinner, that of a lost man, the passage is no longer an exclusive description of the man Zacchaeus. The moment we contemplate people who fit the category of sinners and lost men and women, we are talking about ourselves. And suddenly in this first scene, we become the Zacchaeus in the passage. We are those who have broken God's holy law, who are estranged from His person, cut off from fellowship and communion with Him, standing in desperate need of the same Son of Man who sought and saved the man Zacchaeus. In the second place, we considered the entrance of Jesus, beginning with verse 5. And we are told something about the action of Jesus. He came and stood in the place where Zacchaeus was perched in the tree.

7:51 And then the command of Jesus involving three things, make haste, come down, and then a personal invitation that He Himself will come and abide at the house of Zacchaeus. Then we have the response of Zacchaeus to the commandment, There was implicit obedience to the word of Christ. He made haste, He came down, and there was this loving reception of the person of Christ. And this response of Zacchaeus is the essence of the response of saving faith.

8:26 Implicit obedience to the word of Christ. Joyful reception of the person of Christ. And whenever the Son of Man seeks and saves sinners, He brings them to that place to which He brought Zacchaeus by His sovereign mercy and grace. So much for that very brief review.

8:46 Now we come tonight to scene 2, beginning with verse 7. Notice first of all the place, and that will take but a moment, and then the entirety of our time will be taken up with the second main division in verse 8, the confession of Zacchaeus. Where does scene 2 occur? Verse 7, And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, He is gone into lodge with a man that is a sinner.

9:17 And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord. Verse 7 indicates that scene 2 takes place in the house or just outside the house of Zacchaeus. For these people who saw the whole thing are coming to the house of Zacchaeus. They are coming to the house of Zacchaeus.

9:37 They are coming to the house of Zacchaeus. They are coming to the house of Zacchaeus. They are commenting on this strange occurrence of the teacher, the healer, the miracle worker, this unusual rabbi taking his place inside the house of a publican. And probably Zacchaeus was putting out a good spread of food for our Lord, and in oriental custom they would recline at their table as they had these sort of semi-couches and the low tables.

10:05 Hence the words in Zacchaeus, and Zacchaeus stood in the midst of the meal probably standing and making this confession. So then scene 2 takes place inside the house of Zacchaeus. And the main thrust in this second scene is this tremendous confession of Zacchaeus as recorded in verse 8. What is involved in that confession?

Confession Element 1: Acknowledgment of Christ's Person as Lord

10:30 And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have wrongfully exacted aught of any man, I restore fourfold. This confession of Zacchaeus contains all of the essential elements of a true and saving confession of Jesus Christ. When the Son of Man seeks and saves a sinner, He will bring the sinners whom He seeks and saves to the same place that He brought Zacchaeus, the place where a confession of this nature will be made from the depths of the heart. Notice in the first place that it is a confession of his present understanding of Christ's person. Who does Zacchaeus understand Jesus of Nazareth to be? When he heard about Him in the beginning of the story and climbed up into the tree to see Him pass that way, there is no indication that he had any true understanding of who Jesus of Nazareth was. But after the Lord Jesus has spoken to him and by His grace revealed Himself to Zacchaeus as we saw last night, Zacchaeus responds in his confession

11:58 with a confession that parallels the revelation of the person of Christ made to his heart by the Word of Christ. Notice how he addresses this. He addresses him, Behold, Lord. Now don't pass over such little words.

12:15 Behold, Lord. And in the use of that word Lord, Zacchaeus is confessing his present understanding of who Jesus Christ really is. Now this word Lord in the Scriptures is used with great latitude. Sometimes the word is simply a polite title of respect.

12:38 It is translated this way in John chapter 4 and verse 11 when the woman at the well addresses Jesus and calls Him, Sir. Sometimes it is just a word of common respect. Other times the word Lord is used to describe the position of a superior over an inferior. The relationship between a master and his slave is that of a Lord, to the servant.

13:10 Jesus uses it this way in Matthew 10, 24 when He says, The servant is not above his Lord. However, there are other times when the word Lord means nothing less than an ascription of essential and full deity. It is a synonym for the word God.

13:36 There are many passages in the New Testament, which are quoted from the Old Testament, in which in the Old Testament the word Jehovah is used. That peculiar covenant name of God, the One who is and ever shall be, the Great I Am. And in the New Testament, the word Jehovah, when it is found in New Testament passages, is translated by the word Lord. And it means nothing less than than full and essential Godhood.

14:12 We read in the Gospels, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. We have such a usage in the well-known passage in John 20 when doubting Thomas, having seen the risen Lord and having beheld the print of the nails in his hands and in his feet and the spear thrust in his side, fell at his feet and said, My Lord and my God, the word Lord being a synonym and parallel term to the word God. We read in Philippians chapter 2 that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Now then, how do we determine its precise meaning in any given passage?

14:58 Well, the context, the surrounding circumstances, the issues at hand will determine the precise meaning. Now notice, if you will please, that Luke, the Gospel writer, says, and Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, that's Luke's word about him, Behold, Lord. In other words, unless there is some clear reason to believe that Luke uses the word in one way and just a word or two later we find Zacchaeus using it another way, it is Luke's usage of the word, which is the index to Zacchaeus' use of the word. And certainly Luke, who wrote this Gospel as one inspired of the Holy Spirit, who was the benefactor of all of the special ministry of Christ through the Holy Spirit, understood Jesus to be nothing less than God in the flesh. And when Luke says that Zacchaeus said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, this is a revelation, a record of a confession of Zacchaeus' understanding of who Jesus Christ was, nothing less than God Himself in human form. And every person who is sought and saved by the Son of God

16:28 will make that glad confession without a shred of reservation. Behold, Lord, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, my Lord and my God. Now you see, men do not make that confession from the heart while they are still in their sins. They may parrot it upon their lips as a concept conveyed by mom and dad, taught in a catechism class, parroted from a confession of faith, but the Scripture says, that in the heart of every unregenerate person there is a blindness to the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We read in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 that the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should dawn upon them. And when the gospel is preached and Jesus is heralded as the Son of God, and the Savior of sinners, though we may give lip service to all of that, there is a blindness over our eyes that we do not perceive the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

17:53 We may, with some measure of sympathy, call him the man of Galilee, we may call him any other title, but we do not from the heart say, Behold, Lord, a confession acknowledging him to be God in Christ. Indeed, according to our Lord, it is only the Holy Spirit who can make that revelation to the heart. You remember in the 16th chapter of Matthew, our Lord is with his disciples. He says, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?

18:24 And they say, Well, you're one of the prophets. You're this or that. But then our Lord says, But who do you say that I am? And the answer of Peter on behalf of the entire group was this, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

18:38 And what was our Lord's response to that confession? He said, Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven. It has not been by means of human persuasion, human argumentation, or mere human testimony that you, Peter, have been able to confess from the heart who I really am. It has been the result of the illuminating work of my heavenly Father.

19:10 And so it is when anyone can say from the heart to Jesus Christ as he is presented in the Scriptures, Behold, Lord! It's because there's been an operation of divine power. Somewhere between his trip up the tree and his trip down from the tree, the eyes of this man Zacchaeus had been opened to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And according to Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 6, it takes nothing less than a mighty creative act of God in sovereign grace to give such an illumination.

19:55 Notice how Paul describes it in 2 Corinthians 4, 6. Seeing it is God that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, a reference to creation. When there was darkness in that original creation, there was no light with which to work, to magnify it, to amplify it. God said, Light, and out of the midst of darkness, light sprang forth by the creative word of God.

20:23 Now Paul says, Seeing it is God that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Paul says, Do you ask me who I confess Jesus Christ to be? Well, before Damascus and that experience on the Damascus road, I would have told you he was an imposter. He could not be Messiah.

20:54 I would tell you he was this or that. But one thing I would not say, that he was God incarnate. But he said, When God illuminated me, when God opened my blinded eyes, I beheld in the face of Jesus Christ, not an imposter, not a religious fake, not some rabble-rouser who was upsetting the structure of the revealed religion of the Jews. I beheld in the face of Jesus Christ the very outshining of the perfection and beauty of the Godhead.

21:30 That's what glory is. It's the outshining of the perfections of deity. And he said, I beheld the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. I beheld the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

21:40 I beheld the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. I beheld the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And no man ever beholds the glory of God and is the same. And when God in His mercy seeks and saves the sinner, he brings him to that place where he comes to confess from the heart, as did Zacchaeus, behold, Lord.

22:03 And he beheld in the Lord Jesus divine power. He beheld in him divine nature. He beheld in him divine grace and mercy. For if he's God, as God, he's the one who knows my sin.

22:20 He's the one who is the appointed judge of the world. And yet I feel at home with him because he's God who has forgiven me. God who has pardoned me. God who has taken away my sin.

Confession Element 2: Submission to Christ's Authority

22:32 But then his confession involves not only an acknowledgment of his present understanding of who Christ is, but secondly, it is a confession of his basic submission to Christ's authority. Not only his acknowledgment of Christ's person, but a confession of his basic submission to Christ's authority. When he said, Behold, Lord, that which follows is an indication, of having accepted the government of his Lord. He is doing, as we shall see in a few moments, what the Scriptures required of him as a thief.

23:18 And he is not only doing the minimum that Scripture required, he is doing the maximum. He has come under a new yoke of authority and government. For to see Jesus Christ as Lord, that is, as God, is also to see that as God, he has the right to govern me.

23:43 To see him as a gracious Redeemer is to see him as an exalted sovereign who has pardoned and forgiven me that he might establish his gracious government over me. Let me illustrate. Suppose we lived back in the days when they had real live kings. The things we have to read about in books, now, and perhaps see in movies, but we've never been in a place where there was a real monarchy.

24:14 Try to imagine that you're living back in the day when they had real kings. I mean with real palaces and real queens and real princes and princesses and the whole shoot and match, all right? Try to imagine now you're living back in those days. And you happen to be visiting as someone who comes from America, a democratic republic, not a monarchy, but a representative form of government.

24:39 And you're visiting with a friend who lives in a certain kingdom. And one day a stranger comes to the door dressed very ordinarily. In fact, he looks somewhat like a peasant. And your friend welcomes this stranger in.

24:54 You find out his name. Introductions are made and you're sharing and talking. And then this stranger says, will you excuse me for a moment? And he slips off into a side room.

25:05 Twenty minutes later, he comes out with, all the regal garb of a king. And then there's another knock at the door. And there is an entourage of all of his royal court.

25:19 What's happened? A discovery of who that person really is, is now made. And the moment it's made, you know what your friend will say? It's the king.

25:31 And when he says it, you know where he'll be?

25:34 On his knees before his sovereign. You may be able to say, oh, it's a king. And still be standing on your feet. Because you owe no allegiance to that king.

25:45 You are not one of his proper subjects. So you can make the confession about his person without any acknowledgement of the rights of his government over you. But your friend can't. Because your friend is a citizen of his kingdom.

26:00 And your friend, if she says or he says, it's the king, can only make that confession from one posture. Absolute. Absolute submission to his authority. Now look at Zacchaeus' words.

26:18 When he says, behold, Lord, is he standing off simply saying as a statement of theological conviction, Jesus is God? Oh, no. He is saying it from a posture of spiritual subjection to the gracious rule and authority of him who is God. And whenever the son of man seeks, and saves a sinner, he not only brings the sinner to a right understanding of who he is in his person, he is the son of the living God, the gracious savior of sinners.

26:56 He always brings the sinner to the place of basic submission to his authority. And if you have never been brought to bow from the heart to the kingship and authority of Jesus Christ, the Lord, you are not a Christian. We read in Romans 10 verses 9 and 10. If thou shall confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in thine heart that God is raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Now, what is that confession with the mouth? Simply saying, Oh, Jesus is Lord. Oh, no, my friend.

27:47 Listen, God everywhere condemns any kind of confession that is merely an exercise of the lips and not an expression of the heart. This people draw nigh to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. What is that saving confession? Jesus Christ is Lord.

28:06 It's the confession of a Zacchaeus. Behold, Lord, I have embraced your gracious government over me. I capitulate. I stack arms.

28:20 I vacate the throne. I've been on the throne. I've been giving the orders. And if my orders violate your laws, I don't care.

28:30 I've been a thief. I've stolen. Why? Because I've been on the throne and my laws are not written like your laws.

28:37 Your laws are thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not covet. But my laws are thou shall gain riches any way you can. Behold, Lord, it's all different now.

28:49 There's a new king upon the throne. And this idea that Jesus Christ saves sinners simply by blotting out their sins and taking away the threat of hell while leaving them in a state of rebellion and insubordination is one of the most damning lies that's ever been fostered upon the professing church. This talk that I can have Jesus as Savior, not as Lord, it's a lie from the pit of hell. No man comes under the cleansing power of the blood of Christ, but what he's brought under the governing power of the throne of Christ. So the confession of Zacchaeus is a confession of his understanding of Christ's person. He is Lord. It is a confession of his basic submission to Christ's authority.

Confession Element 3: Radical Transformation by Christ's Power

29:59 Then thirdly, notice, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have taken anything wrongfully, I restore it fourfold. What is this? This is a confession of his radical transformation by Christ's power.

30:20 He's saying, look on me, Lord. Behold, Lord, look on me. You know what I am? I'm a monument of what you do when you seek and save a sinner.

30:27 Behold, Lord, the half of my goods. And I imagine, he stood and looked around at that beautiful home, all the fruits of his ill-gotten wealth. He says, the half of my goods, my money, my clothes, my possessions, the half of my goods I give to whom? The poor, the very people that I fleeced with my tight-fisted dishonesty and squeezed more tax money than was due, the very people who have bought this furniture, the very people who have bought this furniture, the very people who have bought this furniture, in this home with the money that they worked for and was theirs and that I stole by my unjust demands as a tax collector.

31:11 Lord, you've transformed this tax collector. The half of my goods I give to the poor. If I've taken anything wrongfully, I restore fourfold. Now, let's examine this confession of the transforming power of Christ in more detail.

31:28 Literally, what he is saying is this, behold, I am giving. It's a present tense, not I shall give, but what he's saying to Jesus is, Lord, right now, though I haven't been able to carry it out, in fact, in principle, Lord, I've already given over half my goods to the poor. Lord, you've so changed my heart and the gift of forgiveness has so pervaded my spirit that I desire to show my thanks for such a gift by doing something nowhere, not only required in scripture, but which love and gratitude now dictate. Also, Zacchaeus may have been saying, Lord, in the most crucial area of my rebellion against you, I want you to see that you have rung up the flag of conquering grace. Lord, look upon me as a publican. What was my crowning sin? Fleecing the poor to accumulate things.

32:30 My God, was my money and my thing. Lord, look upon me at the point where my sin was most manifest. Your grace is most gloriously displayed. He didn't say, behold, Lord, I'm going to go up to the temple 20 times on the Sabbath.

32:49 Behold, Lord, I'm doing no, no. His confession of transformation touched the very point where his sin was most evident. Oh, what a word this contains. For us tonight, an almost indispensable mark of new life in Christ is found right here.

33:12 Whatever is in you the clearest work of sin's dominion, that area shall become the clearest evidence of the grace of God having invaded your life. When the proud man becomes humble, the son of man has sought and saved him. When the proud man becomes humble, the son of man has sought and saved him. When the greedy grasping man becomes generous and benevolent, the grace of God has come.

33:46 When the lustful, lecherous man becomes pure and virtuous, the grace of God has come. When the timid man becomes bold in Christ, when the harsh husband and father becomes a gentle husband, and a tender father, when the grumbling, complaining wife becomes a sweet and grateful child of God. My friend, grace will manifest its power at the point where sin most evidently has taken up its dominion. Let's look at another example of this, so you'll know I'm not simply picking this out of the hat and stretching more from the passage than is there. so you'll know I'm not simply picking this out of the hat and stretching more from the passage than is there. Don't respect any man who claims to preach the word of God and simply gives you his own imaginations. And at any point that I do that, then don't respect nor listen to me at that point.

34:50 But look at Luke chapter 3 for an example of this principle. In Luke chapter 3, we have the record of the ministry of John the Baptist. And the thrust of his ministry is repentance. Repent, behold the Lamb.

35:10 Repent, behold the Lamb. And as he is preaching, some people ask a question. He's told them to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. And he says don't take anything else for a substitute.

35:25 Now verse 10 says, and the multitude asked him saying, what then must we do? Now the question is not what must he do to be saved. You must repent and behold the Lamb of God. But their question is what must we do to show the genuineness of our repentance in faith.

35:41 You've told us to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. fruits consistent with our professed repentance what must we do to bring forth such fruits now notice john's answer he did not have a general answer for every class of people he answered and said unto them he that hath two coats let him impart to him that hath none he that hath food let him do likewise and there came publicans to be baptized and they said unto him teacher what must we do that is what must we do to prove the genuineness of our repentance and he said unto them extort no more than that which is appointed you what was that their crowning sin and he says you show a change in your most evident sin and soldiers asked him saying and what must we do he didn't say depart with your coat if you have to extort no more no no he touched the most prevalent sins of soldiers then and now extort from not not a man by violence don't use your military position as a platform of personal bullying of people neither accuse anyone wrongfully and be content with your wages he knew that payday soldiers gathered around and grumbled about what a bad deal they got he says don't crumble about

37:04 your wages now why did john use all of these different things this is the principle do you see it where the public is where most notorious for extortion he says if you've repented extort no more soldiers were grumblers soldiers had a tendency to be bullies he says show a change at the point of your sin and again great harm has come from this stupid idea of setting up an artificial list that if a man is saved he won't do this he won't do that he won't do this he won't do the other he'll do this do that do the other my friend listen the evidence that the son of man has sought and saved you is that he will not do this he won't do that he won't do this he won't do the other he'll do this do that he has touched your darling sin your darling sin may never have been drunkenness may never have been addiction to tobacco in one form or another destroying the temple of the holy ghost it may not have been addiction to immoral relationships with men or women maybe your crowning sin has been a long wagging biting acidy tongue that has sliced and cut and poisoned if the son of man has touched you he's going to shrink that tongue and he's going to sweeten that tongue and if your life

38:25 history has been a long acidy sharp biting tongue i don't care if you profess to be a christian and can quote 1300 bible verses the holy ghost has enshrunk your tongue and baptized it with sweetness you have no grounds to claim you're a christian maybe your crowning sin was pride you can trace your family lineage way back for generations and you're proud of your pure upright cultured educated blood that flows into your veins the evidence that you've really been sought and saved by the son of man as you'll say lord that lovely pure stock that flowed into me was as polluted with the sin of the adamant race as those who were born in illegitimacy my friend you are as depraved as that baby that's born of a harlot who doesn't even know who the father is you are no potentially the legitimate

39:43 child of a harlot whore them oh the pride i see in some of these small towns where we've had such a heritage of family structures and a good lineage and we can trace it back we really think we're something when god shows you what you are my friend you'll go down on your face as did isaiah who had good cultured jewish blood in his veins he had the influence of the court of the king upon him he was a poet in his own right an eloquent preacher but when he saw the living god he fell upon him and he was a poet in his own right an eloquent preacher but when he saw the living god he fell upon him his face and said woe is me i'm undone i'm unclean when have you taken your place unclean unclean zacchaeus says behold lord at the point where my sin was most evident your grace is now most wonderfully displayed let me speak to you children i'm so glad you're here tonight so i can see some here some over there a little bit here there if there's some tucked away

41:07 elsewhere i'm not ignoring you i just can't see you but i'm glad you're here and when you're here i'm going to preach to you because that's not fair to come and not have something for you see all right so i promise i have something for you every time but you know i had a i had a daddy and a mama they didn't care how many times i professed to be a christian they didn't care how i wept and cried at an altar or in a choir room that didn't make a bit of difference to them until they saw me an obedient son willing to confess my wrongs to my brothers and sisters and i had plenty of them i'm one of 10 kids until they saw me in the home manifesting a spirit of forgiveness in the place of bitterness obedience in the place of stubbornness they went right on praying for me as though i was lost as the devil now out in the church they thought otherwise elect me to be present to the young people and i was lost as the devil but after i had been baptized i have gathered theEuphophlists i kindled the bibles in people and i went out in time two minutes and all i learned i found is that there is in every one that not least a waste i neither have nor i this puberty nor this

42:34 grace but as so that and i need it because i need it i need it to go in the right direction doing, but that you've saved me. Behold, Lord, where once I was a proud person, glorying in my flesh, as Paul says in Philippians 3, the things that were gained to me, I now count them as done, a part that I might win Christ. Lord, only you could have broken my proud heart. I was brought up and being made to feel I was something better because I had such and such blood in my veins. Lord, look at me. I know I'm just a hell-deserving sinner.

43:13 Behold, Lord, I was once full of avarice and greed. Lord, you've made me generous, and I delight to share. Lord, look at me. I was once a bundle of burning passion and lust.

43:26 But, O Lord, you've put the reins on me, and I'm seeking to walk in strict conformity to the seventh commandment. Can you make such a confession? Thank God I can make it by his grace. And I couldn't help but think of it as you were over there playing some basketball over at the college today, and what a wonderful thing it was to be free from a basketball and a football, when once those things had me in their grip. And I wouldn't weep over my sins, but I'd weep if we lost a game. I wouldn't stay awake night and lose sleep over spiritual issues, but I would, reliving some moment of my life. In a football game, thank God I could say today, behold, Lord, it's all different. You've sought me, and you've saved me. That's what's behind his words. I am giving. But now what

The Principle of Transformation at the Point of Sin

44:24 about these words, if I have taken, I am restoring fourfold? Well, that's not the if of possibility.

44:35 What he's saying is, I have taken. Wherein I have taken, I'm going to restore fourfold. Now, the law didn't require that. Now, I don't have time to turn to the passages, but at your leisure, look up Leviticus 6.5 and Numbers 5.6, in which God required, in common theft, that you repay the principal plus one-fifth interest on the principal. But in certain cases of open thievery, such as someone's animal, someone's cow or his bullock, in Exodus 22.1, God says, restore it four or fivefold.

45:11 So you know what Zacchaeus did? He said the worst about his sin. He didn't say, how far can I go and just skim under the wire? He said, I'll restore it fourfold. Lord, I'll say the worst about myself. And then anything that's lesser will be true and will be included. Now, can you live this out a little bit? When he said, if I've taken anything wrongfully, I'll restore it fourfold. Can you imagine how much time this took him, what this meant? He had to get all his past ledgers and sit down and say... All right, there's A.B. Finkelstein down there on such and such a street. And for the

45:57 last ten years, every time I was supposed to exact $100 taxes, I've exacted $150. That means 10 times 50. And he takes out his little pocket calculator and picks it up. He says, now four times that, that's a lot of money, but I'm going to do it. And then he goes down through and then imagine what would happen when he'd start to go visit. And the little kids would see this man, Zacchaeus, coming in. And he'd say, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. And the little kids would say, oh, I've got to go and do it. I've got to do it. I've got to do it. I've got to do it.

46:24 And he'd say, well, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. And I'd say, well, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. And then, they'd probably run into mom and daddy and say, oh, that terrible publican's coming, mom and daddy. Can't we just go out for a quick walk out the back door or something? And lo and behold, there's a knock on the door. The mother and the father say, well, let's just plead with him that he be a little less demanding this time. And so with hesitancy and reticence, they open the door. And the moment they do, Zacchaeus says, now look, I'm the old publican, but I'm the new man. I haven't come to collect a thing from you. Sit down. I have something to share with you.

46:58 Then he tells what happens, how the Son of God found him up a tree. And how the Son of God revealed who he was and what Zacchaeus was. And how the Son of God had sought and saved him. And then he pulls this check out of his pocket.

47:12 And he says, this is for you. And they stand there speechless. They don't know what to say. And before they can even collect their thoughts, he's out the door.

47:19 And he's three houses down. And he's going through the same process. It may have taken him days and weeks and months. And he had to humble himself.

47:27 And he had to tell the sordid story of his dishonesty. But he said, Lord, I'm purposed to do this. Not to earn your salvation. But because you have graciously sought me and saved me.

47:42 I have a totally new estimation of sin. And I'm willing to do it. And I'm willing to deal with my sin at any cost. And that's the mark of a true Christian.

47:53 He has a totally new estimation of sin. And he's willing to deal with sin at any cost. Jesus said, the sin that becomes as dear as the right hand and the right eye must be cut off and plucked out.

48:07 And if your mentality is, how much can I do and still be called a Christian? You've never seen your sin. You don't want to play. You don't want to play with that which put the Son of God to death.

48:22 You don't want to have any dalliance or secret peace treaties with that which opened up the wounds of the Son of God upon the cross. You don't want to be found courting and flirting with that which will land the souls of men in hell. The inevitable mark of a saving confession is found in the words. Zacchaeus, behold, Lord, your transforming work in my life.

Application: Can You Make Zacchaeus' Confession?

48:58 Now, what of you who sit here tonight?

49:04 Can you make the confession Zacchaeus made?

49:09 Seen to centers in that house where a man makes a confession. That confession involves three things. An acknowledgment of his present understanding of Christ's person. He is Lord.

49:22 He is a gracious, sovereign, forgiving Lord. It is a confession. It is a confession. It is a confession.

49:26 It is a confession of his present subjection to this Lord. It is a confession of the transforming power of this Lord in his life. Can you make that confession from the heart and in truth?

49:42 Could you make that confession convinced that Almighty God could say amen to it?

49:49 My friend, if he won't say amen to it now, he won't in the day of judgment. Many are going to make a very glowing confession in that day. Read about it in Matthew. Matthew 7.

50:00 Lord, Lord. Pretty good confession, just like Zacchaeus's, right? Behold, Lord. And they even make it twice.

50:07 In case you didn't get the message the first time, Lord. That is, Lord, we preach in your name.

50:17 Cast out demons in your name. Did many mighty works in your name.

50:23 Oh, great confession. We're a real bunch of religious folks, Lord. We call you Lord. We loved your church.

50:31 We loved your work. We hated the devil. We cast him out.

50:37 Now, you look in your Bible. This is not my word, but his word. Then will he say unto them, Depart from me, I never knew you. Ye that work iniquity.

50:50 The Son of God would not say amen to their confession because it was a sham. And all their religious talk and activity was a cover-up for a heart that had never been broken for sin. Never had experienced the government of Christ. Never had turned from the love and practice of sin.

51:13 Ye that work iniquity. Your religious talk and language and work is simply a thin veneer over the putrefying sore of a sin-loving heart that's never been changed by my grace.

51:28 And Jesus said many are going to say it. Where are they going to come from? Only where the gospel's been preached. How can people preach in his name who've never heard his name?

51:37 The many of Matthew 7 are not going to be, they're not going to be gathered from the heathen. They're going to be gathered from places like Cleveland, Mississippi, where the gospel's been preached for hundreds of years. Where there are churches, ministers, and Bibles.

51:58 Oh, I plead with you, dear people, tonight.

52:02 As one who doesn't know if I shall stand again to plead with men and women, can you make the confession of Zacchaeus or can you not, knowing God would say amen to it? Can you say, behold, Lord, sitting in this auditorium tonight, I am not the person I was.

52:23 I'm not all I want to be. I'm not all I'm going to be. But, Lord, I'm not now what I once was. That's a Christian.

The True Meaning of Salvation

52:32 If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost. What's it mean to save them? Just stick a ticket to heaven in their pockets?

52:44 Spray a little asbestos on them to fireproof? And let them go on loving their sin, loving their pride? No, no. To save means to deliver with a radical deliverance.

52:59 And oh, how the word save has been prostituted and bled of its biblical vigor.

53:06 The Son of Man has saved you. You can make Zacchaeus' confession. And this is the joy of being a preacher of the gospel. If you can't, if you'd have to say tonight, behold, Lord, I'm a bundle of sham and fakery.

53:25 I'm a bundle of words and notions. But I'm devoid of reality in my heart.

53:33 Listen, my friend. The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.

The Call to Respond to Christ

53:40 And the Son of Man comes in His Word. And He ministers by His Word and Spirit. And you're not in a tree tonight. You're there in that pew.

53:51 But the Son of Man comes to you. He comes to you in the gospel and says, believe on me. Repent of your sins. Come unto me.

54:02 Him that comes I will in no wise cast out. But you see, the coming is not an activity of your feet. It's not an activity of your hand. If thou shalt believe with thy heart.

54:15 Some people take me to task because I won't ask people to come down the front of a church. My friend, that's cruel. Jesus is not down here. He's nearer than that.

54:23 The scripture says, the word of faith which we preach is nigh thee in thy mouth and in thy heart. Where is the Lord Jesus? He is there in the gospel. You can embrace Him sitting right where you are.

54:40 While Peter preached, the Holy Ghost fell. Oh, that He would fall where you sit tonight. Revealing your sin to Him. Revealing Christ.

54:52 Revealing His glory. And that your heart would run out to Him and say, My Lord and my God.

55:04 Amen.