Jesus Pursues Lost Sinners

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  Jesus Pursues Lost Sinners

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  Well, good morning church. So good to see us in the single service Sundays in the summer time with the series about the Savior. I'll try to get another s word in there, but it is a glorious thing to have us all gathered together to sing songs that are worthy of the King to be in the presence of one another with sweet fellowship. And Ronald mentioned that, you know, we'll have an extra hour and a half but I said, it depends on the preacher man. Uh, the preacher man might take up all that time. You may not have an hour and a half. You might have an extra hour because of the..Okay, I'll stop. I'll see some people, like. Hold on, brother, you better not go over 40 minutes. Uh, one minute over 40 and I'm snoozing on you. But all that being said, this is such a wonderful privilege for us to worship Jesus Christ as king. And, uh, this Sunday, it really marks the first of the series that we're going to have as the elders will be preaching really through the Gospels. You know, we called it, Enjoying Jesus a Summer series in the Life of Christ. And we just believe that it's good, necessary and fitting to exalt Jesus Christ always. H.B. Charles Junior tells a story of a church that had a sign out front, and on that sign it read, we Preach Christ Crucified. And then over time, ivy grew up over the sign. And then it just said, we preach Christ. And as time went on, the ivy grew up a little bit more. And then it just got to the place to where it said, we preach. And that's kind of, sadly, a commentary on some pulpits today. They start out preaching Christ crucified. It's all about the blood of Christ and the gospel. And then over time, they say, well, we'll just preach a little bit about Christ. And then over a series of sermons and they start to catering to man and his felt needs, they just say, we preach these man centered ideas. But you can rest assured that never in this pulpit at HBC will we just preach. We're going to preach Christ and Him crucified, because that is what brings us to salvation, and that is what sustains us in this glorious faith that we have in him. But I would invite you to turn into your scriptures to Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19, and we're going to look at verses one through ten this morning. Luke 19:1-10. And as you're turning there, I just want you to think about this question. What kind of person does Jesus Christ pursue when he's looking to save a soul? What kind of person is he looking for? what's the type? You know, I mean, you think about that. And then another question, what kind of person do you pursue when you're seeking lost souls? Because sometimes we can say, well, the person has to be, you know, sort of ready to receive the gospel. Maybe sometimes we say, oh, they got to look a certain way. Or if they had that kind of background, I'm not sure if they're going to receive what I got to say about Jesus Christ. But Jesus Christ, as we're going to see in this text, is the glorious One who goes and he seeks after that which is lost. And it doesn't matter how far they're gone in life. They're not too far from heaven's grasp because Jesus Christ will pursue the souls that he wants saved. But as we look at this text, we see that many people are familiar with it. You probably sang a song growing up, Zacchaeus, because he was a wee little man....A wee little man was he...Climbed up in a sycamore tree...The Lord he wanted to see. Keep going with it. Y'all had, like, tambourines and everything back in the day. But you see, this was a real life story about Zacchaeus. And honestly, Zacchaeus isn't the main actor in this scene. It's Jesus Christ because he is the one that's seeking to win the soul. Because Luke even mentioned that Jesus Christ is a light of revelation to the Gentiles. He's the glory of God for his people, Israel. And he is the one who's preaching the kingdom and forgiving sins and setting the captives free. And that's what we're going to see in this text today. But I'm going to read it right now so that we can set this text in our understanding and ask God to help us. Uh, but it reads as follows. 
He entered Jericho and was passing through, and there was a man called by the name of Zacchaeus, and he was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And Zacchaeus was trying to see who Jesus was and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature, and so he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see him, for he was about to pass through that way. And when Jesus came to the place He looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house. And he hurried and came down, and received him gladly. And when they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, he has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stopped and he said to the Lord, behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much. And Jesus said to him, today, salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. 
Bow with me in a word of prayer. Gracious Father, we are humbled that we have this opportunity and privilege to read your word and to have it proclaimed, even as we just prayed for some of our folks abroad who don't have that privilege. We thank you for allowing us to be here this very hour looking at this text, and I ask that you would allow me to boldly proclaim the excellencies of Christ, and that you would open our eyes, that we might see wondrous things from your truth. Seek to save sinners in this hour, and sanctify those who are saved. And we ask this all in Christ's name. And all God's people said, Amen. Amen. 
Well, Luke is the is the writer of both the gospel here and as well as the book of Acts. And his whole purpose in writing this gospel is to help us to see that Jesus as the Son of Man, who, although he was being rejected by Israel, would preach to Gentiles so that they would know about the kingdom of heaven and have an opportunity for their souls to be saved. Even though Luke, as he starts out with his gospel, he really gives us intel between chapters 9 and 19 of really about what Jesus was doing on his road to Jerusalem. He was determined to go to Jerusalem, and he went out to preach the good news. He even sent his disciples out to do the same. In chapter 11, he pronounces woes upon the Pharisees because they were self-righteous. He even goes in chapter 14 and he preaches so that the poor and the crippled and the blind and the lame would be invited to the great dinner with the master, showing how far his reach was to those who are lost. And then even in chapter 15, we know that the prodigal son starts with the lost sheep and the lost coin, and then it gets to the prodigal and it communicates God's profound love towards the fallen sinner, the wretched one. That's God's heartbeat. And even just before this one, we know that the rich young ruler is the one who loved his money so much that he rejected Jesus because he wanted his wealth instead of the Lord. 
Well, the story of Zacchaeus is the climax of this Gospel of Luke, because it vividly reveals the heart of the mission of Christ and the grand purposes of God. And that's saving lost sinners. And that's what we're going to see today. The title of the message is Jesus Pursues Lost Sinners, and we're going to see how Jesus is relentless when he's seeking after souls. And as we do so, we hope that you would celebrate that as well as cooperate with that grand mission of God as people around you as well, that need their souls to be won to the King.

  And we're going to look at this with three movements of the narrative this morning. And in each one, it's going to show us how Jesus is the great pursuer of lost souls. But look at the first movement there in verses one through five, we'll see the reach of the Savior. We're going to see the reach. In your bulletin it might say verses one through six, but it's all right. It's one through five. Uh, don't get alarmed, but we're going to see the extent to which Jesus Christ will go to pursue a soul. And first, in verse one, it says that he entered Jericho and he was passing through. Now Jericho was a very popular destination. It was a major trade route, so a lot of people would come there and there was a lot of business that would take place. And so definitely there were a lot of taxes. It would be like the modern day Las Vegas. People vacationed there. There was a lot of business that took place there. There was a lot of commercialism...that was Jericho. But really, when it says that Jesus was passing through, this is Luke's way of letting us know that really on a map, Jesus didn't have to pass through Jericho to get to Jerusalem. But in this Jesus was passing through Jericho not because it was geographical, but because it was missional. He knew that he had to meet somebody whose soul needed to be saved. And brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ is still passing through cities today. He's passing through Hickory. He's still going through places where souls need to be saved. But it says there in verse two that there was a man there, and his name was called Zacchaeus. Interesting enough, Zacchaeus, it means innocent, pure, the righteous one. You know, in this day, you know, when they gave names, they gave names with purpose. We give names because they're cute, you know. Think about the names that were given to you and even those who are called nowadays. It's just, you know, what's popular, what's common. And then some parents get unique. But we ain't going to talk about you. We'll talk about you later. But back in this day, they would give a name because it meant something. They knew that they were hoping that that would be part of their child's life in the future. And I'm sure the parents, when they named Zacchaeus this name, innocent, pure, they were saying that this would be someone who would follow the law of God perfectly. I'm sure when they when they had him as a little boy, they were like, oh, little Zachy. When he grows up, he might even be a religious teacher one day. They had high hopes for little Zachy that he might grow up and be one who would love the law, but instead the text tells us that Zacchaeus didn't live up to his name. Because, you see, he was a chief tax collector. He's a chief tax collector. But the thing that's amazing about Jesus and his reach for sinners is that Jesus overcomes this man's status. You see, a tax collector was one of the most hated people in Israel. They were hated because they really worked for the Romans and they were involved in extortion and embezzlement. So what they would do is they would take taxes from the Jews, and they would add an additional fee to it. They would pay the Romans and they would pocket the rest. And they did this over and over and over again. There were stories of situations where if there was a widow, they would take her property. Sadly, because they wanted to pocket funds. They were supposed to charge taxes, but they would go over what was necessary. And being a chief tax collector, he probably rose to a higher ranking because he was more crooked than all the other collectors. According to the Mishnah, this is a Jewish oral tradition, it said of a tax collector entered a house all that was in it became immediately unclean. That's how much the disdain was and the hatred and hostility was for tax collectors. And it said that the very presence of a tax collector in the temple meant that the house of God was viewed as an act of defilement now. They had to be away. They were on the outskirts of society. And you saw a tax collector coming your way you went on the opposite side of the road. That was how it was. 
But Jesus and his association with him was more important because Jesus identifies with the poor, the lowly, the outcast, all of those folks that you would not think about being a candidate for salvation. Jesus was in their midst because he's the glorious Savior and he's the pursuer of souls. And if he is, we should be as well. You think about that? Is that true of your evangelism? Would someone like Zacchaeus be on your radar? If someone came in the room today and had a tattoo that was like, I hate people. That would be intimidating. But would you stay away from him? Or would you draw close to them because they need this glorious salvation that we have in Jesus Christ. You see, that's the one who pursues souls. Jesus overcame this man's status because his soul was more important. Not only that, but Jesus overcomes this man's stuff. It says that he was rich. He was rich. We see in the Bible that wealth, or the lack thereof, was often used as an indicator as to where a person was spiritually. Zacchaeus was rich, and even in Luke 18:24-25 it said, and when Jesus had looked at him, the rich man, and he said, how hard is it for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God? He said it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. He said it's difficult because people hang on to their wealth. Their wealth becomes their dependence. It becomes their status, and it becomes their God. It's hard to to take a man from his wealth. Zacchaeus was rich, and this is not the type of person that you would expect to be seeking after Jesus. But you know, I used to even personally struggle sharing the gospel to people who had money. I can remember there was a wealthy neighborhood. We had several that we would go out every Saturday in a previous ministry. And there was one that that was a wealthy neighborhood, and it was several that were middle class. And I was like, I want to go to the middle class. Because I didn't want to go in the rich neighborhood because I felt like I'd go and I'm like, I'm trying to share Christ. And they're caught up in their stuff. But praise God that Jesus doesn't think that way. He doesn't let a person's stuff keep him from sharing the good news of the gospel. And if Jesus has that same mindset, brothers and sisters, we need to do this the very same thing. Don't let a person's stuff keep you from from sharing the gospel with them. And not only that, we see the stature of the man. Look in verse three. It says Jesus was trying. He was trying to see who Jesus was. And was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but he was small. Zacchaeus must have been a good tax collector, especially being that short in charge of so many people. I'm just imagining what that would have been like. But at the end of the day, Luke wants us to know that he was seeking after Jesus and he was a small man, but that didn't stop him. Clearly Zacchaeus had heard about Jesus and he perhaps heard about Jesus's teaching. He heard about his healing and the fact that that he was truly the perfect one that was coming in the town. And Zacchaeus said, I have to see him. And so what does he do? In verse four it said he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see him, for he was about to pass through that way. You see, Zacchaeus did two things that were out of the ordinary. It was out of the ordinary. He ran and he climbed. You see these two things that in the ancient Near East, it just didn't happen. It was highly uncommon for a grown man to run. You see, we got Nike's and Adidas, Brooks and all that. Saucony's different, you know, some of y'all runners out there, Hokas and all that good stuff. But see, they had sandals back in the day and they had a tunic. I mean, a grown man would have had to gather everything and his sandals and I mean, they would have just he would have looked like an idiot. He just didn't do it. Grown men didn't run. They just didn't do it. I'm in my 40s. I'm starting to realize the truth of that statement. Grown men don't run. Unless you're Mike Bell in the 50s. And you can do it all day long. And Steve Reece and don't get tired. I'm just saying. I'm just saying. But, Zacchaeus ran because he was that interested in seeing Jesus Christ. And not only did he run, he said he climbed up in a sycamore tree. Another thing grown men don't climb in trees. I'm just saying, I'm in my 40s. I can attest to that as well. You don't see that in the ancient Near East. You would have seen kids. And even though the sycamore tree would have been a tree that had a short stalk and low branches, so it had been low to the ground. Zacchaeus could have made it on his tippy toes, maybe, but at the end of the day, this is totally out of character for a grown man to run and to climb up in the tree. And you know why he did this? Because the text said he wanted to see who Jesus was. I think Luke is trying to help us to understand he didn't want to see what Jesus did. He wanted to see who Jesus was. He was seeking after Jesus. He said it twice. He wanted to see him. You see, this is out of character because God was drawing him. And that's the truth that we see in the New Testament, in the Gospels. Jesus said, unless the Father draws you, you cannot come to me. But then he goes forward and to say, but all those who the Father draws will come to me, and I will not lose one. That's a strong power of God. When he moves upon a heart, you start doing things that are out of the ordinary. Some of you, you might be here today thinking like, man, this is out of character for me to be in the church. But someone invited me. Now all of a sudden, I'm reading the Bible and all of a sudden this is making sense. All of a sudden, I'm dressing differently. All of a sudden, music ain't sounding the same. All of those things take place when Jesus is pursuing a soul. It's a wonderful thing. Yeah, but you think about it today, if you're here and you don't have a relationship with Christ, but you're seeking him, what are your motivations? Are you seeking him for your own selfish reasons? Is it because you're on hard times? Well, let me just go to church. It'll make it right. Did you lose your job?...then go to Jesus. Or is it because everybody else is going to Jesus? Check the motives today. But there are some of you out here. You're seeking Jesus because you need to know Jesus. You're seeking him because you want to know him. You're starting to come to church and do these things because you want to know him. I had lunch with a brother earlier this week, this past week, and and we were there at the restaurant and I just kind of talked to the waitress and just asked, hey, we're about to pray. Is there a way I can pray for you? And she started to well up in tears. She said, you know what, I it's interesting that you asked that because I think God is pursuing me right now. She had tears in her eyes and she apologized. She said, I'm sorry, I normally am not like this when I'm serving tables. But she said, you know, I'm starting to to read my Bible and it's starting to make sense. And I want to go to a Bible study and I'm going to church now. And she said, this is all new. Brothers and sisters, I'm here to let you know that Jesus is a pursuer of lost souls. Amen. It's amazing. It was it was great for me and that brother to pray. We're like, don't worry about crying. We're crying too, because we were amazed at what Jesus Christ does in souls. I think about it and what he's done to my soul. I knew where I was, I knew the clothes I was wearing, the music I was listening to, the cologne I was wearing. I don't wear it today. Praise God. But all those things I can recall where I was the moment that Jesus was pursuing my soul. It was an amazing thing because I was far off the path of righteousness. But praise his holy name that I wasn't out of the reach of the Savior. Amen. And that's Jesus Christ. We have a glorious Savior who will pursue lost souls, and that's what makes him so great. But Jesus Christ looks up to Zacchaeus. And he came to the place and it said, THE place...it is so amazing that Luke gives us the definite article. It wasn't like this was happenstance or coincidence. Jesus Christ was in the exact place at the exact time, because he needed to meet a sinner who needed to be saved. And he looked up to him and he said, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down. Now, I don't know how long it took Zacchaeus to get up that tree, but I can guarantee you he came down much faster than he went up. When the Lord of glory, Jesus Christ, came to him and knew him by name. Here it is. Zacchaeus is in the tree, probably with some little kids, you know, trying to look and see who Jesus is. And he looks up and he calls him by name. It's amazing. Zacchaeus may have been doing all of these other things to seek after Jesus Christ, but make no mistake, Jesus Christ was seeking him even more. Jesus Christ was the one who was pursuing. And the reason that we know that is he said, I must stay at your house. Luke writes that Jesus said, I must stay. It conveys a strong sense of urgency. Luke uses this two thirds of the time that this word must is found in the Synoptic Gospels, and it stresses the sovereign purposes of God in a relation to Jesus's mission to save souls. He said, I must. This is the strongest urgency that he could have. It's similar to Luke 4:43 when he said, I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this very purpose. Jesus knew he had to go to the outskirts of Israel to proclaim the good news of other people. And he said, I must stay at your house, Zacchaeus. Something to note here that Jesus, when he's telling him here, you know, it doesn't matter the conditions of your house when Jesus comes. It don't matter what's going on. Jesus can come to your house and turn things upside down. You could be stuck on drugs, stuck on lust, stressed and depressed. You can't even see how you can be blessed. You can't be in any position to where you're too far off, to, where Jesus can't come to your house and save you. But that's what Jesus is showing here. Jesus finds joy in saving lost sinners. He pursued Adam and Eve in the garden after they sinned in Genesis three. You know, he pursued Israel even after they grumbled in the wilderness. He pursued Paul even on the road to Damascus when he's about to kill Christians. Jesus Christ is the pursuer of souls. And he said, I must stay at your house because he had business to do with Zacchaeus. You know, how do you stand before Jesus today, if you're out there? Has Jesus Christ come to your house, and has he done business with your soul? Have you given your life to him? Have you trusted in him for salvation that he offers? If not, let today be a day of salvation for you. And if you are saved, do you pursue souls like Jesus pursues souls? Are you on a mission each day looking for people that Christ can use you to share the glorious gospel? That their souls might be saved? And if you are, I would encourage you to look at the outcasts, the poor, the lowly in society, people that are on the fringes. They're able to be brought into the household of God if you're faithful to proclaim the message of hope. Well, that's Jesus in pursuing lost sinners. And that's the first movement of this text that shows us that Jesus has a great reach when he's reaching after lost souls. 
The second movement, we see the repentance of the sinner. Look at verses six through eight. Luke shows us in this next movement of this narrative, this perfect picture of repentance. You see repentance. We know that Zacchaeus does this because we see his reception of the Savior. Look at verse six. It says, when he heard and he came down, and he received him gladly. Zacchaeus received Jesus gladly. That word in the Greek...it means rejoicing. There's joy that happens when Jesus fills your heart and joy is really what takes place. And it's the expression of heaven. That's what joy is. In Luke 15:7, it says that there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents. There was a celebration in the heavens when one person turns from their sins to the Savior. And that's exactly the countenance that Zacchaeus has. He receives Jesus with joy. And he realizes that this was what would have really been an act of humility. Because, sure enough, other tax collectors, they really had no dealings with the Jews because of the hostility, and they would have probably even despised Zacchaeus. And I'm sure they would have thought to themselves, man, we're about to lose money. Zacchaeus done lost his mind, and not only has he lost his mind, he's about to lose his money. But that was what was going on. But you know what? Zacchaeus didn't even trip out on that because he knew he had to to be there with Jesus. And it's wonderful that Jesus says nothing that you will ever leave will compare to what you'll gain when you follow him. And even Matthew 19:29, it says, everyone that has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or even the fields for my sake, will receive 100 times as much and will inherit eternal life. That's the promise that he gives. And Zacchaeus was feeling the tug of that. Whatever he was leaving behind wasn't going to compare to what Christ was going to offer. And even further, it says that in verse seven it says, and when he saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, he has become the guest of a man who is a sinner. You see what happens when sometimes, sadly, people on earth and their response doesn't match heaven's response. They begin to grumble and complain. What is Jesus doing pursuing that sinful person? Might even say that about you. Why are you evangelizing that kind of person? You see in Luke 15:2, this happened all over the time. It says both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, this man receives sinners and he eats with them. The Pharisees were that way back in Luke 15. And not only were they blinded by their own self-righteousness, but they were also blinded by the fact that they couldn't even see true righteousness, understanding that Jesus had a mission to those who were lost. And sometimes, mistakenly, people can think...even Christians can say that holiness means to separate from sin as well as separate from sinners. But that's not what Jesus is saying. You think about the woman at the well, the harlot, the lame, the demoniac. These are the kinds of people that Jesus said was a part of his mission. He pursued them. You know, just a word of caution. Don't be like the crowd and grumble when the sinner is being pursued. You know, sometimes I've seen churches, even where folks have come in to the church and the worship service there. And it is clear that they're probably in the fires of hell and their lifestyle and how they dress and the people they hang with. And instead of begging for God's grace, they begin to grumble. They begin to grumble. Don't be like those people. The moment we start to feel like someone is unworthy of saving, we insult the very character of God. Because what's true of Zacchaeus is true of all of us. And that's Romans 3:23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Last time I checked, that all means all. Not some of us, but all of us have sinned and we fall miserably short of that. But the gospel is appropriate for us, and it's appropriate for anyone that might be in our midst. And if you're out here today and the Lord is genuinely pursuing you, I would just encourage you. Don't let the grumbling crowd dissuade you from coming all the way to Jesus Christ. You might have family members or people talking about you and grumbling. Silence them and listen to Jesus Christ. Listen to the Word of life. Listen to what the truth will have for you. Because that's what Zacchaeus did. It didn't stop him because we see in verse eight it said that he stopped and he said, Lord, behold, Lord. Let's pause right there. Luke uses the word behold to give us an indication to his reader. He's like something is about to happen and something amazing happens here. Instead of Zacchaeus calling Jesus Jesus, he calls him Lord. Immediately in a posture of his heart to submit. You see, when true repentance takes place, you put Jesus in his rightful place in your heart. And that's Lord. That's the way we see this idea on the other side of the cross. Even in Romans 10:9, it says, if you confess with your mouth Jesus as what?... Lord. And you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. You see, Jesus has to either be Lord of all or he's not Lord at all. You have to submit to him...Lord. And Zacchaeus comes out the gate and says, behold, Lord, not just I want to get out of hell free, but he wants to submit to the King of kings. And he demonstrates repentance, because look at what he does. He becomes an instant steward of his resources. In verse eight he says, half my possessions I give to the poor. He immediately responds with a desire to use his possessions to serve others in need. Zacchaeus knows that he's been swindling people out of money, and money was his God. But he comes to the realization that Jesus is his God now...instant change. Instead of being a taker, he becomes a giver. And instead of ripping people off, he is helping build people up. That's what happens as he submits to Jesus Christ in this good news that Jesus shares with him. And not only did he did he become a good steward of his resources. He recognized his sins. It's about the recognition of his sins that helped to see that there's true repentance. In verse eight he says, if I have defrauded anyone of anything. That word, if...it's a first class conditional in the language of Greek and it it really can be translated since, because this is a true statement. And it could be read, since I have defrauded someone of some things. Because Zacchaeus knew he had defrauded people of of hundreds of thousands of dollars in his day. And this person must recognize that he has sinned against a holy God. That's true repentance. Repentance isn't repentance just because you change your behavior. Repentance is repentance because you recognize your sin before a holy God. And that's what Zacchaeus does. When you have repentance, is it because you recognize that your sins are before God? Or, is it that because you just got found out, someone found and discovered your sins? That's not true repentance. Repentance is the recognition of the sin. And not only this, we see that he has restitution of his sins. Later on in verse eight, he says, I will give back four times as much. This was far more than the Old Testament specified in the Levitical law, because in Leviticus 5:16 it said that it was required that only one fifth was necessary to give back a person that you've wronged. And here it is, Zacchaeus goes beyond that, and he says, I'll give four times as much when I've defrauded someone. You know something worth pointing out. Zacchaeus's actions here were not an attempt for him to work for his salvation. What Zacchaeus was doing was he was working out his salvation. He was working it out. You know, it is simply working out what God had done in his heart. Repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin, and repentance is not. It's not merited and it's not behavioral modification. True repentance involves a change of heart and purpose, and it always results in a change of lifestyle. And that's what we're seeing here. Zacchaeus is a changed man because Jesus Christ came to his house and shared the good news of the kingdom of heaven. My question for you is this have you repented? Have you repented? Have you repented that one time, once for all, turning from sin to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins? Have you done that? Because if not it's no hope for you. And if you have done that, are you bearing fruits that keeps with repentance? Are you following the same example that we see even for a wretched man like Zacchaeus, who is now transformed by the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, the first movement of this text, we see the reach of the Savior. And then the second movement, we see the repentance of a sinner. 
And this last we see the result of salvation. That's really what Luke is highlighting in verses nine and ten. He says, today salvation has come to this house because he too is a son of Abraham. This resulted in salvation. You think of all the people that Jesus shared the truth with who never came to know him. All the people that he shared the good news and they never changed their ways. But in this case, today was a day of salvation because salvation came to Zacchaeus. Today, it's good for us to realize that there can be an immediacy to sharing the good news with someone today, and them being saved that very hour. You know, sometimes we feel like, well, I'm gonna share the news and I'm just going to let God deal with it. Maybe weeks, months, years from now, he might change their heart. Brothers and sisters, we need to be confident with the power of the gospel. You share the gospel today. God could save somebody today. That's what we see even in this case. It doesn't always happen this way, but have the confidence that God could save a soul today. Today can be a day of salvation. And he said that this man is a is a son of Abraham. You see, Abraham believed in God by faith and it was credit to him as righteousness, Genesis 15:6. And same is true for anyone who's come after Abraham. When you believe in the promises of God by faith you become a son of Abraham in the spiritual sense and a child of God immediately. It's the opposite of the way that the rich young ruler responded, you remember him? And Jesus told him about his possessions. He couldn't part with his possessions, and he left sad because he knew that he wanted his riches more than he wanted righteousness, even though he thought he was righteous, you know? But in this case, Zacchaeus responds the opposite. He immediately let loose with his resources, and he clings to Jesus Christ. You know, that's saying that it's easier to go camel through the eye of a needle than a rich man into the kingdom. Later in that passage, it says, the things that are impossible with people are possible with God. And praise his holy name for that. It's impossible for men. But salvation is possible with God. That should be an encouragement to us when it comes to evangelizing. That whenever we share that good news, it can be made possible to convert the soul because of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in verse ten it says, For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost. That's what Jesus Christ does. He seeks and he saves lost people. As we think about this text, I'm reminded of a friend of mine that he was talking about a moment where he got lost in the mountains of North Carolina, and he said, man, my GPS, it wasn't working. It took me to the wrong destination. He said his cell phone didn't have any signal because he was in the mountains. He was running out of gas and he said it was getting dark.

  He said, Curtis, I was lost. I mean, he had an emphasis...LOST. I was lost, bro. And he's recalling this story. And he said, but at that moment there was a friend of his because he pulled off the side of the road. He thought he was going to run out of gas. A friend of his came down a winding road with bright lights, and when he saw him, he started flashing. Was so excited that his friend would come with those lights to help him. And he said, man, that was the best friend that I ever had because he found me when I was lost. Well guess what? Jesus Christ will be the best friend you'll ever have because he brings the light of the glories of the gospel and he will find you even if you are lost. You can be going down a dark path where there's the point of no return, but Jesus Christ will come down that dark path to pursue you, and he will seek after you, and he will save your soul. 
If you're an unbeliever here today, let salvation come to your house today. Let salvation come. If you don't have a relationship, realize that you're lost. Don't go another mile down that dark road. Know that you're in sin. Recognize it. Don't go down the path that leads to destruction. Because, see, Jesus Christ is passing through here and he can come stay at your house today. Today can be a day of salvation. If you're willing to let Him in and let go of sin, and let him rule and reign in your life. God offered his only begotten Son, who came down to forgive you of your sins. He died on the cross to pay the penalty that you deserve. And on the third day he rose with all power in his hand to give you newness of life. Trust in Jesus Christ today. Let today be a day of salvation. Put your faith in him and trust in him as your Savior and Lord, and you can be saved. 
And if you are saved, I want to encourage you to seek others for the sake of the gospel. You know, it was necessary for Jesus to go to Jericho. And it's also necessary for us to go through the streets of Hickory and beyond. We need to be faithful in proclaiming the message and do it like Jesus did it. Let there be urgency. Let's do it now. Let there be a diversity in our encouragement. Let us do it for all people, no matter where their background is. Don't discriminate. Remember, sometimes the least likely candidate will make the most likely convert. A person that you think should never come to know Christ. They'll get saved and they'll surpass you in their love of Jesus Christ. That's what God can do. So let it be urgent. Let there be a diversity, and let there also be an immediacy to it. Realizing that God can save souls today. 
But for all of us, let's worship Jesus Christ as the seeker and the Savior of lost souls. If you're saved today, you and Zacchaeus could probably sing the words of this song... Guilty, vile and helpless, we... Spotless. Lamb of God. was he...full atonement, How can it be? Hallelujah! What a savior. 
Let us go to the Lord in a word of prayer. Gracious Father, we thank you so much that the Lord Jesus Christ is the ultimate pursuer of souls. I pray right now, in this hour, that you would just allow every heart to be impacted by the amazing reach that Jesus Christ has for those who are lost, and that we would celebrate that together, recognizing what he's done for us. But if there's someone in our midst that is far from the path of righteousness, Lord, change that in their lives today. Bring them to a place of remembrance, a renewal, to understand that they are a sinner, and that they need to to recognize that their sins are before a holy and infinite God. Give them the ability to trust in Christ and turn in repentance and true faith, and allow them too to be a child of the Most High God. We love you, Lord, and we praise you for this time. And we ask this all in Jesus name. Amen.