When Salvation Comes (Luke 19:1-27, Jeff Kliewer)

Oh, Lord, the words of that song just reverberate inside of me, Lord. I thank you for the words of that song, and I ask that you would fulfill that in us today. Speak, oh Lord, until your church is built and the earth is filled with your glory.

Speak to us, Lord God. Quiet our minds, quiet our hearts. Remove distractions, Lord, that we could hear your word. It's the food that we need, of all other things that we need in this life, nothing is like your word.

Your word is what we need most. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Give us faith today by the hearing of your word. Nourish us, nourish our spiritual lives. Speak to us, Lord God, in Jesus' name, amen.

The commander of the Lord's army met Joshua before taking the promised land. And you remember the story, Joshua asked the commander of the Lord's army, are you for us or are you for our enemy? And the commander of the Lord's army, who very well could have been Jesus before his incarnation, or could have been an angel of God, which was sent, in either case, he's speaking for God.

He says, neither, but as the commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come. And he went before Joshua so that the first battle that Israel had to fight to take the promised land was not by might, not by power, but by the spirit of the living God.

In fact, all they had to do was walk around seven times around the city of Jericho. And on the seventh day, walk seven times and blow a trumpet and give a mighty shout. But it was the power of God that brought down the walls of Jericho.

The commander of the army of the Lord went forth and slayed the enemy in his wrath because the fullness of their sin had been built up and it was time for judgment to fall. All of us who sin are owed the wrath of God.

But the good news of the story of Jericho is this, God chose to save one family and the person he chose to save was an unlikely candidate for salvation. Her name was Rahab and she was a prostitute. And yet God had mercy on her and saved not only her, but her entire family, father and brothers and sisters, spared them so that when the rest of Jericho fell, they were spared.

God's plans are often like that, aren't they? He saves unlikely people. Rahab goes on to be a great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother to King David. But think of how unlikely David was when Samuel called the brothers together so that he could choose which among them was to be anointed as king.

Jesse didn't even think of David. He was so small and insignificant, the least of the brothers, the youngest. He was out in the field and Samuel bypassed each of the more likely candidates and chose the unlikely David.

Fast forward to the New Testament, we've been talking about how Jesus calls disciples to follow him. But he doesn't go to the temple or to the Sanhedrin, which had its seat in Jericho. Often they would meet there.

He doesn't go there to call 12 followers from the 70. Rather, who does he choose? Fishermen, common people like Andrew and Peter, James and John, and a tax collector named Matthew who was hated. He says, come and follow me.

And he leaves everything and follows Jesus. The salvation of God is unpredictable. He chooses unlikely people. We have no way of knowing who he will choose. So on this vacation that I just got back from, I was excited to have the opportunity to share the gospel a number of times.

One time we were hanging out at a pool and there's a guy just sitting there and he's drinking and doing some other stuff. And I say, you know what, I'm just going to go talk to him. And sure enough, as soon as I spoke a word, he poured out his heart to me about being in a war and what he had to do in the Iraq war.

And he was open to the gospel and open to sharing about Christ. But looking at him across the pool, he wouldn't be the one that you would expect that would have a heart that was open to hear about Christ and to talk about Christ.

Then I got on the airplane to fly back and I introduced myself to the guy next to me. And the first thing he tells me about is how he's a Scientologist. He had been in Clearwater for six weeks doing some kind of Scientology mission.

So needless to say, we talked for two and a half hours from Tampa to Philadelphia. And he was very open to hearing about Christ. He was probably trying to get me into Scientology at the same time, which is not going to happen.

But it was amazing that this man, he was a German from Frankfurt, Germany. I actually thought he was talking about Frankfurt, Philadelphia at first, in the Frankfurt section. So we had some confusion going on, but when our minds finally met, we had this long conversation about the Lord.

Very unexpected. I don't know if he'll come to know Christ, but I pray that he does. Our mission is to seek and save the lost. And the most lost among us, among the world, are often, it's easy for us to just count them out and say, well, God would never save this person.

I'm not even going to talk to that person. But what we're going to learn from the text today is that his salvation comes to the most unlikely of people. So our part is to preach the gospel, to seek and save the lost.

We've been in Luke 18, and today we're going into Luke 19. But remember from Luke 18 that God gives grace to the humble, but law to the proud. The rich young ruler who came in his pride, declaring his own righteousness, how he had kept the commandments since his youth.

Jesus sends him away with a stronger law. Sell everything that you have, give it to the poor, then come follow me. And the rich man goes away sad. His self-righteousness was keeping him from Christ. He needed to be humbled.

So God, through Jesus, gives law to the proud. But the blind man sitting at the gate to Jericho was humble. He had been stripped of everything that he had, and he was helpless apart from Christ, and he had come to a point in his life when he heard that Jesus was coming that way, he cried out.

Son of David, have mercy on me. In his humility, he called for Christ. And Christ met him there, threw up no hindrance, healed him, and saved him. And that's how it was with the man who came into the temple in Luke 18, who beat his chest and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

There was no law given to him. There was only grace to that humble cry for mercy. But the prideful man who stood back and said, thank you, Lord, that I'm not like him, he left unjustified that day in his pride.

Today we continue with this theme. Luke is developing this theme of the salvation of God. He gives salvation to the humble. Let's read it. Luke 19 and following. Salvation will come to the city of Jericho, to a person in the city of Jericho.

19, 1 through 10, we'll begin with, he entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was.

But on account of the crowd, he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.

So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled. He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.

And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold. And Jesus said to him, today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the son of man came to seek and save the lost.

So we pick up the story where Jesus has entered the gates of Jericho, he heals the blind man on the way in, and now he's in the midst of the city, he's surrounded by crowds of people because he's famous.

Why is he so famous? He does miracles, he raises dead people, he opens blind eyes, he wants to help the world. People are coming to him, flocking to him, because they want to see, they're interested. These are the crowds, they gather around him.

But the place he goes now is interesting. He's in route to Jerusalem, but he needs to pass through Jericho. Jericho, that famous city from the Old Testament. It's about 25 miles from Jerusalem, and it's a windy path down from Jerusalem to Jericho.

Remember the story that Jesus tells of the man who falls victim to the bandits on his way down to Jerusalem. If you start in Jerusalem and head down to Jericho, you find that you're going from a place where there's more rainfall to less rainfall.

And out in Jericho, it's almost like a desert. I think it's something like 24 inches of rain in Jerusalem and only 8 inches of rain per year in Jericho. So it's kind of on the outskirts, it's in a desert place.

But the thing to know about Jericho, to understand, is this is marked for destruction. When the Israelites crossed over the Jordan, they were told to utterly destroy the city of Jericho. It was devoted to destruction, a God-forsaken place, because of their sin, but also to show that God has, by himself, without the help of the Israelites, God has conquered Jericho and given the land.

It was the strongest city of the Promised Land, the fortified walls of Jericho. And God alone conquers Jericho and devotes it to destruction, except for Rahab and her family. So we remember that story, a place devoted to destruction.

And when that happened in Joshua 6 .26, we learn that anybody who rebuilds that city will do so at the cost of their firstborn son and at their lastborn son. So in the book of 1 Kings, we hear about how things are spiraling out of control in Israel.

They now have the Promised Land, but they're wandering away from God, follow me now. And in that time of apostasy, one named Hael of Bethel decides he wants to rebuild Jericho. And he does. And as soon as he begins the work, his firstborn son dies.

And as soon as they hang the gates, his youngest son dies. And the prophecy is fulfilled. It was a place of death. A little bit later, Elisha comes and cleanses the waters of Jericho and it looks like God now is going to allow Jericho to thrive, to be rebuilt.

So the prophecy of Joshua 6 .26 is fulfilled because the firstborn son and the lastborn son have died, God's punishment has been meted out. But the people of Jericho are still living in a place that was originally devoted to destruction.

So there's a stigma. This is where Herod, that evil ruler, has built his summer home. So when you hear Jericho, you don't think Jerusalem, the city of God, Mount Zion. You think of the God forsaken town, the place that nothing good comes out of, the place where death reigns supreme, a place of shame and suffering and rebellion against God.

So in 19 verse 1, he enters Jericho, Jesus entering Jericho and passing through. Yet in this unlikely place, here his salvation comes. Verse 2, to an unlikely person. So it's an unlikely location and now an unlikely person named Zacchaeus.

And we all remember him from Sunday school, right? We remember him because he was a wee little man, right? Wee little man was he and he climbs up in a sycamore tree. But notice he was a chief tax collector.

He worked for the Roman government, the oppressors of Israel, collecting taxes and evidently extorting a bit beyond what he was allowed to take. He was rich. You ever notice that the places that collect the taxes from the land are the wealthiest places in the country?

Isn't that true in America today? The highest salaries, the biggest growth is right around Washington DC. There's something about government collecting money where they begin to take more than they should and grow bigger and bigger than they should.

Well, Zacchaeus is filthy rich. He has money, but he's only gotten it through taxes, by taking the money from the people, by force in that sense, unlikely person to be saved. Look though at verses 3 and 4, the eagerness that's in his heart to know Jesus, to see who he is, to understand who he is.

Verse 3 and 4, he was seeking, mark that word seeking, to see who Jesus was. On account of the crowd, he could not because he was small in stature. What accounts for Zacchaeus seeking Jesus? Does that come from himself?

In Romans chapter 3, verse 11, we learn there is no one who seeks God. No one even seeks after God. So why do we have this little guy seeking after Jesus? The answer to that question will come in verse 10, jump your eyes down for the son of man came to seek and save the lost.

Zacchaeus is seeking because he's being sought. The grace of God, the drawing of the father, according to John 6, verse 44, is operating in him even though he doesn't know it. At this time in his life, all he wants to do is get a glimpse of this prophet, this famous person.

He's so eager to see him, he climbs a tree. Is that an ordinary thing for an Israelite to do? Especially a sophisticated rich guy that's trying to keep his reputation, whatever shred he has of that. He climbs a tree in the middle of the city, very undignified, to get a glimpse of him.

This is the operation of grace. God is stirring him in a way that wouldn't come from himself. He's moving him toward Christ and he sees him. In verse 5, when Jesus came to that place, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down for I must stay at your house today.

This is what you call a divine appointment. It's not a coincidence when you sit down on a plane and the Scientologist next to you wants to talk, so much so that he's trying to talk across the person in between us.

And I had to say, hey, would you want to take the aisle seat so I can sit in the middle? It's the drawing of the Spirit. It's the work of God. I pray that man gets saved. But there was something stirring that was supernatural, something that's not ordinary.

In your life, if you're praying, if you're seeking God, if verse 10 has become an anthem of your life, the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. And you say, if that's what the Son of Man came to do, that's what I'm here to do.

You will begin to find that God opens divine appointments, opportunities to share the gospel. In verse 5, Jesus says, I must stay at your house today. This is not a coincidence that he saw a guy in a tree.

This was foreordained to happen. It must happen, in fact. It must happen. This is grace operating to bring a sinner to salvation. Verse 6, so he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled.

He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner. Now notice the contrast in verses 6 and 7. Notice Zacchaeus is filled with joy. His heart is leaping that Jesus wants to come into his house. Meanwhile, there's grumbling going on outside the door.

It's the difference between a heart that's being saved and sinners who are hardened against the living God. The grumbling outside contrasts with the joyfulness. Now the guys on the outside, these might be members of the Sanhedrin, Pharisees, the religious type that you would expect that Jesus would go into their house.

Instead, he goes to the sinner's house, the lost man's house. They're grumbling, he's filled with joy. Remember Luke 18, the rich young ruler? And Jesus says, it's harder for a rich man to come into the kingdom of God than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.

And the disciples say, well, then who could be saved? And Jesus says, with God, all things are possible. The very next chapter, as Eric reminded me of when we were talking about this, the very next chapter, he saves a rich man.

He does the impossible. But notice he doesn't tell Zacchaeus, you have to go sell everything that you have. Come follow me. Rather, from the joy of Zacchaeus' heart, look what he says. Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.

Jesus doesn't say, no, you need to go give 100%. Zacchaeus willingly from the heart says, 50 of everything that I have, I give to the poor. And if I've defrauded anybody of anything, I restore it fourfold.

Make restoration for the things I've done wrong. You see, salvation results in a joyful obedience to God. A giving of oneself from the heart. And what was going on in verse seven is the grumblers had hearts of stone.

That were far from God. God is not after our money. He doesn't need it. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He doesn't need our money. What he wants is our heart. And the joyful heart will give. Zacchaeus just gives abundantly.

That is the response of faith. Not only financially, but the whole person. Zacchaeus, that little man, is now devoted to Jesus Christ. Heart, soul, body, mind, strength. His whole self is given over. And Jesus, this joyful thing, he says, today salvation has come to this house.

Since he also is a son of Abraham. What does son of Abraham mean there? Like father Abraham who had faith, this is a true Israelite. One who believes in Yahweh and Yeshua, the Savior. Yahweh is salvation, is standing in the midst.

Salvation has come to this house. For the son of man came to seek and to save the lost. So the first big idea that we're talking about is when salvation comes, it is a work of God's grace. And he often chooses unexpected people, sinners like me.

That he chooses out from among the crowd and saves. His salvation comes completely from him. He seeks to save the lost, seeks and saves the lost. And he serves the heart of people to seek him. And arranges circumstances and sends the gospel to them.

It is a work of God to save the lost. Now, I thought about just stopping there. And we could delight in that. But I saw a connection between what comes next. So we're going to go through this next part really fast.

We can come back to it. But for this morning, I just want to show the connection between what comes next. Just like Zacchaeus when he was born again. Gave willingly all that he had. He surrendered to Christ and let Christ be the Lord of his life.

So we are entrusted with everything that we have. And from the same kind of heart that Zacchaeus gave. We are called to give ourselves fully to Christ. So let's just read it and I'll just make a few comments.

The transition here in verse 11 and 12. He's still in Jericho. He's about to go up to Jerusalem. And he tells this parable. As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable. Because he was near to Jerusalem.

And because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. He said, therefore, a noble man went into a far country. To receive for himself a kingdom. And then return. So he tells this parable.

Just real quick. He tells this parable. Because they're expecting him to go to Jerusalem and become king. That's the expectation of the people. Even the disciples. They're not getting it yet. But he says this noble man is going to a far country.

Which indicates there's going to be time that will pass. A long time. Because it's a far country. The kingdom won't come in its fullness now. There's going to be a second coming. Verse 13. Calling 10 of his servants, he gave them 10 minas.

And said to them, engage in business until I come. But his citizens hated him. And sent a delegation after him. Saying, we do not want this man to reign over us. That's a picture of the Jews in the first coming of Christ.

Being offered their Messiah. And they say, we don't want this man to rule over us. In the first coming of Christ, he's rejected. Verse 14. Verse 15 and following. When he returned. It's the second coming of Christ.

Having received the kingdom. He ordered these servants to whom he had given the money. To be called to him. That he might know what they had gained by doing business. The first came before him saying, Lord.

Your mina has made 10 minas more. And he said to him. Well done, good servant. Because you have been faithful in a very little. You shall have authority over 10 cities. And the second came. Saying, Lord, your mina has made five minas.

And he said to him. And you are to be over five cities. So the first part of this parable here. Speaks of the joyful heartfelt service. That the genuinely saved person will give to God. A person when salvation comes to a Zacchaeus like me.

My response is to serve the king for the rest of my life. And everything he's entrusted to me. Is devoted to him. That's the response of a saved person. Each one of us who salvation has come to you. Your life should now be devoted to him.

What have you been given? Can you sing? Some of us can, others can't. Michael can sing, I can't. But that gift that's been entrusted to him. He now devotes his life to singing for the king. That mina that's been entrusted to him.

Is devoted to the king. But notice the rest of the parable. There's a second group here. Verse 20 and following. Then another came saying, Lord here is your mina. Which I have kept away in a handkerchief.

For I was afraid of you. Because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit. And you reap what you did not sow. This is the voice of a false convert. He's in the assembly. He had been awaiting the second coming.

But his heart is far from devoted to the king. In fact, how does he even think about the king? As a hard man, a severe man. His heart does not love the coming king, Jesus Christ. His heart is far. Following along, Jesus then answers him with his own words.

Verse 22. He said to him, I will condemn you with your own words. You wicked servant. You knew that I was a severe man. Taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. Why then did you not put my money in the bank?

And at my coming, I might have collected it with interest. And he said to those who stood by, take the mina from him. And give it to the one who has 10 minas. And they said to him, Lord, he has 10 minas.

I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.

We could talk, we could preach a whole sermon on Jesus's view of socialism from these verses. Because you hear some socialist tendencies coming out of fairness and equality. Which are good things in themselves.

But it says, take the mina from him and give it to the one who has 10. Verse 25, and they said, Lord, he already has 10. We could go down that road and maybe one day we'll talk about that. Because this is a very capitalist kind of view.

He invests the followers with capital and says, use that for my kingdom. And you'll be rewarded according to your work and what you do with it. And he rejects the socialist viewpoint here. Fine, we could talk about that and we will another time maybe.

But I want you to hear what this says to you. Not only about your money, but about your heart. Are you like Zacchaeus? Having received salvation, your heart is so filled with joy. That you give willingly to the king.

That you serve him willingly. Recognizing that anything that you give to him was only given to you in the first place. As a trust. That your very life and every breath that you breathe, every time your heart beats.

That's a stewardship that comes from God. And the person who's truly been born again. The true convert, the one who has received salvation. Salvation has come. Will be changed by that salvation. And will no longer live for this life and this world.

But for the coming kingdom. You're a manager of everything that you've been given. And everything that you've been given is ultimately owed back to the one who gave it to you in the first place. So in closing, when salvation comes.

From Zacchaeus we learn that it comes from God. It is entirely a work of grace. His drawing. Even the most unlikely people. And when salvation comes, it changes the person. To devote that person entirely, entirely to Christ.

To recognize that everything that you have comes from him. Salvation is a gift that comes from him. And if you've been given that gift. All that you have is for his glory. So we're going to call on the worship team to come.

I'm going to close in a word of prayer. And I'd like you to just pray in your own heart. As I pray. Pray back the word of God to him. Speak to him in your heart. Showing that you receive this word. That you receive what God speaks through his word.

Asking him to apply it to you. Because look, the good news of this. He rewards those who serve him. I think the picture here is of the second coming. And the millennial kingdom to come. That in that kingdom, in that millennium.

In which Christ will reign from Jerusalem. We will be given a trust there as well. You're given talents and gifts here. You might reign over 10 cities there. As his steward. As his under shepherd. It's difficult for us on this side to know what these rewards look like.

But the one who was given 10 and served. Given one and served well. Producing 10. Is rewarded with 10 cities in the life to come. And the one who produced 5. Is rewarded with 5 cities to rule over in the life to come.

Anything that you give now. Will be rewarded. Don't look for it now like the prosperity theologians do. Your rewards will be in heaven. But give from the heart. Joyfully. And not just money. We're talking about your life.

Your time. Your talent. Devote all that you have to him. Let's pray. So Lord, we do receive your word. You have spoken to us. You have exposed us, Lord. Because we confess. Very often we live for ourselves.

We're very often just investing for this life. To be more comfortable here. To be more happy here. When we should be investing in eternity. Remembering your mission. Which just summarizes why you came, Jesus.

To seek and to save the lost. So we pray for ourselves this morning, Lord. That we would be devoted to your mission. Not ours. That you would use this church in a mighty way. To seek and save the lost.

And with that, Lord, we pray for the Norton BBX this week. Lord, that you would seek and save the lost. Through that ministry. Bring those who need to hear the gospel. And speak the gospel to them, Lord.

Save them, God. We invest in that because we care about your mission. And we're living for the next life. Not this one. So bless that BBX. Bless the one coming in a couple weeks at the Meyer home. Seek and save the lost.

And Lord, use us. Here we are. We offer ourselves to you, Lord. Our time. Our talents. Our treasure. Take everything that we are for your glory. Thank you, Lord, for this church. I love this church, Lord.

I thank you for the people that you have brought together here. As Ollie talked about, we are one in Christ. And every one of us is important. And I pray that individually this morning, we would surrender our lives to you.

Holding nothing back from you. Giving everything to you joyfully. You love a cheerful giver. So, Jesus, we pray that you would take this offering. Fill us with your Holy Spirit. And use us to seek and save the lost.

In Jesus name. Amen.