I invite you to turn to the Gospel of Luke tonight, the Gospel of Luke, the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus. I've been here now for, what, nine years, and I've never preached this text, so I thought it's time to look at this well-known story with Zacchaeus in light of what we're studying together on the place of good works in the life of the believer. So we're going to continue our reflection in the Heidelberg tonight, and that is found on, we move into the gratitude section, that's found on page 237 in those forms book, and we'll say together two question and answers, and you'll see how this directly ties in to the story of Zacchaeus. So this is Lord's Day 32, and there are two question and answers, and I will ask the question and ask you to please respond. Again, this is found on page 237 in that little book that's in front of you, two question and answers. So this is the gratitude section. Since we have been delivered from our misery by grace through Christ without any merit of our own, why then should we do good works? Because Christ, having redeemed us by his blood, is also renewing us by his spirit into his image so that our whole lives may show that we are thankful to God for his benefits and that he may be praised through us and further so that we may be assured of our faith by its fruits and by our godly living our neighbors may be won over to Christ. Can those be saved who do not turn to God from their ungrateful and unrepentant ways. By no means. Scripture tells us that no unchaste person, no idolater, adulterer, thief, no covetous person, no drunkard, slanderer, robber, or the like will inherit the kingdom of God. And this is Luke 19 now. We'll read the story of Zacchaeus, the first 10 verses, and he entered Jericho and was passing through, and behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a 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 to him, 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 he 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 is also a son of Abraham. For the son of man came to seek and to save the lost. And there ends the reading of God's word. Tonight I want to answer the very simple question of what place the good works have in the life of a believer in somebody who is one of God's children and been redeemed by grace. Obviously, we have this great conviction that when it comes to the work of salvation, all of it is a gift of sovereign grace. That's one of the great truths of the Bible. By grace, you've been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it's a gift of God so that no one may boast. I think sometimes, though, we leave the impression that grace stops once we are justified. I mean, think of the great truth of justification by grace through faith alone. When you have turned to the Lord and believed the gospel and trusted in him in true faith, he acquits you and imputes the righteousness of Jesus to you as if you had never sinned or been a sinner. You're completely clothed in the righteous robes of Jesus Christ. And I think sometimes we give the, there's been the concern that and and and maybe the the viewpoint that when it comes to sanctification we're on our own when it comes to sanctification we finish the project and that's really a faulty view of God's saving work his salvation more broadly speaking when we're talking about salvation also includes a great benefit of sanctification doesn't it sort of a double benefit that the Lord has in justification and sanctification. When somebody is justified, though we don't confuse that with sanctification, there is an inseparable connection between a right standing with God and the good works that follow, consequently, as fruit. That too is a work of the Lord in our lives. That too is a work that he accomplishes, and that gives us real purpose. So often we discuss the importance of good works, as if this is some forced thing that we have to figure out. I think that's what bothers me about the discussion most. As if this is some forced thing that we have to figure out, what do we need to do as Christians? How you're going to see tonight, it wasn't so unclear for Zacchaeus. That doesn't mean we don't have instruction, practical instruction, constantly on sanctification. That's the whole Bible's full of it. But to start with that basic understanding that it is impossible, as our own Heidelberg says in the very next section, for those who have been engrafted into Christ not to do good works. It's impossible. That's what it says. And so we're considering this great question of what is the place of good works, and that's what we're looking at tonight. I love rooting a doctrine like this in our confession and in our catechism and in a story, because stories help us to see that truth illustrated. Stories help us, especially the children. Who doesn't like the story of Zacchaeus? It helps us to understand the truth and to see this truth, and this is the great encouragement for us tonight as we begin and look at this well-known story of Zacchaeus. Just to set a little bit of background here, and then we'll move to the Heidelberg. It's a simple outline tonight. I'm simply explaining the story of Zacchaeus, and then we're going to look at it and apply exactly what the Heidelberg does looking at Zacchaeus' life, seeing all four of the fruits and reasons why we do good works right in Zacchaeus. It is a Thursday before the Passion Week. Jesus is bound and determined to go to Jerusalem and to lay down his life. And knowing the horrors of what he is going to face, it is really amazing that one of his final stops is Jericho. The final stop is Jericho, which of course was a rich and prosperous city. We see the emphasis placed in verse 1 that then Jesus entered and was passing through Jericho. Behold, verse 2, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. This is an interesting account in many ways. The story goes on to say here that Zacchaeus ran up to climb up in a sycamore tree because he was short, and he couldn't get up to see Jesus, and he wanted to see Jesus. Who was Zacchaeus? His name, they debate it, but it probably means pure. Certainly was not pure in the eyes of the Jews. He's described here in the New Testament, I think, this is the only time this word is used, as the chief tax collector. You heard you have tax collector mentioned everywhere. But he gets the label of chief tax collectors. And this was, hands down, the most despised class of all tax collectors among the Jews. The Jews and the Romans. The Jews described them as sinners. Did you notice that here? Jesus is sitting in the house of a sinner. Rome, of course, levied upon the Jews a land tax and a poll tax and a tax for even in the operation of the temple. I mean, it was no different than living in America. You get taxed for everything. Tax collectors were in charge of collecting the money from the people. We know that. The chief tax collectors would have to pay a fixed amount to the Roman government, and so they would send out all the publicans as we know them they would send out the publicans and all the publicans had to do the hard work of collecting you didn't like Zacchaeus there were three major tax cities and Jericho was one of them and Zacchaeus was the man it's kind of like that letter when we first bought a house here I didn't like seeing that name Dan McAllister you know it was just really irritating every time I saw Dan. There's people, I feel bad for him. Do people like him being the tax collector in San Diego County? Well, it doesn't seem to be as bad here in San Diego. Nobody's hanging you for missing your taxes. He might do other things to you, but in this case, Zacchaeus was hated and despised among the Jews because he was extorting from them, was taking their money. He would pay off the Roman government and then he would collect masses amounts of money from the people. Obviously, that's exactly what angered the people. He was pocketing the money and he was filthy rich in the process. Filthy rich. Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, it says, was a wealthy man. Everyone knew Zacchaeus, and everyone despised Zacchaeus because they knew he was a thief. They knew he was a practicing thief. He was a liar, and he was a thief. He was a thug. Nobody liked him. This is the kind of sinner where, you know, some things may be covered up. This is the kind of sin in Jewish eyes that was evident and held real tightly to and in correlation with the Eighth Commandment. He was stealing. He was stealing. Now, this is where you stop and sort of begin to apply the catechism tonight. Think of this truth that we raised in question 87. Can those be saved who do not turn to God from their ungrateful ways? That's a really good question. Can those be saved who do not turn away from all their sins and turn away from that life, from all their ungrateful ways, can they be delivered and can they enter the kingdom of God? And the Catechism rightly says, it quotes Scripture here, gives a list of sins. No unchaste person, no idolater, adulterer, thief, no covetous person, no drunkard, slanderer, robber, or the like will inherit the kingdom of God. So, if somebody is practicing those sins, if somebody's living in those sins, and somebody never turns away from that to the Lord for forgiveness in life, believing and trusting in Him, they cannot enter the kingdom of God. That's the message of the Bible. They will not enter the kingdom of God. There's a great difference between living in sin and then fighting that same sin that you struggle with, and hating that sin, and trying to turn, and sometimes stumbling, and sometimes falling and coming back to the Lord. Seventy times seven, he forgives you, doesn't he? That's a far different thing from saying, leave me alone. Whatever I'm going to do, I'm going to do. And don't question me. Zacchaeus was living in it. Zacchaeus was living and he knew it. So this is exactly the important point to note. He was a thief and a robber. Greed had filled him. And he had been hurting people and taking them to the woodshed for years. For years. No conscience on the matter. Sometimes you hear stories about business practices that are no better in the church. Shame on us if that's ever true. How do we treat people? How do we treat our workers? How do we treat those as redeemed people? These are important questions, aren't they? Well, here Jesus is passing through Jericho. Zacchaeus has heard about Jesus. He wants to see Jesus. It wasn't just curiosity that drove him. The crowds were curious. Something's happening here. He wanted to come to Jesus. When it came, he was obviously more than curiosity. He was the richest man in Jericho, the one who had everything. The one who had everything and was the highest-ranking official, at least in the tax business, and had the great amount of power. And it's really a kind of remarkable scene because it's sort of a humiliating scene. This wee little man climbs up a sycamore tree because he wanted to see Jesus. And because he was short and not able to see, he runs ahead knowing that Jesus would pass by at this moment. He waits for him. This is the song in Sunday school you learn in the church. Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he. I'm not going to sing it, but it's still there, you know. I can't get it out of my head. It's a great song. It's a good children's song. We tend to put so much emphasis on him, but I want you to see what Luke's communicating to us. We like to assign our advancements to ourselves, but we forget that any movement to Jesus is a divine work on the heart. Couple that with the truth that no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him. This is why Jesus had to go through Jericho. You notice at the very end of this section what's acknowledged by Jesus, the son of man has come and to seek and to save that which is lost. He had to come get Zacchaeus. This was one of his children. This was one of his elect. This was one of his sheep. And so you notice in verse 5 something very fascinating that says, and when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today. That is really a remarkable thing, you know. Jesus comes to him. Jesus looks up, and then Jesus says, I'm coming to your house. Get down here. It's really remarkable. It's kind of the counterpart to the story of the rich young ruler, isn't it? This guy had everything, comes to Jesus. What do I need to do to inherit the kingdom of God? And Jesus says, here's what you need to do. Go sell all your possessions. Then come back and follow me. And the man was greatly distressed and he walked away sad. Jesus comes to Zacchaeus, a rich man, who, Jesus said, how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to be saved. Here's the richest in Jericho. And Jesus comes. And Jesus shows power. And he stopped. There's no indication in Scripture he had ever met Zacchaeus. There's no indication in Scripture that he had ever come across this man. And he looks up, imagine this, and he calls him by name. Zacchaeus! Can you imagine how mind-blown he was? Come down. And I think what you have in Luke is so interesting in the way that he presents the stories is the powerful, effectual call of Jesus on somebody's life. When that call comes, you come. When that call is given, you come to him. It's a summoning call. Jesus had never come in contact with him. Make haste and come down. The verb here is hurry and get down. And he sure does. It was an irresistible call. it was irresistible grace. Clearly, this is exactly what's being said to us here. He comes down, and there's nothing other than humble submission. Zacchaeus, come down, for I must stay at your house. It's a beautiful expression here for a moment of sovereign grace, of the Lord saving somebody and delivering somebody, and not much is emphasized by way of faith here. I don't think that's going to be the point I'm going to show you. It's not really the point in a moment. Somewhere between that call and by the time Jesus has come to his house, there's faith. He's believed. So verse 6. So he made haste. Notice it there. So he hurried and he came down and received him joyfully. Well, that's really the response when Jesus calls you. It's to come down from your former life. It's to come down from your sin. It's to come down from living a life of emptiness. And it's to receive Jesus joyfully. Now, all of that to say, when we come, when we turn, think of question 87. Can those be saved who do not? No, they're not going to enter the kingdom of God. When we turn away from evil and we come to the Lord, here's the specific question tonight. Now what? Lord, what do I do with my life? What am I supposed to do now? How do I know? Is that really a question for Zacchaeus? Zacchaeus doesn't have to ask about works at this point. Luther, I think that's why Luther said in the preface to Romans, the believer really doesn't have to go on ever continually asking, what are the good works that I need to do? Before he's asked, he's doing them. Verse 8. these are the first words from Zacchaeus and Zacchaeus stood said 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 that is quite a response isn't it you know where that comes from? That comes from numbers. Listen to numbers. The Lord said to Moses, tell the Israelites, if you do something wrong to another person, you have been unfaithful to the Lord. That's an interesting thing, isn't it? When you do something wrong to somebody else, you've been unfaithful to the Lord. When you realize your own guilt, you must confess your sin. Pay in full for what you did wrong. Add one-fifth to it and give it to the person who was wronged. But there may be no heir to whom the payment can be made. In that case, the payment for what you did wrong must be given to the Lord for the priest to use. This payment is addition to the ram, which makes peace with the Lord. Zacchaeus had this passage on his mind. The law is in his heart. The law said, give one-fifth. What does Zacchaeus say? I'm going to restore fourfold. Everything. Everything. You know, it just came in my head, and I think it's important to just read that psalm that you read out, that you sang a few minutes ago. Psalm 15b. But the good who fear the Lord, listen to this, from his vow, he will not waver, though it bring him sad reward. He was going to lose a lot to give all this back. To the needy freely lending, no excess, he asks again. And the innocent befriending, he desires not praise of men. Doing this, an evil spurning, he shall never more be moved. This, the man with thee sojourning. This, the man by thee approved. See, this is what's happened. This is what's happened. Good news here. And this is where we move to the Heidelberg tonight. This is the consequence of having been justified by faith and having peace with God. This is what the Christian life now looks like. This is what we begin to pursue. This is the righteous character of God's saints. This is what he's conforming us into. This is what he's doing in us that marks us as different. And the Heidelberg is so helpful tonight on this. What is the first thing that said why we do good works? And now rooted in this story, and you'll see it, Christ having redeemed us by his blood is doing what now? What is Jesus committed to doing now? his work, renewing us by his spirit into his image. See it? How could you not see it any clearer in Zacchaeus? That our whole lives may show ourselves thankful to God for his benefits. What kind of heart do you immediately see in Zacchaeus? A thankful one. You get the sense that Jesus just released him of all of his guilt that he had been carrying around. All the pain, all the guilt, all that he carried around. And he lived in that guilt and held on to that guilt and was still collecting all the money in that guilt. And it did nothing for him but burden him. And immediately upon the Savior's release, he was released. All the sorrow, in one minute, Jesus took off his shoulder. And put on his. And that's the basis from which he responded the way that he did. That's the basis for doing anything good in this life. Zacchaeus was willing to do everything now in his redeemed life to stop the sinful way of life he lived. Only a heart that knows saving grace will do in their power to stop a way of life, a living in sin that displeases God. He's doing this because grace had already made him right with God. We need to remember this with motives of the Christian life. What drives the Christian life? It's a gospel-driven life. It really is. It's driven by the love of the Lord. It's driven by the favor of the Lord. Now our burdened hearts, think of every week when we come in here and we read the law, which is so important, and we confess our sins, and he takes that burden off you. Every week he does that. That's why we call the worship service a renewal service. And this is what he's constantly doing. He has called me to dine with him, the Savior, and he's forgiven me. This is the kind of love I used at the wedding illustration last night. I think I've used it before, but imagine you have a really good father and you're a son and you have despised your really good father. This is a good man on all accounts. And he's given you everything. And you despised him and you rejected him and you forsook him and you ran and you did everything wrong under the sun. And then this father, when you had wasted your life and destroyed your life and you were ready to die, he jumps in and saves you and dies in your place. Well, this is the kind of love that breaks your back. Now think about the gospel where God the Father gives his only begotten son to rescue you when you've treated him that way. That kind of love breaks your backs. Meaning, you stand back for a minute and say, I'm done with the way I was living. Let's say you're not going to struggle. It's not what we're talking about tonight. We're talking about the good works that now come. That's the first. Second reason is you do good works that Jesus might be praised through you. You know, right then and there, his works glorified God. I think we have to let that set in for a minute. I think we say that so easily and casually today. A lady's study years ago was in a church and I had a lady come up to me and say, Pastor, we're talking about good works and the Christian, and in the study, it had become uniformly agreed in the study that since the Bible said no one does good, no, not one, they all came to the conclusion we can never do anything in this life that pleases God. I thought, I think we're missing something really important here. They could not understand the difference of how God looks at their works apart from faith and those done in true faith. And the conclusion is we can never please God. Well, the next section in the Heidelberg says the exact opposite thing. You can certainly please your Father. Works that arise from true faith that conform to His law and are done for His glory. But I love what the Heidelberg says here tonight. You actually, when you do a good works this way, you praise him. I think we've so chalked up praise to the music. I think we think praise is an isolated event with the music. It's not what the Heidelberg says. You praise God in your good works. What a motivating way to live. It's kind of frustrating when I hear, I just want the great experience. That's kind of an easy, cheap way. This is a real way of praising God. I'm not saying that singing is a cheap way. What I'm saying is if we think we just get the rush from it and that's the end of praise, that's a cheap way to look at praise. You praise God in your good works this way. That's a great reason to do them. That's a great reason to do them. And that's what Zacchaeus says here, doesn't he? I've been hurting people all my life. I've been stealing. I've been degrading the image of God. Think of all the things that we do. I'm done, and I'm going to go love my neighbor and reconcile and restore. You praise God. God is praised through you. Third, guess what the effect is on you? Your faith is strengthened, and you're assured by its fruit. the bible gives a lot of attention to this you actually just think about it when you go and sin how do you feel feel crummy as a believer you feel guilty you feel stained you feel dirty when you're doing the lord's will how do you feel joyful it's a wonderful thing to go do the lord's will and this is what he says whoever keeps his commandment abides in god and god in him and by this we know that he abides in us by the spirit whom he's given us. It's a joyful pursuit to do good works because we know they please God. But notice this, it's a miserable pursuit when there's no faith and it's for self-seeking and living in sin. It helps to assure your faith, helps to encourage you. You know, you can look at life that way. He wants you to be encouraged by that. Taking a cup of cold water. Ministering to the sick. Visiting the needy. Finally, notice this. I return fourfold to my neighbor. Those whom I've stolen from. Heidelberg says, you know what that just did in front of everyone? It provided a witness to win our neighbors to Jesus. That's a beautiful thing. You ever hear people say, that wicked person who did all those terrible things has been converted? I'm having a hard time believing it. Look at him. He who is forgiven much does what? Loves much, said Jesus. In the same way, let your light so shine before others so that they may see your good works, this is Jesus, and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. That's one of the most powerful witnesses of the day is doing good works that they would be a witness. And this is what Zacchaeus is here describing. I give back fourfold. And what do you think people said? Imagine him bringing the money back. What are you doing? I met a man. his name's jesus he's given me everything so i give back what i've taken from you it's a witness so the question is important we're not talking about justification tonight we're talking about sanctification and we're talking about the necessary fruits in the life of the believer and it is impossible says the catechism and it's absolutely true for those who are redeemed not to do good works. That's what the Lord has set us apart to do. Now, your good works are going to be different than my good works, and the level of good works and the amount of good works are all sovereignly determined by the Lord, and we should never judge somebody else's sanctification thinking that I've reached a higher level of sanctification. I think that's part of the problem in our day is that we try to judge everyone by where we think our sanctification is and their sanctification is, and if it's not quite where my sanctification is, they're not really believers. And the Bible says, listen, there are some who produce 30-fold, 60-fold, and 100-fold. That's the Lord's. But there will be a new beginning. Even if it's a small new beginning, there will be a new beginning. And that's what this is talking about tonight. I love the final response of Jesus. Today, salvation has come to this house because he's a son of Abraham. For the son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. It's a complete picture, isn't it? It's a whole work of the Lord. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, Paul will say, for it's God who works within you to will and to do for his good pleasure. Praise God that he's conforming us to the image of his son. What a joyful pursuit. And if you're struggling with good works, ask the Lord for more grace. He loves to give grace and his Holy Spirit to those who cry out to him continually who need help. And he will help you to conform you more to the image of Jesus. So I hope that answers the question tonight, why we do good works and what place they have in the life. We're gonna look at this more as we go, but what a great privilege. If we were counted worthy to suffer for Christ's name as we looked at this morning, What a great blessing to look like him in the good works that we do. Let's praise the Lord. Thank you, O Lord, for your kindness to us. And thank you for helping us to understand what good works are and what they should look like in our lives. Thank you for justifying us by grace through faith alone and then caring a lot about us loving holiness and truth and being more conformed to the image of your beloved Son. We're weak, we stumble, we fall. It's only a small beginning, but thank you for making that beginning. We look forward to glory, and finally we will put away off all sin and be renewed in perfection and righteousness and holiness forever. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.