To Fulfill the Law and Prophets

Advent 2024  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  37:36
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Scripture Intro:

Why did Jesus come to earth?
To Give His Life
To Destroy the Works of the Devil
Today, from Jesus’ interactions with Zacchaeus (the wee little man)...
Scripture Reading (“Please stand…”)
Luke 19:10 ESV
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Pray...

Intro:

This is the story of Zacchaeus.
Who was he?
Who is Zacchaeus?
Tax Collector
Sold out his own people.
Had to buy the right to collect taxes in his territory.
Then, owed the Romans a certain number each year for the entire region.
Any extra he got to keep.
He was Hated, Despised .. Shunned.
Mishnah - 6 or 7th century BC...
applications of the law.
One author summarizing the Mishnah on tax collectors...
“Tax collectors were so laothsome that they should not even be considered people
You were free to lie to tax collectors, it said,
b/c lying to an animal was not a sin.”
These were some unpopular people.

One Pursuer

“For the Son of Man came...”
“Son of Man”
Remember what Todd said during the first week of this series.
Title of Majesty and Power
“one like a son of man” comes “with the clouds of heaven” (Dan 7:13 NIV)
Dan. 7:14, “And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”
“Came”
The promise of Christmas is that God shows up as a person.
He accomplishes salvation as a Person.
He is the one who made the move toward Zacchaeus.
Calls sinners, not the righteous
He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10 Zaccheus)
Jesus calls
We don’t seek him.
He seeks us out.
He draws us, calls us, moves in us.
He Moves Toward People
Direct, Intentional
Luke 19:5 ESV
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.”
Moves toward people
"I'm going to your house today."
Closeness speaks volumes to people.
Closeness conveys love probably even more than words.

One Recipient

“the lost.”
Such an interesting word.
The Literal Use.
a. “To destroy,” “kill,” in battle or prison;
b. “to lose or suffer the loss of something”
c. “to perish”;
d. “to be lost” (cf. Lk. 15), not sharply distinguished from c.
1/3 of the time, this word is translated...
“destroy” or “Lose/Loss” or “perish”
I think the translation of “lost” is just fine,
but the word (based on context) is translated destroyed/dead.
All I’m saying is that this is a strong word,
NOT simply “misplaced” ...
(like I lost my keys or can’t find my phone).
(v. 10) "Seek and save what was lost."
What a powerful phrase.
Like Linda talked about on Thursday night at the Women’s Christmas Party...
The world is “in darkness”
and with darkness is blindness.
So Jesus seeks out the ones what we think are not worth seeking.
He saves those who we say are not worth saving.
ILL. Presidential Pardons
Former Dixon, Illinois Comptroller Rita Crundwell was convicted in 2013 for embezzling $54 million to finance a lavish lifestyle.
her hometown of Dixon, Illinois
She was sentenced to 19 years in prison.
largest municipal heist in U.S. history
Former US Marshal Jason Wojdylo met with Crundwell in prison several times as he worked to sell her assets.
“She conveyed to me more of a sense of disgust that she had been sentenced that long,” he said back in 2021. “She was very visibly shaken by the fact she was serving a nearly 20 year sentence.”
On Thursday, she received a full pardon from President Biden, which wouldn't have been completed until 2029.
App. The Love of Jesus Shapes the Way We Love
Luke 19:8 ESV
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.”
He's going to give away his wealth.
Say he has about $10 million
Give back half = $5 million.
Cheated people out of 2 million.
Pay back 4 times = 4 x 2 = $8 million
$10 mill - $5 million - $8 million = DEBT ($3 million)
Loves in this way b/c he has been loved by Jesus.

Two Purposes

To Seek
To Save
Ezekiel 34:16 ESV
I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

To Seek

To look intently for.
To search for.
Cross References:
Matthew 18:12 ESV
What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?
Calling of Matthew (another tax collector)
Matthew 9:12 ESV
But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
Matthew 9:13 ESV
Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Romans 5:8 ESV
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The lost...
is singular.
Not plural.
so this was an intentional seeking of Zacchaeus.
Jesus sought him out (personally)
Jesus saved him (personally)
Gerhard Kittel
“The divine seeking involves at the same time a divine claiming.” (Gerhard Kittel)

To Save

“save”
To deliver
To preserve someone ‘s life
In the sense which is beyond the physical realm,
Forgiveness of sins
Entrance into the Kingdom of God
“Savior”
Luke 2:11 (ESV)
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
Gospel’s power
For those most unlikely to accept it.
Only the power of God unto salvation.
“salvation HAS COME to this house”
He didn’t find salvation.
It found him...
through Jesus.
R.C. Sproul,
For his whole adult career, presumably, Zaccheus had been a traitor to the household of Israel, but in this moment of confession of faith, he becomes a son of Abraham. (R.C. Sproul)
Yet, while Zacchaeus was the singular one that Jesus was seeking here...
what are the effects of his salvation.
Luke 19:9 ESV
And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.
Matthew Henry:
When Zaccheus is brought to Christ himself...
his family also become related to Christ...
for he is a son of Abraham.
Therefore, his household is brought into the covenant that God made with Abraham.
As a son of Abraham, he comes into the blessing of Abraham...
"that God will be a God to him and to his children.”
When he believes, salvation comes to his house,
just as the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:31
Acts 16:31 ESV
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
When Jesus seeks and saves the lost...
it has a generational impact.
Our children are brought into the blessing of God’s covenant faithfulness.

Close in Prayer

Installation of Todd Boone as Associate Pastor

Todd has served faithfully as our Director of Youth and Families (2019)
Was ordained/installed as an Assistant Pastor in Nov. 2021
Called by the elders on the Session
Now, you as a congregation voted to call him
As your Associate Pastor
This next portion of our service is…
To set him apart for this call (vows/charges)
To ask God to bless his ministry (prayer)
To recognize our response to his ministry (our vows)
This is also an action of our Presbytery,
Which is a collection of PCA churches in our area.
We are gladly a church in subjection to other churches.
We are not a church on our own.
We are a church under authority (Acts 15).
So you will see elders from other churches as a part of this.
Called by our congregation.
Approved by Presbytery.
Installed by a commission on behalf of presbytery.
This is actually a formal meeting of the church…
So to do business as a church…
We need a required quorum (60 members).
I’ll say that we definitely have that.
Let me pray.
Order:
Questions for ordination (Nate)
Questions for the congregation (Nate)
Charge to Todd (Andy)
Charge to Congregation (Matt)
Prayer and Laying on of Hands (Bob Cantrell)
Welcome all ordained elders in the PCA (TE/RE)…
Pronouncement of Installation
I now pronounce and declare that Todd Boone
has been regularly elected and installed
as the Associate Pastor of this congregation,
agreeable to the Word of God,
and according to the Constitution
of the Presbyterian Church in America;
and that as such he is entitled to
all support, encouragement, honor, and obedience in the Lord:
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Right Hand of Fellowship

Closing Song:

“Joy to World”
Our joy is in the rule and reign of Jesus...
who came to seek and save the lost.
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