Having believed on JESUS in his heart, he now makes confession of him with his mouth to salvation. “_Zaccheus_ stood forth:” he was not ashamed, but stood forth before his brother Publicans; for true faith casts out all servile, sinful fear of man; “and said, Behold, LORD.” It is remarkable, how readily people in scripture have owned the divinity of CHRIST immediately upon their conversion. Thus the woman at _Jacob_’s well; “Is not this the CHRIST?” Thus the man born blind; “LORD, I believe; and worshipped him.” Thus _Zaccheus_, “Behold, LORD.” An incontestable proof this to me, that those who deny our LORD’s divinity, never effectually felt his power: if they had, they would not speak so lightly of him; they would scorn to deny his eternal power and Godhead. “_Zaccheus_ stood forth, and said, Behold, LORD, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him four-fold.” Noble fruits of a true living faith in the LORD JESUS! Every word calls for our notice. Not some small, not the tenth part, but the _half_. Of what? My goods; things that were valuable. _My_ goods, his own, not another’s. I give: not, I will give when I die, when I can keep them no longer; but, I give now, even now. _Zaccheus_ would be his own executor. For whilst we have time we should do good. But to whom would he give half of his goods? Not to the rich, not to those who were already clothed in purple and fine linen, of whom he might be recompensed again; but to the poor, the maimed, the halt, the blind, from which he could expect no recompence till the resurrection of the dead. “I give to the poor.” But knowing that he must be just before he could be charitable, and conscious to himself that in his public administrations he had wronged many persons, he adds, “And if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him four-fold.” Hear ye this, all ye that make no conscience of cheating the king of his taxes, or of buying or selling run goods. If ever GOD gives you true faith, you will never rest, till, like _Zaccheus_, you have made restitution to the utmost of your power. I suppose, before his conversion, he thought it no harm to cheat thus, no more than you may do now, and pleased himself frequently, to be sure, that he got rich by doing so: but now he is grieved for it at his heart; he confesses his injustice before men, and promises to make ample restitution. Go ye cheating Publicans, learn of _Zaccheus_; go away and do likewise. If you do not make restitution here, the LORD JESUS shall make you confess your sins before men and angels, and condemn you for it, when he comes in the glory of his Father to judgment hereafter.
After all this, with good reason might our LORD say unto him, “This day is salvation come to this house; forasmuch as he also is the Son of _Abraham_;” not so much by a natural as by a spiritual birth. He was made partaker of like precious faith with _Abraham_: like _Abraham_ he believed on the LORD, and it was accounted to him for righteousness: his faith, like _Abraham_’s, worked by love; and I doubt not, but he has been long since sitting in _Abraham_’s harbour.
And now, are you not ashamed of yourselves, who speak against the doctrines of grace, especially that doctrine of being justified by faith alone, as though it leaded to licentiousness? What can be more unjust than such a charge? Is not the instance of _Zaccheus_, a sufficient proof to the contrary? Have I strained it to serve my own turn? GOD forbid. To the best of my knowledge I have spoken the truth in sincerity, and the truth as it is in JESUS. I do affirm that we are saved by grace, and that we are justified by faith alone: but I do also affirm that faith must be evidenced by good works, where there is an opportunity of performing them.