Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 2709 Rock Springs Road in Kingsport, Tennessee,
would like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
of their pastor, Gabe Stonica. For information and service times,
visit www.ksgc.church. And now, Gabe Stoniker. I would
like to bring a message to you today from Luke chapter 18. If
you would like to follow along with me in your Bible, it will
come from Luke 18. And I want to begin by telling
you about a conversation that I had with a brother a little
while back. We were talking about the evidence
of being saved. The evidence of being saved. How can a man really know if
he is saved? How can a woman really know if
she is saved? And in this conversation, I said,
well, let's turn over here and look at this account where our
Lord described to us, he actually showed us a lost man and a saved
man. He pointed out the difference
between a lost man and a saved man. He showed us what they look
like, what their evidences are. And then he plainly told us at
the end, this one was lost and this one was saved. And that's
what I would like for us to consider this morning. I want us to look
at that very passage and I want us to see the account that our
Lord has given. I've titled this message, A Lost
Man and a Saved Man. In Luke chapter 18, beginning
in verse 9, we will read down to verse 14. It says, and he
spake this parable, our Lord spake this parable unto certain
which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised
others. Two men went up into the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank thee that I am not
as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar
off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but
smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other. For every one
that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted." Now, as we just heard, a Pharisee,
he said two men went into the temple to pray, a Pharisee and
a publican. A Pharisee was an extreme churchgoer. I want to tell you a little bit
about these two men. A Pharisee was an extreme churchgoer. He was one who on paper, we will
say, got it right. Okay, he got it right. He'd get
up every morning. I'm sure he would, you know,
read his Bible and have devotion, prayer. I'm sure he had a devoted
prayer life. And he was not just one who attended
on a regular basis. He was one who was a leader in
the church. He was a teacher, a preacher,
an elder, one who would, you know, be on the committees, that
kind of thing. One who would make decisions
in the church. One who was very well respected. I'm sure you know men like this. I'm sure you know women like
this. Very well respected. Seen as a church member of all
church members. Now that was a Pharisee. That
was a Pharisee. When you hear the scriptures
talk about Pharisees, that was a Pharisee. One who would abide
by the law. That was a Pharisee, okay? A publican was basically a mafia
member. If you ever get the time, you
can research on your own what a publican was in the scripture. But a publican was a tax collector,
but not just by vocation. A publican was not someone who
had a pencil and calculated numbers and charged taxes. He was one
who would extort people. He was a Jew who collected taxes
to give it to the Romans. And he did it by brutal force. His tactics to get money out
of his fellow Jews was very brutal. And he would skim off the top
and make himself rich by another's misfortune, some from his own
people, his own kindred. He was a criminal. He was a criminal. And publicans were seen that
way, just like mafia members are seen that way as being criminals,
a mega criminal. That was a publican. And it says
that in verse nine right here, our Lord spake this parable unto
certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and
despised others. Two men went up into the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not
as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. This churchgoer said, I thank
you for the fact that I'm not like this mafia member. I thank
you for that. He said, this is everything that
he is. And I'm so glad for the fact that I'm nothing like him.
He takes what is not rightfully his. He commits adultery. This man said, I deny myself
what's rightfully mine. I fast twice in the week. You
know, fasting, when people fast, they're denying themselves of
food. I deny myself, he takes what's
not his. He extorts money from people. He steals from people. This Pharisee
said, I give tithes of all that I possess. Oh, I'm so thankful
that I'm nothing like him, nothing like this man. Verse 13, a publican
standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but smote upon his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I'm a sinner, that mafia member.
was brought to a place where all he could say was, Lord, I
have no choice but to acknowledge to you that I am everything that
that church going Pharisee says I am. Everything he said I am,
that's what I am. He's saying I'm unworthy. I'm
saying it too. He's saying that I'm a sinner
against you. I'm saying it too. Please though, I'm begging you
for mercy. Lord, I'm begging you for mercy.
Mercy in the blood of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
where mercy is found. Any soul who begs for mercy is
begging for mercy in the blood of Jesus Christ. That's where
mercy is found. God said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. In verse 14, now we know what
the Pharisee said, we know what the publican said. Verse 14,
our Lord said, I tell you, this man went down to his house. Which man is he talking about?
He's talking about the publican. The publican, I tell you, this
man went down to his house, justified. That means just and right before
God. This man went down to his house
justified rather than the other. For everyone that exalteth himself
shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Now let's learn something from
this. The inner experience of salvation, and I know this is
going to be strange. If you've never heard this or
seen this from the scripture, this is going to sound very strange
because it's not what religion says. This is not the common
announcement of religion. Most religion is false religion. There's only one truth. And when
we veer from that truth, we enter into a false religion. The truth
is not my truth and the truth is not your truth. The truth
is God's truth, whatever God says. And this is what God just
said. We just read it. And I want us
to understand that the inner experience of salvation, the
inner feeling of salvation is not a feeling of holiness. like we're told, like we've been
told from a child up. It's not an inner feeling of
holiness. It's an inner feeling of sin. Our Lord said, when my Holy Spirit
comes to one of my own and awakens one of my own, the first thing
he will convince my child of is sin. That's what he said. Oh, sin. That's the inner feeling. It's not an inner feeling of
pride. You see people in religion and I feel for men and women.
I pray God would teach us all and humble us all. But often
we see men and women in religion going around so proudly, just
so proud of their religion. It's not an inner feeling of
pride. It's a feeling of regret. It's
not proud of what I've done, it's regret over what I've done. I am a sinner, you are a sinner.
We can try to fool men on the outside, but you and I both know
what's in the mind, what's in the heart. God sees it all, we're
sinners. And it's a feeling of regret,
it's not a feeling of having obtained. Like I got it right,
everybody else has it wrong, I got it right. It's not a feeling
of that, it's a feeling of the need of desperate help. Not having obtained, but a need
for desperate help. There is no salvation in the
feeling of holiness and pride in having obtained in this flesh. Philippians 3 verse 3 says the
inner feeling of God's people called the circumcision is absolutely
no confidence in this flesh whatsoever. No confidence at all. Verse 14
right here does not say that both of these men went down to
their houses justified. Our Lord didn't say, you know,
one was a good church goer and he was, you know, very proud
of himself and very accusing of this other man. And then this
other man was a sinner who begged for mercy. And then they both
went down justified. He did not say that. It says
one was justified. One was not. One was saved and
the other one was lost. And God Almighty said the sinful
man was the one that was saved. Is that not amazing to you? That's
amazing to me. That's truly amazing. The heathen,
the wretch, he was the saved one. If you are a heathen and
a wretch like I am, that ought to be good news to us. I'm not
trying to fool you in any way, shape or form. I am a sinner. This sinful flesh right here
is sin. That's all I am. I need mercy
in the blood of Jesus Christ. You need mercy in the blood of
Jesus Christ. That's what we need. That's what
we need to be crying out for. The one who headed up the committee
at church Our Lord said that man was not justified before
God. There's no salvation in heading
up committees at church. There's no salvation in that
at all. Do God's people want to faithfully attend a house
where true worship is taking place? Absolutely. Absolutely. But we don't put our trust in
what we're doing. Our trust has to be in the blood
of Jesus Christ alone. Head up a committee or don't
head up a committee. Salvation is in the blood of Jesus Christ
alone. Now here is our question for today. Why? Why is it this way? Why would
a fine, upstanding, moral, good example Christian man end up
being lost? Can a fine, upstanding, moral,
good example Christian man end up being lost? Yes, he can. We just read it. Luke 18 verse
14. Yes, he can. Why? Why? And then, why would
a vile, ungodly, worthy of condemnation, sinful man end up being saved? I mean a vile, ungodly, sinful
man. Why? Why? I'm gonna tell you this, and
this is so. It has everything to do with
who they stood before God trusting in. It has everything to do with
who they stood before God trusting in. It has nothing to do with
the life that they lived on this earth. Now again, I understand
this is foreign. I understand that this is not
told very much and it's very sad that this is not declared
from the rooftops because this is God's word. But salvation
is not of the life that men and women live on this earth. Salvation
is of the Lord. It has nothing to do with the
works of men and women's flesh. It has nothing to do with the
deeds that they commit on this earth. And I'll tell you this,
all of us ought to thank God for that because all of our deeds
are sinful, wretched, miserable deeds. There is none that doeth
good. No, not one. This fine church-going
man who's so proud of himself for everything he does and everything
that he is, God says it's iniquity in his eyes. God says that that
pride of self is the first thing he hates. That's what he says
in his word. No man can live up to the standard
of God. So all we're dealing with is
sinful deeds. And the question is, has God
revealed to a man or a woman the truth concerning Himself
and the truth concerning God's holy justice? And has God caused
a man or a woman to trust in Himself or to trust in the blood
of Jesus Christ alone? That's the question. That's the
whole question. Verse 9 again in Luke 18, verse
9 says, He spake this parable unto certain which trusted in
themselves. That's how this whole thing started.
He was saying this unto certain which trusted in themselves that
they were righteous and despised others. Our Lord was speaking
this parable to men and women who felt in their heart that
they were good enough people to go stand before the holy justice
of God. And God would be happy with them.
God would look at them and say, well done. That's who he was
talking to. We all need to learn something
about the holiness of God. We all must know something of
the strict justice of God. It is so strict. The law is so
strict. If any man thinks he has fulfilled
the law of God, he is deceiving himself. She is deceiving herself. Our Lord spake this unto certain
that trusted in themselves. They were trusting in their good
deeds. They were trusting in their good
heart. They were trusting in their good decisions. They were
trusting in their good life. that God would be happy with
them and he would accept them based on how they lived on this
earth. They were trusting in themselves,
trusting in what they thought was their fine Christian way,
thinking God has to be pleased with my morality. He has to be
pleased with it. God has to be pleased with what
I've done. He has to be pleased with what
I've sacrificed in this life to be able to do for him and
to give to him. He has to be pleased with that.
That's where man has gone wrong. That's where we as mankind have
gone wrong. The problem for man is he can't
stop looking to his flesh. That's the problem for man. Over
in Titus chapter 3, this is what Titus 3 verse 3 says. It says, for we ourselves also
were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers' lust
and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating
one another. Now, who was that? Us. Paul is writing to Timothy. This
is the apostle Paul, and he said, Timothy, we, no, Titus, we, me
and you, Titus. And that's what I'm saying now,
me and you. He's talking about us. That's how we were. Verse
4, he said, But after the kindness and love of God our Savior toward
man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by his grace. We should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life. Grace is unmerited favor, undeserved
kindness. In our story there in Luke 18,
which one of those two men thought he had deserved that kindness?
The Pharisee thought that, not the publican. He was crying for
unmerited favor, undeserved kindness. Mercy. Mercy. Our works are not a component
of our salvation at all. Again, I understand this is foreign,
but I do pray that the Lord will cause us to search God's word
to see if what I'm saying is so. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done. It's Christ's work alone. It's His work alone. That's the
difference. That is the only difference in
a saved man and a lost man. That's the only difference. Verse
five says, He saved us. Titus three, verse five, He saved
us, period. He saved us. Salvation is not
in our works. It has nothing to do with our
works. Our works are not a component of salvation, one way or the
other, good or bad. Do we desire to do good works?
Absolutely. Do we want to be like Christ?
Yes. But Paul said in Romans 7, this
flesh just cannot find a way to do that. You struggle with
your mind. You struggle with your heart.
You struggle with your deeds. I know you do. I do too. Sin
is not just what we do, sin is what we are. We're all sin, we're all sin. Even though there are times when
we think we do good things in reality before God again as we
said all of our righteousnesses are filthy rags. All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. So it's foolish for any
man to trust in his own works. Very foolish. Romans 9 says,
the end of verse 6, it says, they are not all Israel which
are of Israel. Meaning not every person born
in Israel is a child of God. And that's how it is in America.
Not every person born in America is a child of God. Some are saved,
some are lost. And in verse 10 it says that
Rebecca conceived by our father Isaac and the children being
not yet born neither having done any good or evil that the purpose
of God according to election might stand not of works but
of him that calleth. He was said unto her the elder
shall serve the younger as it is written Jacob have I loved
but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I'll have compassion
on whom I'll have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. The work is not ours, it's God's.
And for God's people, that work has already been finished. God
chose to save a sinful people. He chose them before the foundation
of the world. And he evidenced what he has
done for his sinful people by giving them faith in Christ. That's the evidence. Me and this
brother of mine, we were talking about what is the evidence of
salvation. Here it is, faith in Jesus Christ, faith in the
blood of Jesus Christ, looking to Jesus Christ, trusting in
the mercy that he said he would delight to show. Oh Lord, please be merciful to
us. Like that publican cried, please
be merciful to us. Every soul who begs God for mercy,
is begging God for mercy because God put a heart in that soul
to cry out for mercy. It's only in the nature of man
to be proud of himself. It's only in the nature of man
to see good works in himself. God has to reveal to a man or
a woman the utter sinfulness of their nature and sinfulness
of their flesh. And God has to put that heart
in them to cry out, Lord, I acknowledge everything I am before you. Would
you please be merciful to me? And if he has put that heart
in you, then that is the evidence that he chose you, Christ redeemed
you, and the Spirit has called you. Because every soul that
God has done this work for will cry this unto him. Every soul,
I need blood. I need the blood of Jesus Christ. I need God's lamb that was slain. That's after Adam and Eve sinned,
that's what he told them, he slayed a lamb. And he told them,
they tried to cover themselves with their own works and God
said, it's not gonna be your works, it's gonna be the blood
of my lamb. Cain and Abel, that was a saved man and a lost man.
Cain tried to bring his good works, the fruit of the ground.
Abel brought the blood of a lamb. God told Moses who represents
the law. God gave Moses the law. You tell
the people, kill a lamb. The law was given to show our
sin. and to point us to the Lamb, the blood of the Lamb. And that's
where I want to point you today, the blood of the Lamb, the blood
of Jesus Christ. If you are a sinner and you desire
salvation and eternity with Christ, you cry out to him for mercy
in the blood. God, be merciful to me for Christ's
sake, the death of Christ's sake, the blood of Christ's sake. You
come to him that way. And he said, all who come to
me, I will in no wise cast out. To Him be the glory. Amen. Tune in at this same time next
week for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.