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
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. For information and service times,
visit www.ksgc.church. And now, Gabe Stoniker. I would
like to bring a message to you today from Matthew chapter 13. If you have a Bible there, I
would encourage you to follow along with me. This is a wonderful
portion of scripture. Matthew 13. I want to begin reading
verse 47. Matthew 13 verse 47. It says again, the kingdom of heaven
is like unto a net. that was cast into the sea and
gathered of every kind." The kingdom of heaven is like a net
that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind. Let me begin this message with
a little illustration. What if a man went fishing? What
if a man went out, went to a lake, and went fishing and he was puzzled
because he wasn't catching any fish. What if he said, you know, I've
been doing a lot of fishing lately and I'm not catching anything
and I don't know why. I don't know what the problem
is. I'm saying to the fish, I'm walking up to the edge of the
water there at the lake and I'm saying to the fish, Won't you
let me catch you? Won't you give yourself to me? If you'll just get into this
cooler, I'll take you home. I'll have you for dinner. But
now you're going to have to clean yourself first. You're going
to have to fillet yourself first. You're going to have to prepare
yourself and make yourself ready. You know, you're going to have
to be seasoned and well pleasing to me, but if you'll do that,
I'll have you. I keep going out there to the
lake and saying that, and I just keep coming home empty handed. Do we realize how ridiculous
that sounds? Do we realize how ridiculous
that sounds for a man to conduct himself that way before a fish? Do we realize that that is what
men are accusing God of doing before worms? The whole theme and the whole
tone of our message today is going to be based on this fact
right here. The kingdom of heaven is like
a net. It's like a net, not a negotiation. A net. What God wants, God gets. Because he already has it. He
already owns it. God does not trick and lure. The kingdom of heaven is not
obtained by God casting a line with a hook on it and trying
to lure and trick. He engulfs, He captures, He lays
hold of, and He draws it in. Our Lord gave three parables
right here back to back that tell us this. If you look at
Matthew 13 verse 44, He said, again, the kingdom of
heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field, the which when
a man hath found, he hideth and for joy thereof goeth and selleth
all that he hath and buyeth that field. There's a field with treasure
buried in it. So he tells nobody and he goes
and he sells everything he has and he buys the field. Verse
45, Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking
goodly pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price,
went and sold all that he had and bought it. Again, the kingdom
of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the sea and
gathered of every kind. which, when it was full, they
drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels,
but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of
the world. The angel shall come forth and
sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into
the furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing
of teeth. Jesus saith unto them, Have you
understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord.
Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed
unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder
which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. Now he started here by saying
the kingdom of heaven is like. Every time I hear the Lord say
that it makes me want to really listen. The kingdom of heaven,
the things of God, the salvation of God, the way that salvation
went, the way that God secured heaven for his people and populated
heaven with his people. It was like this. Verse 44, again,
the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field.
The witch when a man hath found he hideth and for joy thereof
goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field. He
said it's like a man who saw something that was desirable
to him. He wanted it. But in order to have it it was
going to cost him everything that he had. He was going to
have to give everything. He couldn't just give a piece
of it. He had to give all of it. So
he sold all that he had and bought it. Verse 45, he said, I'm going
to say the same thing again. OK, let me put it this way. Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man seeking goodly
pearls. who when he had found one pearl
of great price went and sold all that he had and bought it. He said that's how the kingdom
of heaven was obtained. Now until God reveals this truth
right here men and women will see that when you read this men
and women will naturally see that as A burden that's laid
on man, something that man needs to do. People will see this as
man having to sell everything he has and buy the field of heaven. Man having to give up everything
he has and buy the pearl of great price, Jesus Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And while the Lord Jesus Christ
is the pearl of great price, And even though the Lord Jesus
Christ is heaven, there's a great problem with the error of viewing
man as the purchaser of the field and the purchaser of the pearl. And that problem will be made
known to men and women when God reveals to them the utter bankruptcy. of their sinful condition before
Him. When God reveals our bankruptcy
in sin to us, we don't have anything. We don't
have anything. We don't have anything of any
value. We most definitely don't have
anything that would be worthy of purchasing Christ. Nothing,
nothing worthy of purchasing glory in the transaction that secured
the treasures of eternity for God's people. Let's ask this
question. Who did the buying? Who did the
buying? Who did the redeeming? Who purchased
who? Turn with me over to first Corinthians
chapter six. In 1 Corinthians 6 verse 19 says, What? Know ye not that your body is
the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have
of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with
a price. Therefore, glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God's." You were bought. That's what
he is saying to his people. He's telling them, you didn't
buy, you were bought. What were God's people bought
with? What were they purchased with? Well, over in 1 Peter 1,
Verse 18 says, For as much as you know that you were not redeemed,
and the word redeemed means purchased. It means paid in full. You know,
every time you go to a store and buy something, you redeem
it. You're not allowed to leave unless
it's paid for in full. You're not allowed to take it
with you unless it's paid for in full. That's what redemption
is. And verse 18 says, for as much as you know that you were
not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot. He purchased his people with
his own blood. Christ did the purchasing. Christ
was the purchaser. How much of his own blood did
he have to give to pay the price for his people? How much of his
blood did he have to give? All of it. All of it. He gave all of it. Even unto
death. Though he was rich, the scripture
says, yet for your sake he became poor. That means emptied. that
you through his poverty might be rich. He's the one who bought
the field. He's the one who gave everything
for his precious jewels. That's what his people are referred
to in the scripture as jewels, pearls, jewels. Over in Malachi
chapter 3 if you want to look there at Malachi chapter 3 last
last book in the Old Testament. Verse 16 says, Then they that
feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened
and heard it. And a book of remembrance was
written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought
upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith
the Lord of hosts, in that day When I make up my jewels, that
means special treasure, I will spare them as a man spareth his
own son that serveth him. He's the one who gave all. for
his people. He's the one who paid the price
for his people and he paid it in full. That's the good news
of the gospel. He paid it in full when he said
it is finished. What he was saying was the payment
has been made in full. The purchase has been secured. They are purchased. They are
mine. They're mine. I bought them.
They're mine. Now with the purchase being made
with the ownership having been secured and with the Son of God
having given his all in the transaction to make it secure. Let me ask
you this question. All right. Christ made the payment.
Christ did the securing. Christ did the buying. Christ
did the work. Now let's ask this question.
Think about this. And I want you to think about
this in light of how men are portraying God and His work today
in religion. What men are standing up in pulpits
saying to people in religion. I want you to think about this.
After that payment having been secured and all being given and
the finished work being done, Do we really believe that God
is now going to go around to all of his purchased possession,
asking them and begging them to let him have them? Won't you let me have you? Won't
you give your heart to me and let me? Does that make sense? After all that Christ has done,
do we really believe that he now has to go to great lengths
to trick and lure his people into him. If he's going to have
them, they're going to have to be lured in. They're going to
have to be coerced in, convinced to come. Do we really believe that? You
know, men stand in pulpits telling people, won't you let him save
you? Won't you let him have you? Listen,
the gospel call, the declaration of truth, the preaching of Christ,
the true message of God is a net. And when he sends it out to the
heart of one of his own, he has a particular fish out there.
Particular people. And when he sends that message
to one of his own, when it's his appointed time to get his
own, this message by his spirit, of his spirit, by his doing,
it captures the soul, it captures the attention, it captures the
mind and the heart, and it draws the center to Christ. The gospel
call is a net. It's not a plea. It's not a interaction. It's a net. It's
a net. At his good time, whenever he
pleases, he lays hold of one of his own. And that sinner comes. That sinner comes. There is no
resisting God. You know, people stand up, say,
now he's calling, don't resist him. There is no resisting God.
His call is irresistible. When he says, come to me, we're
coming. We're coming. When he says, come
to the knowledge of God, the knowledge of yourself, our sin,
we're coming to that. And I thank God. I thank God
for that. Our Lord said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. No man can come except the Father
draw him. But the Father will draw and
he or she will come. And he or she will be willing
to come. All of God's people come to Christ willingly. They
all do, even though they're captured in his net, there is no place
they'd rather be. That's the truth. There's no
place they'd rather be. Now, those who are not his people,
Not every fish in the sea is one of his chosen. Those who are not his people
they do not come to him willingly but it doesn't matter either
way they are going to come. They don't come willingly but
they are going to come if he calls them to come stand before
him in judgment. They're coming when it's their
time and he calls and it's not a call of mercy but it's a call
of judgment. That soul is still coming. There's
no resisting God. That's the point of this message.
There is no resisting the almighty sovereign God. But every soul
who he lovingly bought with that great price, they don't want
to resist him anyway. They lovingly, they come running
to that net. They come running to it. I love
the story of when the Lord told Peter to cast his net on the
other side. You may remember that Peter was out fishing and
he said, have you caught anything? And the disciples said, no. And
he said, cast your net on the other side. And they said, we've
been out all night. We've been, we've toiled all
night long. Nevertheless, at your word, just to appease you,
just to prove it to you, we'll cast on the other side. And when
it did it says that net became immediately so full of fish the
nets started to break. They had to drag them to the
shore. What was going on in that moment? Fish were cramming themselves
into that net. They were running to that net.
They were swimming to that net. They couldn't get into that net
fast enough. And that's the child of God.
That's the elect of God. That exact number when after
the Lord arose that happened twice and after the Lord arose
Peter the second time it happened Peter told John that's the Lord
and he jumped into the sea and he swam to the shore and the
rest of them came dragging the nets and there was an exact number
of fish they told it. Scripture tells us exactly how
many fish were in that net. That represents the chosen number
of Christ the elect of God. And every one of his people want
to be in his net. Lord capture me, lay hold of
me, surround me, and bring me to you. God's elect want nothing
more to be in that net. They want nothing more than to
be owned by him. That's what we desire. That's what we desire. Over in
Isaiah 53, This right here is all that God's people want to
hear from him. Isaiah 53 verse 1 it says, But now thus saith
the Lord that created thee, O Jacob. And Jacob is the center. It's
amazing that you know Jacob's name was changed to Israel Prince
with God. But Jacob's name means center
trickster supplanter. That's who God chose and used
to represent all of his spiritual people. Jacob. Center. The God of Jacob. He's the God
of the center. Verse one right here Isaiah 43 one says But now
thus sayeth the Lord that created thee O Jacob and he that formed
thee O Israel. Fear not for I have redeemed
thee. I have called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. That is all that
a child of God wants to hear from him. That is the good news
net. That is the gospel call that
draws all of God's people to him. I saw you. I saw you in
your sin. I saw you where you were. I bought
you. I redeemed you. I paid the price
for you. I made you my own. You're mine. You're mine. That's his cords
of love. The scripture refers to that
call from him, those words from him as cords of love that draws
his bride. to himself. He says, I am yours
and you're mine. I'm yours and you're mine. Now,
do we see him as the great purchaser, the great redeemer, the great
caller? Do we see him as being the one
who holds everything concerning us in the palm of his hands? Has God revealed to us that the
salvation that is in Christ is of God? It's in the hands of
God. It's by the doing of God. It's
by the decree of God. When that net goes out, if that
net is cast into the sea, what does the fish have to do with
that? Did the does the fish have to make a decision first for
the fishermen to cast the net in and grab grab hold of that
fish? No. Does the fish have to first give
himself? Does the fish have to do better
in the sea when you have to be a better fish before? No. All
those fish come from the same. Same lump, same water. Who makes
the difference? God makes the difference. Do
we see that salvation is completely in God's hands? It's completely
by God's will? It's completely God's decision?
It's completely God's work? And it has nothing to do with
us? All of God's people see that.
I pray we do. I pray the Lord will reveal that
to us. I pray the Lord, it's called
repentance. Repentance is a changed mind about God, man, and how
salvation takes place. It's not of me, it's of him.
It's not of the fish, it's of the fishermen. Let's end the message here by
seeing this final thing. If you go back with me to our
text in Matthew 13, Matthew 13, verse 53. It says, And it came to pass
that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. And when he was come into his
own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that
they were astonished and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom
and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? Now listen, that's how they knew
him. Is not this just the carpenter's
son? And that's what people think
of Jesus Christ. Isn't he just a good man? Wasn't
he born of a virgin and Joseph was a carpenter and he lived
a good life? You know what God reveals to
his people when that net of salvation comes? That's not just the carpenter's
son, that's God Almighty. That's the owner and controller
of the net. That's who this is. Verse 54, when he was come into
his own country, he taught them in their synagogue and so much
that they were astonished and said, whence hath this man this
wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son?
It's not his mother called Mary and his brethren James and Josie
and Simon and Judas and his sisters are they not all with us? Whence
then hath this man all these things? And they were offended
in him. But Jesus said unto them a prophet
is not without honor save in his own country and in his own
house. And he did not many mighty works
there because of their unbelief. How about us? These are our closing
remarks here. How about us? Are we offended
by His sovereign lordship over us? Are we offended by His purchasing
right? His right to purchase whom He
will, when He will? Are we offended by His powerful
authority in this whole transaction? Not ours, but His alone? I pray
all of us can say no, no I'm not offended by that, that's
my delight, that's my delight, that's our glory, that's our
hope, that's all our desire. We believe, we willingly bow
to him, we bow to what this says concerning him, that's the God
we're coming to. The Almighty, that's who we're
coming to, we thank God for him, we thank God for Jesus Christ.
unto him that loved us and gave himself for us by washing us
in his own blood. We give thanks to him. I pray
God will give that heart to us concerning his gospel concerning
this net. I pray he'll cause all of us
to say thank God for the sovereign ownership and call of our Lord
Jesus Christ to him be all the glory. Amen. You have been listening
to a message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport Sovereign
Grace Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like a copy of this
message or to hear other messages of sovereign grace, you can call
or write to the number and address on your screen or visit www.ksgc.church. Tune in at this same time next
week for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.