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 very
important message to you today. I have a very, very critical
message for us today. Our text will come from Matthew
chapter six, Matthew six, and I pray the Lord will cause us
to really see this because this is critical. In regard to the issue of preaching,
When I first started preaching and first started studying and
trying to learn what it is to preach the truth of God's word,
I remember the moment when it dawned on me to read our Lord's
messages, the messages that are recorded in the word that our
Lord preached. If you really want to study preaching,
And if I really want to study preaching then we need to study
his preaching. His messages are perfect. His words are perfect. His manner of delivery and his
use of illustrations, he called them parables, is perfect. What a treasure we have in the
written messages, the written preaching of the Lord our God.
Here in Matthew 6 is one of our Lord's messages, and I want to
look at three verses from this message specifically. And as we look at them, let's
remember that this is the Lord God Himself speaking. These are
the words of God himself. Let's ask him to teach us and
to convince us of what he's saying right here. I pray that he will. Matthew 6, if you look at verse
22, our Lord said, the light of the body is the eye. The light of the body is the
eye. The eye is how we see. It's how we look at. It's how we look to. It's how we know. It's how we
understand and how we perceive. It's how we are directed. The
eye. Verse 22, he said, the light
of the body is the eye. If therefore, then I be single. If the eye sees and looks to
and perceives and is directed to one, single, if it's looking
to, looking at one, then he said, thy whole body shall be full
of light. Your whole body will be full
of the sun. Physically speaking, S-U-N, spiritually
speaking, S-O-N, the sun. Your whole body will be full
of the sun. The understanding, the knowledge,
the direction of the sun, the son of God. Verse 23, he said,
but if thine eye be evil, and that means dark, That's what
it means. If it be dark, if it is looking
at and looking to darkness, if all that is known and understood
and perceived is darkness, if we're just directed to darkness,
verse 23, he said, then thy whole body, all of your being, all
of it, shall be full of darkness. Verse 23, he said, if then I
be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore
the light that is in thee be darkness. How great is that darkness? How great is that darkness? Now
here's our question for today. What is he saying in that? Clearly
he was saying something very important. The whole body being
full of light or the whole body being full of darkness? He didn't
say part of the body, he said the whole body. Clearly this
is important. What does he mean in what he
is saying? Well, here's what he means. Verse 24, he explains himself
in his own words, not in my words, not in my interpretation. He
explains himself in verse 24. He said, here's what he means.
No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one
and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise
the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. That's what he means. That's
what he was talking about. You cannot serve God and mammon. Mammon means riches but he's
not talking about money. This is important. Mammon means
riches but he is not talking about money. The dictionary says
it means riches in the form of a person other than God. a person other than God, any
other person, any other man. So what is he saying in this?
He's saying you cannot serve God and man. You cannot serve
God and any other man. You cannot. It is one or the
other, but it cannot be both. It's light or darkness. can't be both. It's light or
darkness, it just cannot be both. And I'll give you a little spoiler
alert. All of false religion is trying
to mix the two. That's what false religion is.
Trying to mix the two, light and darkness, God and man. Our Lord said it can't be both. Now let me show you something
and we're going to build up to this absolute truth concerning
salvation. We're going to start with this.
God has made a distinct difference between light and darkness. He's
made a distinct difference. There are so many scriptures
that show us this distinct difference between light and darkness. I
wrote down a couple of them here. Let me show them to you. Genesis
one is the first one. Genesis chapter one verse One, it says, in the beginning,
God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was without
form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And
the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and God
said, let there be light. And there was light. And God
saw the light, that it was good. And God divided the light from
the darkness. And God called the light day,
and the darkness he called night, and the evening and the morning
were the first day. He put a distinct difference
between light and darkness. Over in Exodus chapter 10, Exodus
10 verse 21, this is when our Lord sent plagues to Egypt and
Exodus 10 verse 21 says, the Lord said unto Moses, stretch
out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over
the land of Egypt, even darkness, which may be felt. And Moses
stretched forth his hand toward heaven, and there was a thick
darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They saw not one
another, neither rose any from his place. They didn't get up
for three days. But all the children of Israel
had light in their dwellings. All of them. God made a distinct
difference between his people and his enemies. And that distinct
difference was light and darkness. Now, light and darkness, spiritually,
they represent two different things. Two very different things. 1 John 1, all the way back to
the back of the Bible, 1 John 1 verse 5 says, this then is
the message. Here it is. We're talking about
preaching. This then is the message which
we have heard of him and declare unto you. God is light and in
him is no darkness at all. God is light and in him is no
darkness at all. And to understand specifically
who we are referring to when we say God is light. 2 Corinthians
4 verse 6 says, God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That's where
the light is, in Jesus Christ, in the face of Jesus Christ.
God is light. God hath shined the light in
the face of who he is, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. So God, the Lord Jesus Christ,
is the light. Christ is the light. He plainly
said that in John chapter 8, John chapter 9, and John chapter
12. He said, I am the light of the world. He said, I am the
light that came into the world. And he said, I am the light of
life. I am the light. Now the contrast to that, spiritually,
we're talking, obviously, the reference physically, the illustration
is light and darkness, day and night. Spiritually speaking,
what all of this represents spiritually, okay, Listen to these scriptures. Matthew 4 16 says the people,
all right, the people, that's what you and our, the people
which sat in darkness saw great light and to them, which sat
in the region and shadow of death, death, death is darkness. But
in that region, it says light is sprung up. Christ. Christ
came. The people sat in darkness. The
darkness of death. That's where Christ found his
people. John 3 verse 19 says, this is the condemnation. If men and women are condemned
eternally, here's the reason why. This is the condemnation.
that light is come into the world, Christ, light is come into the
world and men loved darkness. What is darkness? Man, self,
flesh, the world. This is the condemnation that
light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. Men naturally do not
want the light. Man loves man. Man loves self. Man wants and prefers his own
darkness. Man prefers the darkness of self,
the darkness of his own false religion, not the truth of God's
Word declared. Man wants his own thoughts, his
own opinions, his own ways. That's what man prefers. He wants
darkness. Anything other than the truth
is darkness. Anything other than Christ is
darkness. Why is it that that's what man
wants? Why is it that that is what women
want? Men and women. Here's the reason
why. Their deeds are evil. They're evil. Our flesh is evil.
We're conceived in sin, we're born in sin, we grow up in sin,
we live in sin. This flesh is sin. Darkness,
that's what we are, by nature, darkness. And again, in John
8, verse 12, the Lord said, I am the light of the world. He that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the
light of life. But here's the problem for men
and women by nature. They are not satisfied and they
do not want to follow the light. They do not want to follow Christ
and it's because their deeds are evil. They cannot follow
Christ. They cannot follow the light
because their deeds are evil. That's a problem. Men and women
have to try to work their darkness into the light somehow. That's
all that man naturally knows to do is just try to add his
darkness to the light. And our Lord said in our text
that will never happen. That will never happen. You cannot
add man's darkness to Christ's light. There is only one master. Our Lord said, you cannot serve
two masters. It's going to be one or the other.
And there's only one master. There's only one master in the
work of salvation and it's not man. Over in John 13, John chapter
13, our Lord said in John 13, verse 13, You call me master and Lord,
and you say, well, for so I am. I am the master. I am the Lord. When it comes to the light of
spiritual life, if we are going to bow down and worship and serve
the work of our Lord and master, Jesus Christ, then we are going
to have to despise and reject and deny the work of man. And if we're going to bow down
to and worship and serve the work of man, then we're going
to have to despise and reject and deny the work of Christ.
It's one of the two. Does that make sense? What I
just said, does that make sense? When it comes to salvation, if
we're going to serve the light, our master, who is Christ, and
his work, we're gonna have to deny this. We're gonna have to
reject all works of man. We're gonna have to reject man's
hand in the matter. And if we're gonna serve man,
We're going to have to reject Christ. We're going to have to
reject his hand in the matter because he said it's one or the
other. It cannot be both. You cannot
mix the two. Where mankind is going wrong
in religion, you go into religion. Go into false religion. False
religion is everywhere. It's everywhere. It was in our
Lord's day. It still is to this day. Where
mankind is going wrong in false religion is he's trying as hard
as he can to mix man's work with God's work. He's trying to make
a cooperation with God in salvation. And it can't be done. It just
cannot be done. Salvation is either by man's
works alone or it's by God's grace alone. And according to the Holy Spirit
that cannot lie, it's not by man's works. Salvation is of
the Lord, completely, totally alone. Salvation is of the Lord
alone. That means the saving of souls
was done by Jesus Christ all by himself. I didn't help him
save me, you don't help him save you. It's not that he takes the
first step and you have to take the second step, none of those
things are true. If you've heard that, that's
darkness. It's all darkness. Turn over to Romans 11. Romans
11 verse one says, I say then, hath God cast away his people,
his chosen people? God forbid. For I am also an
Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God
hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew. Know ye not
what the scripture saith of Elias, how he maketh intercession to
God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets
and digged down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they
seek my life. He said, I'm the only believer
left. But what saith the answer of God unto him? God said, I
have reserved to myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee
to the image of Baal. Even so, then, at this present
time also there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. And if by grace, then it is no
more of works, man's works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. He said it's one or the other,
but it can't be both. There is no mixing of the two. Let me see if I can illustrate
to you what the mixing of the two sounds like and what it looks
like, okay? We just read right here that
God elected a people to save and he saved them. Do you know what light, having
light, places after that statement when you hear that God elected
a people to save and God saved them? A soul that has light. Do you know what light places
after that statement? Here's the answer. A period. A period. Having a single eye
on the work of the Master places a period after that statement. God elected a people to save
and He saved them, period. That's light. But do you know
what darkness, being full of darkness, places after that statement? It will say God elected a people
to save and he saved them, comma. But. Whatever, fill in the blank,
you know, you have to accept him. Yeah, he he chose to save
a people and oh, he saved them, comma, but. Now it's on you now
you're going to have to accept that salvation. You know, you're going to have
to do your part. You have to believe on him. If that's up to you, if you don't
believe on him. Then he's not going to give it
to you. If you're not baptized, then he's. You're not going to
make it effectual. If you don't add your darkness
to his light, it's going to nullify his light. Brethren, listen,
that is not so. That is not so. Do you see and
do you hear the difference in the master of light period alone
and trying to add the darkness of man to him? Here's another example, okay?
I was talking with someone not too long ago, and he was telling
me about a preacher he was listening to who was preaching from John
chapter 10, the precious John 10, that's such a wonderful chapter,
where our Lord said, my sheep hear my voice. And this brother
told me that this was the preacher's message. He said, yes, he is
going to speak to you, But he said, now it's your responsibility
to listen. He's going to speak, but the
responsibility, the responsibility to listen is on you. If you don't
listen, that's on you. If you want to be saved, then
you'd better be listening. That's your responsibility or
it's not going to happen. Brethren, that is not so. That is not so, God forbid. That
is not the truth. That is absolute darkness. Listen
to this, I love this verse of scripture. This is John 5 verse
25. Our Lord said, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live. The dead. the dead. Can a dead man take
the responsibility of listening? No. No, absolutely not. This thing is of light with no
darkness involved at all. It is God and not man at all. That's how this thing of salvation
goes. Now, if Christ, our Master and
our Lord, if He did accomplish this work of delivering us from
our darkness, how did He do it? What did Christ, our light, have
to do to deliver us from all of our darkness? This is so amazing. This right here is so amazing.
Let me see if I can find it here. Lamentations 3, so amazing. Verse 1, this is the Lord Jesus
Christ speaking. He said, I am the man that hath
seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. I saw the wrath and
judgment of God. Verse two says, he hath led me
and brought me into darkness and not into light. Christ said,
I was brought into the darkness of my people. Psalm 18 says,
thou will light my candle. The Lord, my God will enlighten
my darkness. How did he do that? The light
himself did that by coming down into our darkness, the darkness
of our sin. Psalm 88, he said, thou has laid
me in the lowest pit in darkness in the deeps. He laid in the
darkness of his people. In order to give his light, he
took our darkness upon himself. On the cross of Calvary, while
our Lord, under the suffering, agony, and weight of our sin,
was crying, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The scripture
says, for the span of three hours, darkness was all over the earth.
darkness. Our Savior came down here and
hung in and suffered in our darkness. That's how he delivered us. And
he did it alone. He took it upon himself and did
it alone. He was condemned for us in our
darkness. And if God reveals that to us,
light has come to us. And if light has come to us,
let's keep our eye on that. Keep our eye on Christ, the sacrifice,
the salvation that is in Christ alone. 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.