Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I am going to be speaking to
you today from the book of Mark, chapter 15. Mark 15, and our
text will come from one verse of scripture, verse 39, which
says, And when the centurion, which stood over against him,
saw that he so cried out and gave up the ghost, he said, truly,
this man was the son of God. thinking about our Lord's suffering
on the cross, thinking about what it took in order for him
to pay the sin debt of his people. He had to give his life. That's
something to think about. God manifests in the flesh, had
to give his life. He had to shed his blood, he
had to empty the blood out of his body. He had to break his
own body in order to put away every sin from every soul that
the Father gave to him. That's what it took. As our Lord
was accomplishing this, there was a centurion, that's a Roman
soldier, A man who had given his life to war and fighting. This was a, this was a hard,
hard man, a fighting man, a man who had committed himself to
carrying out the orders of his wicked superiors. A man who had
climbed the ranks, he was successful in what he did. He climbed the
ranks and become a captain over a hundred men. That's what a
centurion was, a captain over a hundred men, a hundred soldiers.
And this centurion quite possibly was one of the ones who physically
beat the Lord Jesus Christ. physically abused him. Quite
possibly, he was one of the ones who actually drove the nails
into his hands, into his feet. And it says in verse 39, though,
when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he
so cried out and gave up the ghost. As this centurion stands there
witnessing the lamb slain, that's what he's seeing. That's what he's watching, the
lamb slain. He's taking it all in. He's having
his eyes opened to literally see Christ crucified, this enemy
of the Lord. This man who is at absolute enmity
against him. He's standing there watching
Christ crucified. He sees the lamb slain. God opens his eyes to see the
lamb slain. And it says, when the centurion,
which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, the
way that he cried out, he saw that he cried out in all of his
power and in all of his glory and in all of his control. The earth was quaking, the rocks
were rending. And when he saw that he gave
up the ghost, he saw that the ghost, the spirit of life, was
not taken from him. He sovereignly gave it up. When
he saw Christ sovereignly give it up, the Lord said, Father,
into thy hands I commend my spirit. No man took his life from him.
He laid it down willingly. And it says, when the centurion,
which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out and
gave up the ghost, it slayed him. It slayed that centurion. It slayed his hard, hard heart. And he said, this was what he
said. As soon as he saw Christ crucified, he said, truly, this
man was the son of God. He saw this man. And that's what the gospel is
all about. That's what the gospel is all about. And that's what
I want us to consider. I want us to see this man. I
want us to consider this man. Every man on this earth is just
a man, just a sinful, wicked man. Oh, but this man, that's
the gospel. God-given eyes see this man. When God gives eyes to see, those
eyes see this man. God-given ears hear this man. A God-given heart believes on
this man. Our only hope is in this man.
Our only hope. This man is man's only hope,
and this is the reason why. If you'll look with me at Psalm
39, it says in Psalm chapter 39, verse four, Lord, make me
to know mine end. I have an end, you have an end.
And David said, Lord, make me to know mine end and the measure
of my days, what it is that I may know how frail I am. Behold,
thou hast made my days as a hand breadth, and mine age is as nothing
before thee. And then he said, barely, that
means truly. Every man at his best state is
altogether vanity. Altogether vanity. Vanity means
empty. Man at his best state. Vanity
means empty, it means worthless. There's no value in man. Nothing
good in man, that's what David said. There's nothing worth saving. Nothing worth saving. We're all
constantly having to make the decision on whether we're gonna
keep something or throw it out. You keep things for years and
years and years and finally realize I'm never gonna use this. Sometimes
we keep things in the refrigerator too long and then you have to
decide, is it time to throw this out? We assess it, we look at
it to see is there any value in this? Is there anything worth
keeping in this? And if we can't find it, we realize
the only thing this is good for is to be cast out, thrown out. That's man before God. That's
man in the eyes of God, worthless. No value, altogether vanity,
altogether vanity. And not only that, not only is
man empty, God says man is altogether evil. Not only is he worthless,
not only is he bad, not only is he spoiled, ruined, God says
he's evil. Look with me at Genesis chapter
six. In Genesis six, verse five, it
says, God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth
and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually. Every imagination, every thought
of his heart, it was only evil continually. That's all man was. That's all man is. only evil
continually. Psalm 14 verses two and three
say, the Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men
to see if there were any that did understand and seek God.
Men say all the time, now God looked down from heaven, he looked
down through time to see if anybody would come to him and do good
things for him and seek him. God looked down from heaven,
all right, But this is what he said, they are all gone aside. They are all together become
filthy. There is none that do with good. No, not one. That's what God saw. That's what
he said. David said in Psalm 116, all men are liars. Lies come out of the mouth of
all men and women. They originate in the heart and
out of the heart the mouth speak it. Lies are not just what we
do, it's what we are. He said in Psalm 51, we are all
conceived in sin. It's the nature of man's flesh,
it's what we are. John 3 verse 19 says, light is
come into the world, but men loved darkness rather than light. It's just the nature of a man's
flesh. It's the nature of all of our flesh. Men love what they
are. They love what they are. Now
I'm going to make a statement here and I want to emphasize
it because this is the absolute truth. Committing a sin does
not make a man or a woman a sinner. And let me repeat that. Committing
a sin does not make a man or a woman a sinner. Men and women
commit sin because they already are sinners. That's why we sin. A dog does not bark in order
to become a dog. A dog barks because he already
is a dog. And committing sin does not cause
us to become sinners. It openly evidences what we already
are. We commit sin because we're sinners. Sin does not come from without. Sometimes we get the mindset
of, well, don't go to that place and don't associate with these
things because we need to block out sin. We don't want sin to
enter into us. Sin does not come from without.
It does not come from without in, it comes from within out. Our Lord is the one who told
us that over in Mark chapter seven. If you want to look at
it with me in Mark seven, verse 14, he said, when he had called
all the people unto him, he said unto them, hearken unto me, every
one of you and understand. There is nothing from without
a man that entering into him can defile him. Nothing from
without that entering in can defile him. But the things which
come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man
have ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was entered into
the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning
the parable. And he said unto them, Are you
so without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatsoever
thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him?
Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly,
and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats. And he said,
That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart,
out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications,
murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness,
and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these things
come from within and defile the man. That's all that man is.
That's all that he is. That's all that man can be because
that's all that he is. Sin, sin. All right, what is
our response to this? What is our response to this
truth? Here it is. Thank God for the gospel. Thank
God for the message of the gospel. Thank God for the simplicity
of the message of the gospel. Do you know what the gospel cries?
Do you know what the gospel message is? This man. Oh, but this man, that's the
good news. People talk about the good news.
Oh, tell me the good news. Here it is. Oh, but this man,
this man, that's the heart and the message of the gospel. Come
see this man. Do you want to hear some good
news? Let me tell you about this man. Now, if you want to hear
the horror of the truth, If you want to hear the absolute horror
of the truth, then let me tell you about man. All of mankind,
as long as I'm telling you about man, it's bad news, it's horrible,
horrible truth. But if you want to hear the glory
and the beauty of the gospel, let me tell you about this man.
Now go with me to a few scriptures and let's see if the word of
God will tell us a little bit about this man. Over in Luke
23. In Luke 23, verse three, it says,
And Pilate asked him, saying, Art thou the king of the Jews?
And he answered him and said, Thou sayest it. Then said Pilate
to the chief priest and to the people, I find no fault in this
man. That's what he said. I find no
fault in this man. He said, this man is perfect. This man is absolutely perfect. The perfect man. There's only one. There's only
one. The perfect man. No sin. No guile. Not one stain on his
record. Not one blemish in his character. Not one. Not in deed. Not in
thought. Not in heart. This man is perfect. He's perfect. He's kind. He's
pure. Out of him proceeds love. Grace. That's him, all right? Look at verse 21 right here in
Luke 23. It says, but they cried saying,
crucify him, crucify him. That's man. That's me and you. That's what mankind says to this
perfect, perfect, spotless lamb of God, crucify him. Look at
verse 34, right here in Luke 23, verse 34. Then said Jesus,
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. That's
this man. Oh, this man. Verse 39, it says,
one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying,
if thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other, answering,
rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art
in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly. We deserve this. We deserve exactly
what we're getting. He said in verse 41, We indeed
justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this
man, Oh, but this man hath done nothing
amiss. Nothing amiss. We are vile and
wicked creatures, but this man is the holy spotless lamb of
God. That's who this man is. Turn
with me over to Hebrews 10. It says in Hebrews 10 verse 1,
For the law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not
the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices
which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto
perfect. The law cannot make sinners perfect. I'm a sinner and you're a sinner. And the law, the commandments,
the obedience to the law cannot make us perfect. The law cannot
cleanse us. The law cannot make us acceptable
in God's eyes. It cannot purge us from our sins. It does not put away one sin.
Verse two says, for then would they not have ceased to be offered
because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more
conscience for sins. But in those sacrifices, there
is a remembrance again made of sins every year, for it is not
possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away
sins. It's not possible. Everything
in the law points us to this man. That's what it's saying.
It represents what this man would do for us. It's not us cleansing
ourselves. Everything this law demands tells
us what he would do. What he would do for his people.
And it says in verse nine, Hebrews 10 verse nine, this is what Christ
said. Then said he, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that
he may establish the second, by the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can
never take away sins. But this man, After he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. by one offering this perfect,
holy, spotless man offered his perfection to God. He offered
all of his sinlessness to God on behalf of his people. He offered it on their behalf,
not his own. He offered it on their behalf,
and by the one sacrifice of himself, he satisfied what the law demanded
of his people. But obeying the law cannot save
us because the law tells us what's required of us, but we can't
do it. Therefore, we sin against the
law, and the law says you have to die. If you sin against the
law, you have to die. It cannot save us. We've sinned
against the law. So Christ came, this man came,
and by the one offering of himself, he shed his blood and the law
said, I'm satisfied. He offered his perfection to
God and God the Father said, I'm satisfied. Everything is
satisfied in the sacrifice of this one man. He paid the debt
that was owed And he took that stony heart out of his people
and he put a brand new sinless heart with a new nature in every
one of his people and then he went and sat down on the right
hand of God and he daily makes intercession for every one of
them. Every one of them. Oh, this man, who this man is
and what he has done. That's the good news. That's
the good news. Not what are you going to do
for Jesus? That's not the good news. What has he done for us? That's the good news. All right,
now this is the simplest declaration of good news that I know. And
I want us to look at this together. Go with me to Luke 15. I absolutely
love this portion of scripture. This is as simply as I know it
to be declared. Luke 15, look at the end of verse
two. It says, this man receiveth sinners. That's good news. If you're a
sinner, that is good news. That is the gospel. That's what the gospel is. That's
who it's to. That's who the declaration of
the gospel is to. The gospel is not for the righteous,
the self-righteous. It's for sinners. It's for sinners. This man did not come for the
righteous. He came for sinners. Sinners
are all that we are, but it's the greatest news that could
be ever told, ever be told to us. This man receives centers. Verse one, then drew near unto
him, all the publicans and centers for to hear him. They all came
drawing near to him. And that's exactly what will
happen when a sinner is called to Christ. When the father draws
a sinner to Christ, God will tune that sinner's ear to hear
him. He'll hear the most beautiful
words of life, the most beautiful words of forgiveness. Instead
of do, he will hear done. Instead of work, he will hear
rest. Our Lord said, come unto me all
ye that labor and are heavy laden. I'll give you rest. I'll give
you rest. The problem for man trying to
fulfill this law is he's never going to be able to do it. It's
a work that'll never stop trying to obey the law. It just keeps
going and going. There's no end in sight. The
work is never finished. The work is never finished. Man
thinks something in his mind that he shouldn't have thought,
and he knows it. He says, I shouldn't have thought that. I better do
something to make it right. Man does something, and then
he says, I shouldn't have done that. I better do something to
make it right. Man says something, it comes
out of his mouth, and he says, I shouldn't have said that. I
better do something to make it right. He feels something in
his heart and he thinks, I shouldn't have felt that. I better do something
to make it right. And then the good news of the
gospel comes to that sinner's heart and this is what it says,
he made it right. He made it right. He put it away. It's taken care of. The sinner
cries, oh, but I've sinned. The gospel cries, yeah, but he
took care of it. He paid for it. He made it right. That's what a sinner will cry
out. That's what'll slay a sinner's
heart. That's what'll stop a sinner in his tracks and cry glory to
God in the highest. Glory to God in the highest.
There were some soldiers one time, just like the centurion,
some hard soldiers that were told to go get Jesus Christ and
bring him to this council. They were going to put an end
to him. And when they went, he was preaching. They heard him
preach. They turned around and walked
back to the council and they said, why did you come in to
hand it? And he said, they all, the soldiers said, because no
man ever spake like this man. We just stopped in our tracks.
No man ever spake like this man. Oh, the voice, the power, the
authority, the sweetness. We'll never hear the word of
God until we hear the word of this man. This is the truth.
We will never hear the gospel until we hear the gospel of this
man. Never. Look one more time at
our text in Mark chapter 15, it says in verse 39, and when
the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried
out and gave up the ghost, he said, truly, truly, This man
was the son of God. This man was the son of God.
That's who this man is. That's who the son of God is.
He is the sovereign, successful savior of sinners. What do we
say? Thank God for this man. Thank
God for this man. Christ Jesus, our Lord. Let's come to this man. Let's
come to him. He said, come to me. That's the
call of the gospel. That's the draw of the father.
If we come, the father is drawing us. Well, let's come to this
man. Let's bow before this man. Let's
worship this man. Believe on this man and give
thanks for this man. Till next week, may the Lord
bless his word to our hearts. 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, log on to
our website at ksgctn.org. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 1045 a.m., and 6 o'clock p.m.,
Wednesday evening at 730 p.m. Please tune in next week for
another message of God's free and sovereign grace.