Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church
would like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. I would like to bring you a message
this morning from Matthew chapter 9. We're going to be looking
at verses 10 through 13, and these truly are precious verses
of scripture. If you're in need of some good
news, then I pray the Lord would open our hearts to this this
morning. The title of the message is, Go Learn What That Means. That's what our Lord commanded
in this, and I pray he would reveal it to us, what he means
and what he has to say here. Now in Matthew chapter 9 verse
10 says, and it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house,
behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and
his disciples, publicans and sinners. And when the Pharisees
saw it, they said unto his disciples, why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? Why would he do that? But when
Jesus heard that, he said unto them, they that be whole need
not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn
what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice,
for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now, what our Lord has said in
this word, all through the word, from start to finish, what our
Lord has to say in this word is the exact opposite of what
you will hear in religion today. What our Lord has recorded in
this word is truly the opposite of what men are standing up in
pulpits telling people today. Men say all kinds of things. They come up with all kinds of
things, but the only thing that matters, the only thing that
will truly stand in the end is what God has written in this
word. Isn't that right? This morning,
I want us to learn what he means by saying, I will have mercy
and not sacrifice for I am not come to call the righteous. but
sinners to repentance. And I want us to begin this by
seeing something wonderful. Verse 10 says right here in Matthew
chapter 9, it came to pass as Jesus sat at meat in the house,
behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and
his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it,
they said unto his disciples, why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? Why would he do that? All of
these religious people, and you think about this, they were the
Pharisees. They were the religious people, the ones who went to
church. They were shocked by this. Shocked
by what he was doing. They said, we're doing everything
we can do to separate ourselves from them. We're doing everything
we can do to shun them. We're trying as hard as we can
to not be seen with them. We don't want people to get the
wrong impression. We don't want people to believe
that we're with them. Look with me, if you would, at
Luke 15. If you have your Bible, let's
open these things together and look at our Lord's Word. Luke
15, verse one says, then drew near unto him all the publicans
and sinners for to hear him. They all came and gladly heard
him. They ran to him. They loved coming
to him. And the Pharisees. the religious
people. The Pharisees and scribes murmured. They didn't like it. They murmured
saying, this man receiveth sinners. He receives them and eateth with
them. He's not just tolerating them. He wants to be with them. He
receives them and he eats with them. And it's not that our Lord
was sitting there eating and there was an empty space and
a center came up and said, is this seat taken? And he and his
kindness said, no, go ahead and take it. The table was full of
centers with one empty chair. And the Lord said, is this seat
taken? And the Pharisees took note of
it. There were plenty of seats at their table. I'm sure they
were shunning everybody. And he chose not to eat with
them. He chose to sit down with the sinners. And they recognized
he wants to be with them. He chooses them. He welcomes
them. He's their friend. He's their
friend. You know why this is such good
news to me? The reason is because I am a sinner. Is that a shocking
thing to hear? I am a sinner. Our Lord knows
what's going on inside this heart. Our Lord knows what's going on
inside this mind. He sees all things. Whether we
do it outwardly or not, God looks on the heart and he knows and
I know too. I am a sinner and I'm pretty
sure you are too. And so this is good news. This
is wonderful news. If you are a sinner like I am,
this is great news. Look with me, if you would, at
1 John 1. 1 John 1 verse 8 says, If we
say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. We're lying to ourselves. And the truth is not in us. Now,
what is the truth? Didn't our Lord say, I am the
truth. And he's saying, if we say we
don't have sin, we're lying to ourselves and Christ is not in
us. You ask a person, you, you just
go up to anybody and generally ask a person, are you a sinner? The response I'm pretty sure
you'll get is no, no, I'm not a sinner. But our Lord said right
here in 1 John 1, even in verse 10, if we say that we have not
sinned, we make him a liar. That's strong words, isn't it?
We make God a liar and his word is not in us. If I believe in
my heart, if I truly do believe in my heart that I am not a sinner,
I am screaming in the face of God, you're a liar. And that's
horrible, isn't it? That's horrible. I'm proving
to God by doing that and I'm proving to myself and I'm proving
to everybody else that I don't know God. I don't know God and
I don't know his word. Because our Lord is very clear
about this in his word. Now, I'm still a sinner. I just
don't know it. And that's a terrible place to
be. There's an old hymn writer named Joseph Hart and he wrote,
A sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so. A sinner is a sacred thing. The
Holy Ghost has made him so. It is God's goodness and it is
God's mercy and it is God's kindness. that he would show a sinner what
he truly is. That is God's goodness to a person
that he by his spirit would reveal to that person, I truly am a
sinner. I truly am much worse of a sinner
than I ever dreamed I would be. There was a man years ago and
his first name was John. quite a few years ago and he
was a married man and he had a regular life and some things
happened to him. There was an accident he was
involved in and he ended up in a wheelchair and he ended up
becoming a very bitter man and he lost everything. Lost his
wife and his home and he lost it all. He ended up in a wheelchair,
he couldn't walk, and he had an apartment, he lived there
by himself, and just a sad situation, very bitter man. And one Sunday
morning, he turned on his TV, and it was back in the days when
you had to walk up to the TV and turn it on, and the picture
came on, and he said, when that picture came on, there was a
man on his television with his finger pointed at him. And that
man was preaching God's truth. He was preaching God's word. And the first thing he heard
come out of that man's mouth is, there are a lot of differences
between you and me. A lot of differences. Many, many
differences. But he said, one thing is the
same. You and I have one thing in common. He said, I'm a sinner and you're
a sinner. We're both sinners against God. And John got mad and he turned
his TV off and he said, don't you call me a sinner? I'm not
a sinner. How dare you call me a sinner?
Maybe a lot of things, but I'm not a sinner. And he was mad
about it and he didn't want to hear it. And he sat there for
a minute in his wheelchair and he started thinking about it
and he thought, well, Maybe I am a sinner and he turned it back
on and he heard the truth of God's word and week after week
he started listening to the truth and God revealed the truth to
him and God saved that man. God had mercy on him. That's
the kindness of God to a sinner that he would come to a man or
come to a woman and reveal to him you're a sinner. I'm a sinner. I truly am a sinner. Let me show
you something in John 14. John chapter 14, this is our
Lord speaking, and he said in verse 16, I will pray the Father,
I'll pray to the Father, and he shall give you another comforter,
that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, God's
Holy Spirit, I'll pray to the Father and he'll send you his
Holy Spirit." That's the comforter, that's who our Lord is referring
to. Even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive,
it has to be given to a man or a woman. They can't naturally
receive these things. He said, even the spirit of truth
whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither
knoweth him, but you know him, for he dwelleth with you and
shall be in you. So our Lord, in referring to
the comforter, is talking about his spirit. And he said in chapter
16, John 16, verse 7, nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient
for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter,
God's Holy Spirit, will not come unto you. But if I depart, I
will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will
reprove. And that word means convince. Whoever I send him to, whoever
he comes to, the first thing he will do is convince that person. When he has come, he will convince
the world of sin. That's the first thing, sin. And of righteousness and of judgment. That is the goodness and the
kindness and the mercy of God to a sinner. It truly is that
he would convince that sinner that he is indeed a sinner. Man
by nature does not know it. He has no idea. And it's not
until God's kindness comes and through his word reveals to a
sinner what he truly is that he has any idea of it. And God
comes through his spirit and he reveals God's righteousness.
First, he reveals man's sin. And then he reveals God's righteousness. He reveals what God demands to
stand in his presence. Absolute perfect righteousness. Rightness. No wrong. No error. No sin. Who shall ascend to the
hill of the Lord? He that has clean hands and a
pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor
sworn deceitfully." I mean perfection. How good does a person have to
be to stand in the presence of God? As good as God. That's how good. And God reveals
that to a sinner through His Word. Otherwise, a sinner would
not know. And he would think, well, I'm going to go stand before
God on my own merit, on my own works, everything I've done.
And I'm sure he'll accept me having no idea. You must be perfect. So God comes and he reveals first,
I'm a sinner. And then he reveals second, this
is what God demands to stand in his presence, absolute righteousness. And the third thing it said he
reveals is God's judgment for our sin. The fact that God truly
will punish sin. Man naturally thinks he's going
to sweep it under the rug. He'll just turn a blind eye to
it. He'll just forget about it. God said that's not so. He will
by no means clear the guilty. He must punish sin. So God kindly reveals that to
men and women as he sees fit, as he chooses. And he opens their
eyes to the truth. He brings them out of that blindness.
He brings them out of that darkness and he reveals the truth to them. Now, our Lord said, go learn
what this means. That's what he said, go learn
what this means. And that is his spirit coming
to a person, whispering into the ear and into the heart of
a sinner. This is what it means. God's
spirit comes and tells, this is what it means. Here is the
truth. Here is the answer. Here is the
secret. If you're turning with me, go
back to our text in Matthew chapter nine. Matthew nine, our Lord
said in verse 10, it came to pass as Jesus sat at meat in
the house, behold, many publicans and centers came and sat down
with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it,
they said unto his disciples, why eateth your master with publicans
and sinners? Why would he do that? But when
Jesus heard that, he said unto them, they that be whole need
not a physician, but they that are sick. Those that believe
in their own eyes, that they are right with God. Those that
believe that their own morality, their own good works, the way
they live their life, they're trying to be a good person. Those
that believe that living that way, everything that they're
doing naturally makes them right with God. They have no true need
for the gospel. They really don't. They don't
have a need for his good news. They don't need a great physician. They're not sick. They're not
sick with sin. They're not diseased by an absolutely
loathsome disease called sin, not in their own eyes. And that
is such a sad thing. That is such a sad thing. And
I'll tell you why. It means God's spirit has not come to that man
or that woman. Isn't that what he said the first
thing he would reveal is sin? And if a man does not see himself
to be a sinner, it means God's spirit hasn't come to him. The
fact of the matter is all have sinned. Isn't that what our Lord
said? All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. But if he does not see himself
to be a sinner, that's a sad place to be. Only those that
God has chosen to save and chosen to send his spirit to will ever
learn what this means. Verse 13 here in Matthew chapter
9 says, but go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy
and not sacrifice for I am not come to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance. And when it comes to God's dealings
with sinners, He said, I will not have sacrifice. I will not have sacrifice. A
sacrifice is an offering for sin. Isn't that what a sacrifice
is? A sacrifice is a payment for sin. And God said, I will
not accept one from man. I will not. False preachers,
men who stand up in pulpits every day, they lie to men and women
by telling them this. If you want God to save you,
you're going to have to make some sacrifices. If you want
God to save you, you're going to have to give this up and you're
going to have to give that up. You're going to have to start
making sacrifices. If you want God to save you,
you're going to have to start doing some things. You're going
to have to start doing for God. If you want Him to save you,
you're going to have to give. You're going to have to give
your heart to Him. You're going to have to give
your life to Him. But if you step up to the plate,
if you make the great sacrifice, if you do it, then God will save
you. Now, I'm here to tell you I am
here right now. This is why I'm here. I am here
to tell you that that is a lie. That is a lie. That is not what
God has written in his word. I don't know why men stand up
and tell other men and women that. I have no idea why. It's
not in God's word. If God wants our heart, God takes
our heart. God said, I'm going to take that
stony heart out of the ones I choose and I'm going to put a heart
of flesh in there, the heart of Christ. There's nothing we
could offer him. He's in need of nothing. Salvation
is of the Lord. That's clear from his word. So I don't know why men and women
stand up and tell others this, but It is indeed a lie. It's not so. He will not have
sacrifice. That's what he said. I will not
have sacrifice. When it comes to the issue of
the salvation of a soul, he will not accept anything that a man
has to offer him. People believe that they have
something good in them that they're going to be able to offer to
God and God will be pleased with their offering. God said plainly
what he will accept. Cain did not believe him. Cain
thought he had something that was a little better that he could
offer God and it did not go well for Cain. And there's nothing
that man has done. There's nothing man has earned.
There's nothing man has worked for that he can offer to God
that will be acceptable to him. Nothing. No sacrifice, not for
man. Well, if he won't have sacrifice,
then what will he have? Verse 13, he said, I will have
mercy. I will have mercy. What does
that mean? That means Christ made the only
payment that God would accept. That's what it means. It means
Christ made the one and only payment for sin. The one and
only sacrifice for sin that God will accept. He will not accept
our sacrifice because Christ has already made the sacrifice.
And God is satisfied. He's appeased. He offered himself
to God for us. That was his sacrifice. He offered
his own self by the sacrifice of himself, the scripture says.
He offered his blood and that blood paid for every sin of every
sinner that God chose to save. Every single one of them. And
that's great news. There is sin on my record and
there's sin on your record. But if God chose to show mercy
to us through the blood of His Son, they're gone. They're paid
for. Now, this verse right here tells
us that He did not pay for the sin of the entire world. Our
Lord did not just make a general payment for the sin of everybody. There are two types of people
on this earth, the saved and the lost. Only two types of people,
the saved and the lost. Now, who is who? Who is who? How can we tell who
is who? I would love to know that, wouldn't
you? Verse 13, he said, go ye and learn what that meaneth.
I will have mercy and not sacrifice for I am not come to call the
righteous. I'm not come to call the righteous. Now, according to a dictionary,
you can look this up in a dictionary. Righteous means upright, virtuous,
keeping the commandments of God, those who pride themselves in
their virtues, those who see themselves as innocent, faultless,
guiltless, Those who see themselves approved of or acceptable to
God. That's the righteous. That's amazing, isn't it? Is
it not scary how much that resembles the average church going person? Scary, isn't it? But he said,
I did not come to call the righteous. Well, then who can be saved? Who then can be saved? If He
didn't come to call the righteous, who did He come to call? He said
in verse 13, sinners. Sinners. The word sinners, if
you look it up in the dictionary, it means those who are not free
from sin. Those who are especially wicked. Those who are stained with certain
definite vices or crimes. Guess what? That describes me. That describes me. I told you
a moment ago, God looks on this heart. Just go into your mind.
Go into your mind. You know, what's in there that
describes me and I am pretty sure that describes you. Are you a center? I am. Are you? The Apostle Paul said,
I'm the chief. He didn't say, I was the chief.
He said, I am the chief. Are you a sinner? Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners. Those who have been ruined and
wasted by the sickness of sin. Is that you? Is that you? Do you know like I know that
we need a great physician? We need a great physician. Does that describe you? Then
if it does, go learn what this means. I want to learn it too.
Let's learn what this means. He will have mercy and not sacrifice
because he came not to call the righteous but sinners, sinful
old you, sinful old me. That's who he came to call. What
has he called us to? If he came to call us, what has
he called us to? Verse 13 says repentance. Repentance is a change of mind
about everything. It's a change of mind about God's
sovereignty and God's holiness. It's a change of mind to realize
God is God. God is God. What he will accept,
what he will not accept, he's God. It's a change of mind about
our own sinfulness. It's a change of mind about everything
that Christ has accomplished and who he accomplished it for.
He said it is finished. That means finished. He's not
waiting on us to finalize anything. It's finished. When God calls
his own to himself, that sinner learns what that means. When
God does the work, the sinner learns. He understands what the
entire word of God is all about. God reveals to him it's all about
Christ crucified. Every page, Old Testament, New
Testament, all of it. Christ crucified for sinners. Oh, may God teach us what that
means. May God truly teach that to us,
and may we learn it. By His goodness, by His kindness,
may He do a work on this heart right here. And may we truly,
truly learn what these things mean. God have mercy on us, for
Christ's sake. Till next week, I pray the Lord
will bless His word to our hearts. Please tune in next week for
another message of God's free and sovereign grace.