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. If you would like to follow along
with me in your Bible, I'm going to begin this message in 1 Kings
chapter 4. There's a man in the scripture
that the Lord greatly blessed and greatly used in the writing
of his word and in the declaration of his gospel. And that man's
name was Solomon. And Solomon was given a natural
greatness by God. God gave him much, more than
any man, possessions, authority, power. There was no king like him, no
earthly king. There was no kingdom like his
kingdom. Here in 1 Kings chapter 4, I've
always loved reading this. It says in verse 22, Solomon's
provisions for one day, this is what Solomon put on his table
to serve to whoever wanted to come eat. Solomon's provision
for one day was 30 measures of fine flour, three score measures
of meal, 60 measures of meal, Ten fatted oxen, twenty oxen
out of the pastures, and hundred sheep beside harts, rowbucks,
fallow deer, fatted fowl. For he had dominion over all
the region on this side of the river. And it says in verse 25,
Judah and Israel dwelt safely. Every man under his vine and
under his fig tree from Dan even to Beersheba all the days of
Solomon. Isn't that wonderful? Verse 26
says Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses. Can you imagine that? Can you envision that in your
mind? The rows and rows of barns. 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots
and 12,000 horsemen. And those officers provided victual
for King Solomon and for all that came under King Solomon's
table. Every man in his month, they
lacked nothing. Barley also, and straw for the
horses, and dromedaries brought they unto the place where the
officers were every man according to his charge." The natural greatness
of Solomon far exceeded anything that any man will ever do or
become in this life. Solomon exceeded it. Solomon
had more than any man will ever have in this life. But even so, Solomon is a man
that we can relate to. All of God's people can relate
to. He recorded his innermost thoughts and his innermost struggles
just like his father David did. And the way he viewed this world
and the way he viewed Christ, it's a way that every believer
can relate to. God gave Solomon the same heart
he gives to every one of his children. And as a type of Christ,
that's what Solomon is, he represents the Lord Jesus Christ, this great
king. As a type of Christ, God gave
Solomon something in greater measure than he has ever given
to any other man. And that's wisdom. Wisdom. If you look back in 1 Kings chapter
3, this is where in verse 5, in Gibeon, the Lord appeared
to Solomon in a dream by night and God said, ask what I shall
give thee. And Solomon's response to the
Lord was, you've been so kind to me. You've put me on the throne
just like you did my father, David. And he said in verse seven,
I'm just a little child. I don't know how to go out or
come in so humble. And he said in verse eight, thy
servant is in the midst of thy people, which thou has chosen
a great people that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
He said, give therefore thy servant an understanding heart. That word understanding means
hearing. A hearing heart. Who does he
wanna hear from? He wants to hear from God. When he hears from the people,
Lord, before I answer them, let me hear from you, a hearing heart. to judge thy people, that I may
discern between good and bad, for who is able to judge this
thy so great a people? And the speech pleased the Lord,
that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said unto him, because
thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long
life, neither asked thyself riches, nor hast asked the life of thy
enemies, but hast asked for thyself an understanding heart to discern
judgment. Behold, I have done according
to thy words. Lo, I have given thee a wise
and an understanding heart, so that there was none like thee
before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
And I've also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both
riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings
like unto thee all thy days. Solomon was so wise. He had God-given wisdom. And we would be wise to listen
to the wisdom that God gave him. We would be so wise to truly
listen to what God gave to Solomon. Now, God used him to pen three
of the books in the Bible. I'd like for us to look at the
beginning of two of them this morning, Ecclesiastes and Song
of Solomon. And here is the message that
I want us to see this morning. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon tells
what life is without Christ. Now this man knows. He's been
given wisdom by God. He has been given the Word of
God Himself. And He's gonna tell us in Ecclesiastes
what life is without Christ. He's gonna tell us how empty
this life is without Christ. And then in Song of Solomon,
He's gonna tell us what life is with Christ. how full this
life truly is in union with Christ. All right, let's see if we can
see this in the beginning of these two books. Here's the title
of this message, Life Without Christ and Life With Christ. Now look with me if you would
at Ecclesiastes chapter one. Ecclesiastes one, verse one says,
the words of the preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Now here's what life is without
Christ. Verse two, he said, vanity of
vanities, saith the preacher. Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. It is empty. It's all emptiness. The vanity of this flesh is just
a wasted existence. A ruined, wasted existence. That's all it is. Verse three
says, what prophet hath the man of all his labor, which he taketh
under the sun, Without Christ, all of our works are useless.
We would be so wise to enter into this and understand this.
Without Christ, all of our works are useless. Our physical works
don't matter. And listen to this, our spiritual
works won't help us. They cannot help us. Without
Christ, our works are absolutely useless. Useless. Verse four says, one generation
passes away and another generation comes, but the earth abides forever. That just keeps happening. Man
just keeps dying and the next generation comes along and man
dies and the next generation comes along and man dies. They
just keep passing away. And it's all because of sin.
By sin came death. Verse five says, the sun also
ariseth, and the sun goeth down and hasteth to his place where
he arose. The wind goeth toward the south
and turneth about unto the north, it whirleth about continually,
and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All
the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. Unto
the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
What he's saying is, nothing is satisfied. Nothing is satisfied. The sun comes up, the sun goes
down. It starts over. The sun comes up, the sun goes
down. The wind, it goes toward the south and then it turns and
goes back toward the north and it just starts over again. It
just keeps circling this globe. All the rivers run into the sea,
but the sea is not full because all that water evaporates up
and then it drops down on a mountain and the whole thing starts over
again. Without Christ, there is no rest. Do we hear what this
wise man is saying to us spiritually? Without Christ, there is no rest. Verse eight, he said, all things
are full of labor. Man cannot utter it. The eye
is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be, and that
which is done is that which shall be done, and there's no new thing
under the sun. Is there anything whereof it
may be said, see, this is new? It hath been already of old time,
which was before us. There is no remembrance of former
things, neither shall there be any remembrance of things that
are to come with those that shall come after. There's a man who wrote a poem
named John Newton, and one of the lines in that poem says,
when I turn my eyes within, all is dark and vain and wild. It's always been that way. It's
always gonna be that way. That's just the way of man. That's
the way of sinful man. Verse 12, he said, I, the preacher,
was king over Israel in Jerusalem, and I gave my heart to seek and
search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under
heaven. This sore travail hath God given to the sons of man
to be exercised therewith. Life without Christ is a sore
travail. That means an evil work, that's
all it is. That's all it is. Verse 14, he
said, I've seen all the works that are done under the sun and
behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. That which is crooked
cannot be made straight and that which is wanting or lacking cannot
be numbered. Without Christ, sin can never
be remedied. Without Christ, sin cannot be
remedied. That which is crooked cannot
be made straight. There's no hope for that which
is crooked. And he said, that which is lacking
cannot be numbered. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? No man who is without Christ.
No man. Daniel told King Belshazzar,
Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting. That will
be every soul who is without Christ. That is what will be
said to every soul who goes to meet God without Christ, lacking. Verse 16, he said, I communed
with my own heart, saying, lo, I am come to great estate, and
have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before
me in Jerusalem. Yea, my heart had great experience
of wisdom and knowledge, and I gave my heart to know wisdom
and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is
vexation of spirit, for in much wisdom is much grief, and he
that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. Everything about life without
Christ is absolute misery. This is so true. This is so current. This applies
to us right now today. Oh, may the Lord give us some
wisdom here to listen to what he has caused this man to say. Everything about life without
Christ is absolute misery. It's nothing but sin and death
and emptiness and vanity. It's nothing. It's nothing. Life without Christ is worthless. And all it will do is leave a
man ruined. That's all it'll do for any man
and any woman. It'll just leave them ruined. Now let's take a look at what
life is with Christ. Would you like to see that? Life
without Christ is a miserable existence. What is life with
Christ though? Turn with me just a few pages
over to Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon, chapter one,
verse one says, the song of songs, which is Solomon's. Now this
right here is what life is with Christ. Verse two, he said, let
him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. Now, let me ask you a question. Have you ever been in love? Have you ever been in love, true
love? Some of you may be listening
right now. You might be married. You might've been married for
years and years and years. And if the Lord has blessed your
marriage, you're more in love now than the day you started.
But you can think back on a time when you were ravished by love. You were consumed by love, taken
by love. Butterflies in your stomach,
love. Happiness in your heart, love.
Just a smile on your face that won't go away, love. Have you
ever experienced that? That's what life is with Christ. That's what life is with the
Lord Jesus Christ. God made Adam and Eve and he
brought them together in a covenant of marriage. And he said this
right here is what life with Christ is. It's the only reason
God ordained marriage. It was to show Christ and His
bride. It's the only reason. If you're turning with me, look
at Genesis 24. This is what life with Christ is. This
is the story, what a wonderful story this is. If you get time,
read this story. This is the story of Isaac and
Rebekah. Abraham sent his servant to go
find a bride for his son. And that servant came and he
found Rebekah and he told her about Isaac. He told her what a great man
he is, honorable. Everything he'd done. Abraham,
the father, said to Isaac, the son, you must be sacrificed. God said you must be sacrificed.
You must be offered for a sin offering. And Isaac carried his
own wood up to the top of that mountain. And he willingly laid
on that altar in obedience to his father, in obedience to God. What a man. And the more that servant told
of Isaac and who he is and what he's done and what he has, what
he's given, Rebecca started to fall in love with him. And it
makes me think of the verse of scripture in first Peter that
says, whom having not seen you love. She'd never seen him and
she's fallen in love with him. And in verse 61 here, Genesis
24, they asked Rebekah, will you go with this man and will
you marry Isaac? And she said, yes, I will. She
wanted to. And right here in verse 61, Rebekah
arose in her damsels and they rode upon the camels and followed
the man and the servant took Rebekah and went his way. And
Isaac came from the way of the well lay Hyroi, for he dwelt
in the south country. And Isaac went out to meditate
in the field at the even tide, and he lifted up his eyes and
saw, and behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up
her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she said unto the servant,
what man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And
the servant said, it is my master. Oh, therefore she took a veil
and covered herself. She said, is that him? You mean to tell me that's him? and the servant told Isaac all
things he'd done and Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent
and took Rebecca and she became his wife and he loved her and
Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. Why did God write all that down
for us? Why did he record that in his word for us to read? It
was to show us what life is with Christ. That's why. In Genesis 29, this right here
is what life is with Christ. This is Jacob and Rachel. Verse
20 says, And Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed
unto him but a few days for the love he had to her. Do you know why Boaz redeemed
Ruth? It was the same reason Hosea
married Gomer. Love, the fullness of love. Every one of these accounts are
written in the Word of God to describe life with Christ. Back in Song of Solomon, chapter
one, verse two, it says, let him kiss me with the kisses of
his mouth. How does the Lord kiss his bride? His chosen bride? How does He
do that? He kisses her with His Word.
He kisses her with His Spirit. Verse 2 says, Let him kiss me
with the kisses of his mouth, for thy love is better than wine.
It's better than wine. David said, Wine makes the heart
glad. but his love is better than wine. Verse three says, because of
the savor of thy good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured
forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. The apostle Paul said,
I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste
virgin to Christ. And those who have been espoused
to Him, they smell that same sweet-smelling savor that God
the Father smelled in His sacrifice. Those who have truly heard His
name, His name is Savior, Redeemer. His name is the Lord our righteousness. His name is Emmanuel, God with
us. All who are joined into a living
union with Christ, they fall in love with him. And this is
what they cry. Verse four says, draw me. Lord, I can't come unless you
draw me. Lord, you've loved me, you've
redeemed me, you've married me, draw me. Draw me, it says, we
will run after thee. Lord, if you draw us, we'll come
running. Draw me nearer. That song says,
draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where thou
hast died. I'm thine, oh Lord, I've heard
thy voice and it told thy love to me. That's our hope. That's
our comfort, that's our life, his love to us. Verse four says,
draw me, we will run after thee. The king hath brought me into
his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in
thee. We will remember thy love more
than wine. What is his love? We'll remember
his love. What is it? The king of kings
said this. He said, greater love hath no
man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend.
That's great love. And Solomon said in chapter 5
verse 16, his mouth is most sweet. Yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved. and this
is my friend, this is my friend. Life without Christ is emptiness,
vanity, death, waste, and ruin, that's all it is. But life with
Christ is love, peace, joy, happiness, redemption, acceptance, it's
everything. It's heaven, it's heaven. That's what it is. And back in
chapter one, the end of verse four says, the upright, those
who have been made to be upright in your blood, love they. They love they. Why do the upright
love him? It's because he loved them first.
That's the reason. Those who have received his love,
They're gonna spend eternity crying unto Him that loved us
and washed us from our sins, washed away our emptiness, washed
away all our vanity and all our ruin in His own blood to the
one who loved us, our husband, our spouse. be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen. Until next Sunday morning,
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, you can write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or log on to our website at kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. 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 10.45 a.m. and 6 o'clock p.m.,
Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.