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 would like to bring a message
to you this morning from Mark chapter 11. But before I read
the verses of the text, I would like to point out that there
is not one account in this Word of God by chance. There is not one story that has
just been randomly placed in this book for no reason. There
is not one idle verse, not one unnecessary verse in this entire
book. Every word in this book was written
on purpose for a purpose. There's a story of a young man
from many years ago who was called on to fill the pulpit while the
pastor was gone. And that young man studied, he
studied hard, and he got his notes in order. And the day came
and he stood up there in the pulpit and he preached everything
he had. And when it was over, he stepped
down and he asked an older believer who had been in the congregation
for a while, he asked that man, what did you think of my message?
And that old believer said, I thought it was a very poor message. And that young man was shocked.
He said, why? Did you not think I put in the
time and the study? And that old believer said, no,
you clearly put in the time. The young man said, well, did
you think my delivery was too hard to follow? And he said,
no. Everything you studied was well
delivered. He said, your message was poor. because Christ wasn't in it. The young man said, well, Christ
wasn't in the text. The old believer said, young
man, Christ is in every text. He said in every portion of scripture,
there is a road that leads to Jesus Christ crucified. And he said, as we are called
on to preach, our business is to find that road and get on
it. And that's the truth. The business of a God-called
preacher is to point man, to lead man to Jesus Christ crucified. The Apostle Paul said, we preach
Christ crucified. That's what we preach. Now what
does that mean? What does it mean to preach Christ
crucified? It means salvation comes no other
way. No other way. Salvation comes
no other way than through Christ crucified. It does not come through
baptism. It does not come through turning
over a new leaf. It does not come through rededicating
my life outside of God hanging His own Son on a cross. There is no payment for sin.
Nothing can for sin atone, nothing but the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what Paul meant when he
said, we preach Christ crucified. Now he said to the Jews, to those
who are absolutely blinded by religion, blinded by the laws,
blinded by the ceremonies, blinded by self-righteousness, he said
to the Jews, Christ crucified is a stumbling block. It's an
annoyance. It's something in the way. It's
something that needs to be removed. It's just a hindrance in the
path of their own self-righteous works. And he said to the Greeks,
those who consider themselves above all this, wise in their
own eyes, the Greeks had all of these gods, Greek gods. I'll
make up my own gods. I'll be my own god. Paul said
to the Greeks, Christ crucified is foolishness. But he said, do you know what
Christ crucified is? To a sinner that has had his
eyes opened by the true and living God. To see that there's no hope. There's one God only. Beside
Him there is no other. And there's no hope for man because
of the sin that has infected every single one of us. No man
shall stand in his sight. He said, do you know what Christ
crucified is to a soul in that condition? It's the power of God and it's
the wisdom of God. That soul, that sinner will see
Christ crucified to be the only way God can be just and punish
a sinner for his sin. And at the exact same moment
in time, be the justifier of that sinner. Declare him to be
not guilty and set him free. Christ crucified. is the amazing
news of substitution. Christ took my sin upon Himself
and God killed Him because He had my sin on Him. And when He
died, my sin was paid for. The wages of sin is death. And
when He died, my sin was paid for and God set me free. Now, after such an amazing and
wise and merciful transaction, after that took place, something
that only God the Father and God the Son could accomplish.
After all that, how could I try to bring down His glory? A vile, wretched sinner like
me, how could I insult Him? and insult his accomplishment
by trying to add something to what he did. How could I look
him in the face and say, it wasn't enough. What Christ did on that
cross was not enough. The shed blood of Christ was
not enough. I have to add something to it
in order to complete my salvation. How could I do that? In our account this morning,
here in Mark chapter 11, we're gonna see three things. Number
one, we're gonna see God curse a fig tree. Number two, we're
gonna see God purge his temple. And number three, we're gonna
see God lead his own to the way of life. This right here is called
the gospel. This is what God does for and
this is what He reveals to every sinner that was crucified in
Christ. Crucified with Christ. Every sinner Christ died for. Now Mark chapter 11 verse 11. says, And Jesus entered into
Jerusalem, and into the temple. And when he had looked round
about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went
out unto Bethany with the twelve. And on the morrow, when they
were come from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree
afar off, Having leaves, he came, if happily he might find anything
thereon. And when he came to it, he found
nothing but leaves, for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus
answered and said unto it, no man eat fruit of thee hereafter
forever. And his disciples heard it. Now a few things are important
to understand in this. The end of verse 11 says, He
was with the twelve. He was with His own. He did this. He revealed these
things to His own. Not the world, not the masses,
not the great crowds that were always following Him. He revealed
it to His own. And if our Lord reveals the truth
to us, if He reveals the truth to you and me in what we're about
to see, then that's an evidence to us that we are His own. He revealed some things to a
man named Manoah and his wife back in the book of Judges. And
after Manoah saw God's holiness, God revealed himself. And after
Manoah saw his holiness and saw his own sinfulness, he said to
his wife, God is gonna kill us. I've seen this high and holy
God. I've seen a God I never knew
existed. And I've seen myself for what
I am. In a way, I never knew I existed. And after he saw that, he said,
God is gonna kill us. And his wife said, no, if he
were going to kill us, he would never have shown us all these
things. He would never have shown us
the glory of his sacrifice. And we can say the exact same
thing. If God reveals Christ crucified to us in His Word,
then that's our evidence that we belong to Him. If He reveals
to us what Christ accomplished, the truth of the matter, most
everyone knows Christ died on a cross, but if God reveals to
us the truth of what Christ accomplished in that death, then that's our
evidence that we belong to Him. Verse 12 says, And on the morrow,
when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry. How can that be? How can the God of all eternity,
the Creator of all things, that's who Jesus Christ is. He is the
Creator of all things. He is the self-sufficient one,
the one in whom all fullness dwells. How can he have lack? How can he be hungry when all
fullness dwells in him? The answer is, he became a man. He became a real man. The God of heaven humbled himself
all the way down. And he became a man. He made
himself to be a man for you and me. He lived for us as a man. And he died for us as a man. The perfect man. Why did he have
to do that? He's about to tell us right here
in verse 13. It says, in seeing a fig tree
afar off having leaves, he came, if happily, if his hap might
be, if it might just so happen to have fruit on it, if happily
he might find anything thereon. And when he came to it, he found
nothing but leaves. for the time of figs was not
yet. That's why God became a man. That right there is the reason
God became a man. What do you mean? What do fig
leaves have to do with God becoming a man? The answer is in Genesis
chapter two. If you're turning with me, look
back at Genesis chapter two, verse 16 says, And the Lord God
commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou
mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Now Genesis chapter
3 verse 6 says, When the woman saw that the tree was good for
food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be
desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and
did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did
eat, and the eyes of them both were opened. And they knew that
they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together
and made themselves aprons. Those fig leaves are the works
that man produces trying to cover his own sin. God made man in His own image. Man was good and man was righteous
in God's eyes. And man sinned against Him. Man fell from God. He died spiritually at that moment. Verse 17 right here in Genesis
chapter 2 says, And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast hearkened
unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which
I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is
the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it
all the days of thy life. And that's where man remains,
right there. Cursed. Cursed because of his
sin. And man tries everything he can
do to cover the sin that he is. That's what man does in religion
today. He tries everything he can do
to cover the sin that he is. Not just the sin that he has
done, the sin that he is. He tries to cover it and he tries
to regain the righteousness that he once had with God. But all
of man's works are cursed. They're dead. He cannot produce
living fruit. He can't. For that reason, for
that reason, God, in kindness, in love, in mercy, in grace,
God became a man and He did something about all this. Thank God He
did something about every bit of it. over in 2 Corinthians
chapter 6. And I do encourage you, if you
are looking at the scripture with me, turn over there to 2
Corinthians chapter 6. Verse 16 says, And what agreement
hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the
living God. As God hath said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. God said you are the temple of
the living God. God gave each one of us a body,
a temple, a place to house our soul, And this temple was created
to be a house of prayer. Man was created to worship God
and praise God. But do you know what our sin
has turned this temple into? A den of thieves. That's all it is now. A den of
thieves. We've tried to steal God's glory
in salvation by saying, oh, I had a part in it. I played my role
in it. We've tried to steal his honor
by saying me and Jesus have a good thing going. That's what men
believe. We're going to do this together.
We are going to accomplish salvation together. Here is the truth of
the matter. The only hope a sinner has is
if Christ will enter this temple and purge it. That's the only
hope any sinner has, is if Christ will enter that sinner, enter
the heart of that temple and purge it. Now, go with me if
you're turning back over to the text, Mark 11. The heading at
the top of my page says, Christ rideth into Jerusalem and purgeth
the temple. Verse 15 says, and they come
to Jerusalem and Jesus went into the temple and began to cast
out them that sold and bought in the temple. Who's that? That's
this old man right inside here. He is sold out to sin. Verse 15, he cast out them that
sold and bought in the temple and he overthrew the tables of
the money changers. Who's that? That's this old man
right inside here. He cares more about money than
the God who made him. Verse 15 says, He cast out them
that sold and bought in the temple, and He overthrew the tables of
the money changers and the seats of them that sold doves. People
say, yeah, but we're doing this in the name of religion. Yes,
we're turning a profit, sure, but we're doing it in religion,
in the name of religion. We're making religion work for
us. Oh, the wickedness of man. Oh,
the blindness and wickedness of man. David said in Psalm 139,
Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked
way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting. What he's saying is, Purge me
purge this wickedness out of me?" Well, thank God, that's exactly
what Christ came to do. Verse 15 says, They come to Jerusalem,
and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that
sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the
money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and
would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through
the temple." He completely took man out of the equation. This
work of purging is a work that Christ must do alone. Hebrews 1 verse 3 says, when
he by himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high. He by himself purged our sins. Isn't that wonderful news? He
by himself purged our sins. How did he do that? David said,
purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Hyssop is what they
dipped in the blood and sprinkled on the mercy seat. Without the
shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. So Jesus Christ
purged this temple at the cross of Calvary. That's what he accomplished. That's what he accomplished.
Verse 17 says, And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written,
My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer?
But you have made it a den of thieves. And the scribes and
chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy him, for
they feared him, because all the people was astonished at
his doctrine." When God opens the ears of a sinner to hear,
I mean to truly hear, do you know what astonishes that sinner?
The truth. The truth. That sinner is absolutely
astounded by the truth. God confirms to the heart of
that sinner, this is the truth. I see it in His Word. I am what
this book says I am. And He is what this book says
He is. And fear and sobriety and reverence
comes to this temple. Verse 19 says, And when even
was come, he went out of the city, and in the morning, as
they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, calling to remembrance,
saith unto him, Master, behold the fig tree which thou cursed
is withered away. I've seen accounts like this
where the story is split a little bit. And I've wondered before
why it's written that way. Our Lord started with the fig
tree and He cursed it. And then we have the account
in the temple and then they come back to the fig tree and they
see that it's withered. Here's the truth of this story. Here's the truth of the gospel
in this account. A sinner cannot see his own dried
up works. His own dead, withered, dried
up works until after God purges the temple. The works of man
were cursed. That's why God came to purge
the temple. But it's not until He makes that
purging known that a sinner can see the truth of it. And by the
grace of God, we see. We now see that our works, every
good thing that we thought was gonna cause God to be happy with
us. We see they're just dead, withered,
dried up, unfruitful works. By God's grace we see that. We
didn't before. But one day God came and God
purged the temple. And now the child of God does. And after God reveals that purging
to a sinner. God says in verse 22, Jesus answering
saith unto them, have faith in God. He says here, have this. Have this gift of faith. I have
performed a work in you. I've given you eyes to see it.
I've given you ears to hear it. I've given you a heart to believe
it. You take this faith and look to Christ. Look to the one who
purged you. Look and live. This word says,
faith is not of yourself, it's the gift of God. And when God
gives it, you know what that faith says? It's finished. That's what faith cries. It's
finished. You're washed, you're sanctified,
you're justified, you're purged, you're clean. And do you know
what the sinner says? I believe that. That's what faith
causes a sinner to cry. I believe him. And every soul
that receives this purging and receives that faith will cry
unto Him that loved me and washed me from my sins in His own blood. Be glory and honor forever and
ever. 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 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.