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 9. And I would like for
us to look in to what our Lord has to say here in verse 1. He said unto them, Verily I say
unto you, that there be some of them that stand here which
shall not taste of death till they have seen the kingdom of
God come with power. Our Lord said, There are some
here who will not die till they have seen the kingdom of God
come with power." Now when our Lord says, verily,
our Lord is the one speaking this and He said to them, verily,
that means of a truth. He is the God who cannot lie.
Everything He says is absolute truth, but He emphasizes that
by saying, verily. That means, listen to this, because
this is the truth. This right here is the truth.
He said, verily, I say unto you. This is God speaking. This is God speaking. He said, Verily I say unto you
that there be some. He didn't say all, did He? He
didn't say all of you. will not see death until you've
seen the kingdom of God come. He didn't say every person standing
here will not see death till he sees the kingdom of God come.
He said some. Some. There be some of them that stand
here which shall not taste of death till they have seen the
kingdom of God come with power. Now, there are not people walking
on the earth today who were on the earth when our Lord was here. When he said that they shall
not taste of death till they've seen the kingdom of God come
with power, he was not saying some of the people here will
never physically die. He was not saying that. Our Lord left this earth around
33 A.D. and in 70 A.D. Jerusalem was
destroyed. All of their religion, their
idol worship, their profaning and making merchandise out of
God's temple, it was all destroyed. The temple did not have one stone
left standing on another, just like our Lord said it would be. Many believe that that event
is what our Lord was referring to right here. Something that
happened 37 years, roughly, after He said this. The power of God
destroying all of that idolatry. And that could be. But there is a truth in what
our Lord said that applies to every single child of God, then
and right now. He said, they shall not taste
of death till they have seen the kingdom of God come with
power. Now let me show you something
that nobody realizes until God reveals it to them. The flesh
naturally does not realize this until God's Holy Spirit reveals
it to a man or a woman. Look with me if you would at
1 Samuel chapter 3. 1 Samuel 3 verse 1 says, And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before
Eli, and the word of the Lord was precious in those days, there
was no open vision. This child Samuel, he was lent
to the Lord, the scripture says. It was a vow that his mother
made, that if God would give her a child, she would return
him to the service of the Lord. And God did give a child and
she did lend him to the service of the Lord. He physically lived
in the temple. He grew up there. He gave his
time and he gave his service there. And he saw the altar. He saw the sacrifices. He was
completely immersed in what people call They refer to this thing
of the house of God and the worship of God as church. And this young
boy Samuel was completely immersed in it. He lived there. He grew
up there. He knew the order. He knew the
ritual. He was a servant to Eli. But look at verse 7. It says,
now Samuel did not yet know the Lord. Isn't that interesting? He did not know the Lord. He knew all of these things,
but he did not know the Lord. He did not see God. He did not hear from God. Verse 7 says, Now Samuel did
not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet
revealed unto him. He had no idea what God had said. He knew nothing of the mind of
God and the will of God and the purpose of God. And that's the case for every
soul who is in nothing more than just what they call church. Until God speaks and until God
reveals His Word and reveals Himself through His Word, Men and women really have no
idea what it's all about. No idea. What is this thing of worship? Again, what men and women refer
to as church. What is it all about? What is
it all about? Most people believe it's important.
But they do, whether they go or not. Even if it's not important
enough for them to go, somewhere in the back of their mind they
still believe it's important. But they honestly have no idea
why. No idea. Let me ask you this, does God
need, does God need for me to love Him? Does God need me to love Him? Did you know that the answer
is no? God doesn't need me to love Him. Does God need me to worship Him? No. Does God need for me to praise
Him? No. No, He is in need of nothing. He's the absolute, all-sufficient,
perfect and complete God in need of nothing. But men and women believe that
they're going to go to church because that's what they need
to do and that's what God needs for them to do. And so they see
their efforts when they go. They're looking at their efforts.
They see the pageants. They see the parades. They see
the plays. They see the concerts. They see
the singing. They see the preaching. But they don't see God. Not naturally. Men and women do not and cannot
naturally see God. Men and women do not naturally
know God. They can't. They have not yet seen the kingdom
of God come with power. If a man or a woman is in religion,
in a religious building, conducting what they believe is worship
but all they see is the effort they're putting into it and the
good moral standing that they have with the people there in
the community and they believe that's creating a good moral
standing with God and if they see efforts, if that's all they
see are efforts, then they haven't yet seen the kingdom of God come
with power. If a sinner against God Almighty
ever sees God come with power, he will absolutely throw away.
He will repent of, he'll hate all of his efforts. all of his
pageants, all of his parades, all of his plays, all of his
concerts, all of his religious show. He'll hate it. All of his religious
show and he'll say what Samuel said in the middle of verse 9.
He said, speak, Lord Jehovah, God Almighty, speak to me, for
thy servant heareth. Thy servant heareth. Look with me, if you would, at
Matthew chapter 11. In Matthew 11, verse 27 says, All things
are delivered unto me of my Father. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking. And He said, All things are delivered unto me of my Father,
and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father. Neither knoweth any
man the Father, saved the Son, and He to Whomsoever the Son
will reveal Him." No person on this earth naturally
knows God. We're not born into this world
with a natural knowledge of God. Most of the world believes they
do know God, but they don't. And if we don't know God, then
there's no salvation for us. Our Lord said, this is life eternal
that they might know thee the only true God in Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. Now here is the promise from
our God to us. Back over in Mark chapter 9.
Verse 1, He said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that there be
some of them that stand here which shall not taste of death
till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. What He's saying is, I'm going
to give some the eyes of faith, saving faith. I'm going to open
their eyes that they might, by the faith of Christ, see. This is a promise he makes to
every child of his, every single child of his. There is not one
elect saint of God that will taste of death until he has,
with the eyes of faith, seen the kingdom of God come with
power. That one verse of scripture reminded
me of a precious story that perfectly illustrates this. Look with me
at Luke chapter two. Over here in Luke 2, this is
a beautiful story of a man named Simeon. And he represents every
sinner chosen by God to believe. Luke chapter 2 verse 21 says,
When eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child,
Now this is our Lord Jesus Christ who caused Himself to become
eight days old. The Eternal One made Himself
to be born of a virgin and He caused Himself to become eight
days old physically. And He perfectly fulfilled every
law that was written in the Word of God. The whole time He was
on this earth, He was completely fulfilling the law of God. That it might be said of Him,
He fulfilled all righteousness. He satisfied every demand. And He did that so He could give
that perfect satisfaction away. He fulfilled all righteousness
so He could give that righteousness away. Verse 21 says, When eight
days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his
name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before
he was conceived in the womb. If you look back at Luke chapter
1, verse 30 says, The angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for
thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name
Jesus. He shall be great, and shall
be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David. and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be
no end." What does all that mean? It means God is with us. God is with us. And back in chapter
2, verse 22 says, when the days of her purification according
to the law of Moses were accomplished, They brought him to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of
the Lord, every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy
to the Lord." This one who was born was not just called holy,
he was holy. He was, back in chapter 1, verse
35 says, The angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost
shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow
thee, therefore also that holy thing. which shall be born of
thee shall be called the Son of God. This is the one who sits
on the throne while the seraphims cry without ceasing, holy, holy,
holy." Holy. This is the holy God. And back
in chapter 2, verse 22 says, when the days of her purification
according to the law of Moses were accomplished, They brought
him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it is written
in the law of the Lord, every male that openeth the womb shall
be called holy to the Lord. And to offer a sacrifice according
to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle
doves or two young pigeons. And behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost
was upon him. There was a man that God, the
Holy Ghost, chose to be upon. And that man was placed by God
in Jerusalem. Jerusalem, that name means double
peace. He was chosen by God to receive
double for all His sins. Double goodness. Double mercy. And this man's name was Simeon.
And his name means hearkening. This man had been given ears
to hear. And it says the same man was
just. That means innocent, faultless,
guiltless in God's eyes. Now, was this man Simeon, was
he that way in the flesh? Was he naturally that way? Absolutely
not. There is none righteous, no not
one. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Simeon was no better than any
other man. But verse 26 says, it was revealed unto him, it was revealed unto him by the
Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. Christ. What think ye of Christ? Who do you say the Son of Man
is? This world sees a man who they
call Jesus. They call him Jesus. They're
happy to know this man Jesus and see this man Jesus. God's
people. Once God's Holy Ghost comes to
the child of God and reveals the truth to that child, they
see the Christ. They see the Christ. It was revealed unto him that
he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Redeemer. The Lord's Christ. God revealed to him that he would
not die before he saw the one who would die for him. What is this thing that people
call church all about? What is true worship all about? It's about the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all about the savior of
sinners. It's all about the one who took
my place. That's what the child of God
says. I'm worshiping the one who took my place. Job said, I know that my Redeemer
liveth, my Redeemer. How do you know that, Job? Have
you ever seen Him? Yes. How, Job? He's not going to come for thousands
of years. This man, the Christ, is not
going to be born of a virgin for a couple of thousand more
years, Job. How have you seen Him? Job said, though after my
skin, worms destroy this body. Yet in my flesh shall I see the
very God that I right now see with the eyes of faith. He said,
I know in the latter day He is going to stand on this earth. The God of Scripture, Jehovah,
the Lord, our righteousness, Job said, He is my Redeemer. I see Him with eyes of faith.
I see Him in His Word. God has revealed Himself to me. Verse 26, it says that it was
revealed unto this man Simeon by the Holy Ghost that he should
not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came
by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought
in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law,
Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord,
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to
thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation. mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
my eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." Simeon
saw salvation. Simeon saw the kingdom of God
come with power. Salvation is not a thing that
must be done. Salvation is a person who has
already done it. That's the truth. Salvation is
not a thing that must be done. What must I do to be saved? Salvation is not a do. Salvation
is a person who has already done. Simeon did not see baby Jesus. Simeon saw God Almighty. He did not see the one who would
make salvation possible. Simeon saw the Lamb slain, God's
salvation, and he said, now I can die in peace. That's what he
said, now I can die in peace. Verse 29, Lord, now lettest thou
thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have
seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face
of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles in the glory of
thy people Israel. What Job saw with the eyes of
faith, Simeon saw in reality. And that will be the case for
every single child of God. That's going to be the case for
every single child of God. If God the Father chose that
child, and if God the Son died for the sin of that child, then
God's Holy Spirit will bring the eyes of faith to that child
and cause him to see his salvation. He won't see morality. That's
what the natural eye sees in going to church, in religion. They see morality. This is a
good thing to do. A upstanding citizen thing to
do. Morality. And the true child of God won't
see ritual. Well, we do this because we've
always done this and we're always going to do this. We're going
to be faithful to our traditions, faithful to our habits, faithful
to our rituals. No. The true child of God won't
go just looking at doctrine. God's children see Christ. They see Christ. They see the
only Savior of sinners. They don't worship looking to
themselves. They don't worship looking to
their decisions. They see the kingdom of God come
with power. They see Christ. God come down. They see the Savior and they
see his finished salvation. They see the salvation he accomplished
for his people. I want to see that, don't you?
I want to see the kingdom of God come with power. Lord, please open our eyes that
we may see. Open our eyes today. Open our
eyes and cause us to see Christ before we leave this world. Until
next Sunday morning, may our Lord bless this 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.