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 want to invite you to turn
with me this morning to Matthew chapter 9. Here in Matthew chapter
9, I want us to look at a few verses of Scripture where our
Lord has given us something that is so simple, but it's so profound. What he has to say right here
is so clear, so easy to understand. It is so easy to understand what
he's saying, but it's so deep. And the fact of the matter is,
is if he does not send his Holy Spirit and reveal to us what
he is saying here, we cannot understand it. No matter how
clearly he has written it, without the revelation of his Spirit,
we will never understand it. So I pray that he might do that
for us this morning. All I would like for us to do
is declare what He has said. I want us to just look into and
see if we can comprehend what our Lord has to say right here
in this passage. And then after we do that, I
want us to just rest in it. Just rest in it. See what He
has to say. And our prayer is that he will
give us the ability to understand it and believe it and then rest
in it. The title of this message is
Go Learn What That Means. Go learn what that means. Now
he said in Matthew chapter nine, beginning in verse 10, 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? 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
His Word, not only in this portion that we've just read, but in
His entire Word, what our Lord has to say in it is the exact
opposite of what you will hear in religion today. What our Lord very plainly declares
is the exact opposite of what you will hear in religion today. Men say all kinds of things.
They come up with all kinds of things. They convince themselves,
they believe, and they preach all kinds of things. There's
no telling what'll come out of man's mouth. But the only thing that matters
And the only thing that is gonna be standing in the end is what
God has written in this book. Man can say whatever he wants
to say, but the only thing that will last and the only thing
that will hold true in the end, the only word that will be left
standing is the word that God has written in this book, His
book. And this morning, I want us to
learn what he means when he says, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I am not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. Men can say what they want to
say about that, but what we just said is what Christ declared. And my prayer is that He might
cause us to truly understand what He means by saying that.
And I want us to start right here. This is something absolutely
amazing. Absolutely amazing. I believe
this will be a blessing to you. He said in verse 10, Matthew
9 verse 10, 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, the Pharisees, when they saw it, they said unto his disciples,
why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? That's what the Pharisees said.
Why is your master eating with publicans and sinners? All of
the good church-going people, they were shocked. They were
shocked. That's who the Pharisees were.
The good church-going people, they were shocked. What is he
doing? They were shocked that he would
go over and sit with publicans and sinners and not with them. If he was sitting with the publicans
and sinners, he wasn't sitting with them. And they were shocked. They said, what's he doing? Why
does your master do that? We're doing everything we can
to separate ourselves from sinners. That's what they were saying.
We're trying as hard as we can to shine sinners. We don't want to be seen with
sinners. We don't want anybody to mistake
what they see thinking that we associate with them. We don't. What in the world is he doing? Look with me if you have your
Bible there. Go over to Luke 15. In Luke 15 verse 1 says,
Then drew near unto him, unto our Lord, then drew near unto
him all the publicans and sinners. For to hear him, they came to
hear him, hear what he had to say. And the Pharisees and the
scribes murmured, saying, this man receiveth sinners and eateth
with them. He's not only eating with them,
He receives them. He welcomes them. He's sitting there with them
because that's where He wants to sit. He wants to be with them. He wasn't just sitting there
and there was an empty chair and a sinner walked up and said,
is this seat taken? And the Lord said, no, it's not.
You're welcome to sit down. They said, He's sitting where
He wants to sit. He gladly receives them. He's their friend. He's their
friend. Do you know why that's such good
news to me? Do you have any idea why that
is such good news to me? It's because I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. All of us are. All of us are. Go with me, if
you would, to 1 John 1. 1 John 1. If you have your Bible and if
you're turning with me, look at 1 John 1. This is what verse
8 says. If we say that we have no sin, We deceive ourselves and the
truth is not in us. If we say, oh no, no, I'm not
a sinner, no. No. If that's what we say, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us. Not in us. We do not know the truth. We don't know God's truth. The
Lord said, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make
you free. And if we say, I'm not a sinner. Now, I used to
be a sinner. Some people will say that. Yeah, there was a time
in my life when I used to be a sinner, but I'm not anymore.
I am not a sinner. Maybe was, but am not. If we say that, God's truth is
not in us. We have not known the truth. That means we've not been made
free. That means we're lost. That's what it means. We're a
lost soul. Verse 10 right here, 1 John 1
verse 10 says, if we say that we have not sinned, we make him
a liar. Whoa, we make God a liar. And his word is not in us. It's not in us. If I believe in my heart that
I'm not a sinner, I am screaming into the face of God, you are
a liar. Man, what a sin. Just believing I'm not a sinner
is probably one of the greatest sins I could commit against my
God. I am saying straight to his face, you are a liar. And in that moment, I'm proving
to God, I'm proving to myself, I'm proving to everybody who
hears me that I don't know God. I don't know God and I don't
know His Word. If a person believes in his or
her heart, if a man or a woman believes in his or her heart
that he or she is not a sinner, that person does not know God.
That person does not know His Word. That person is lost. That person is still a sinner.
But that person doesn't know it. Does not know it. There's an old hymn writer named
Joseph Hart. And this man, Joseph Hart, he
wrote one of the lines that he wrote is, a sinner is a sacred
thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so. Now what a strange thing to write.
Why would a man say that? Why would a man say a sinner
is a sacred thing? Here's why. It is the goodness
of God. It is God's mercy that opens
the eyes of a sinner and shows him, I really am a sinner. I really am a sinner. There was
a man one time years ago who turned his TV on, and there was
a preacher on the TV preaching the truth. And this man turned
the program on during the middle of the program, and the first
thing he heard that preacher say is, you and I have one thing
in common. He said, you and I may have many
differences. There may be many things that
are different about us, but you and I both have one thing in
common. The preacher said, I'm a sinner
and you're a sinner. And that fella got mad. He turned
his TV off. He said, don't you call me a
sinner. I'm not a sinner. And he sat there for just a second
and he thought, well, you know what? Wait a minute. Maybe I
am a sinner. And he turned that TV back on
and God spoke the truth to that man's heart. And in the Lord's
good time, he saved that man. It is the goodness and it is
the mercy of God that opens the eyes of a sinner and shows him,
I really am a sinner. And much worse of a sinner than
I thought I was. Much worse. Look with me at John
14. If you're turning, go with me
to John chapter 14. Now this is what our Lord said
in John 14 verse 16. He said, 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, 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." The Lord said, I'm going to send you another Comforter,
and that's God's Holy Spirit. That's the Spirit of truth, the
Spirit of Christ Himself. And he said, you will know him,
the world doesn't know him, the world doesn't receive him, but
you do because I'm gonna send him to you. I'm gonna send him
in you. So that's who he's talking about
when he says the comforter. Now look with me at John chapter
16, verse seven, this is what our Lord said. Nevertheless,
I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away. For if
I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you. God's Holy Spirit, the Comforter.
If I go away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart,
I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will
reprove the world. That word reprove means convince. He will convince the world of
sin, sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Now that right
there is the goodness and the kindness and the mercy of God
to a sinner. That he would come to a sinner
and convince that sinner of his own sin. That he would open the
eyes, show the truth, and absolutely convince the heart of that sinner
that he truly is a sinner. Show him his sin. and then show
him God's righteousness that he demands. Exactly what God demands for
a soul to enter into His presence. Men think that they are doing
enough good for God to accept them, trying the best they can,
living life, you know, in a good and positive way, a good moral
way, and they believe in their heart God's going to have them
because of that. When God's Spirit comes to a person, God's Spirit
convinces that person that they are nothing but sin. And God
demands absolute perfection, absolute righteousness to stand
in His presence. And because of that, God's Spirit
convinces that sinner of the judgment of God that is coming
because of man's absolute sin. That is as bright as the noonday
sun when God's Spirit comes. But that's the goodness of God
to a sinner. A person hears that and says,
now why is that God's goodness? Why would that be God's goodness?
Our Lord told us why. He said, go learn what this means. Go learn what this means. And
that's God's Spirit coming to a sinner. He comes and says to
the heart of a sinner, learn what this means. Learn what this
means. Here's the truth. I'm bringing the truth. Here's
the answer. Here's the secret. This scripture
talks about the secret things of God, the mystery of godliness. God's Spirit comes and He says,
here's the secret. Here's the truth. Look at it
with me back in our text. In Matthew 9, He said in verse
10, 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? But when Jesus heard that, he
said unto them, they that be whole need not a physician, but
they that are sick. They that are sick. Those that
believe that their own morality makes them right with God, they have no true need for his
gospel. No true need for his gospel.
They don't need a great physician. They're not sick with sin in
their own eyes. And that is such a sad thing.
That's such a sad, sad thing. The reason is because it means
God has not sent His Holy Spirit to them. Only those that God has chosen
to save will ever learn what this means. Only those that God has chosen
to send His Spirit to and reveal the truth to will ever learn
what it means when He said in verse 13, 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." When
it comes to God's dealings with sinners, He said, I will not
have sacrifice. A sacrifice is an offering to
Him, isn't that right? A sacrifice is a payment for
sin. And God said, I will not accept
one from man. I won't do it. False preachers,
they lie to men and women by telling them, now, if you wanna
be saved, you're gonna have to make some sacrifices. That's
what they say. If you wanna be saved, you're
gonna have to give this up, you're gonna have to give that up, You're
going to have to start doing some things. You're going to
have to do for God. You're going to have to give
your heart to Him. You're going to have to give
your life to Him. But now if you step up and if
you make the great sacrifice, He'll save you. That is not true. That is not
true. 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 man
has to offer him. Nothing, nothing. Well, now if he won't have sacrifice,
what will he have? Verse 13, he said, I will have
mercy. I'll have mercy. What does that
mean? That means Christ made the only
payment he would accept. That's what it means. He will
not accept our sacrifice because Christ already made the sacrifice. He offered himself to God for
us. By the sacrifice of himself,
his blood paid for every sin of every sinner that God chose
to save. And this verse right here tells
us that he didn't pay for the sins of the whole world. There
are millions and there are billions of people that Christ did not
sacrifice himself for. There are two types of people
on this earth, the saved and the lost. Who is who? Who is who? He said in verse
13, go ye and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and
not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous. The word
righteous, according to the dictionary, means upright, virtuous, keeping
the commands 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. Now, is it not scary that that
describes the average church-going person? He said, I did not come to call
the righteous. Well, then who then can be saved?
If he didn't come to call the righteous, who did he come to
call? He said sinners. Sinners. The word sinners according to
the dictionary 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. I'm pretty sure that describes
you. Are you a sinner? Are you a sinner? If you are, Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners. Those who have been ruined and
wasted by the sickness of sin. Those who know they need the
great physician. If that describes you, then go
learn what this means. He will have mercy and not sacrifice. because he came not to call the
righteous, but sinful old you. You. Me, if I'm a sinner, you,
if you're a sinner. He came to call sinners. What
has he called us to? The end of verse 13 says repentance. Repentance means a change of
mind about everything. A change of mind about the sovereignty
and the holiness of God Almighty. What He will accept, what He
will not accept. A change of mind about my own
sinfulness. A change of mind about everything
Christ accomplished. Who He accomplished it for. When
God calls His own to Himself. That sinner learns what that
means. He understands what the entire
Word of God means. He may not understand the entire
Word of God, But God teaches him that every word of it is
about Jesus Christ and Him crucified for sinners. Sinners. Oh, may God teach us that. May
God teach that to our hearts. May we truly learn what that
means. Until next Sunday morning, may
our 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.