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 invite you to turn with me
this morning to John chapter 8. John chapter 8. Our desire Every time that we open up this
word, our hope, every time we speak concerning
God's word, is to glorify God. And the first way that we do
that is by un-glorifying ourselves. He must get all the glory and
we must get none of the glory. And in John chapter 8 verse 33
begins by saying, they answered Him. Which means He just said some
things to them and I want us to see what they are. This is
where I want us to begin this morning. Verse 21, John 8 verse
21 says, Then said Jesus again unto them,
I go my way and you shall seek me and shall die in your sins. Whither I go, you cannot come. I'm going my way. You're going
to seek me, but you're going to die in your sins. Where I'm
going, you cannot come. Verse 24, I said therefore unto
you that you shall die in your sins, for if you believe not
that I am, you shall die in your sins. Verse 26, I have many things
to say and to judge of you, but he that sent me is true, and
I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. They
understood not that He spake to them of the Father. Then said
Jesus unto them, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then
shall you know that I am, and that I do nothing of Myself,
but as My Father hath taught Me, I speak these things. Verse
31, Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If
you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed.
And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free." Our Lord just finished telling
them that the truth would make them free. And they said, what are you saying?
What are you saying about us? What do you mean made free? Verse 33, they answered him,
we be Abraham's seed and we're never in bondage to any man.
How sayest thou you shall be made free? They didn't like that. They didn't like it. If you tell
men and women the actual truth, they're not going to like it.
They're just not going to like it. If you read the verses of
Scripture to them, if you just read the Word of God to them, Romans 7 verse 18 says that in
my flesh dwells no good thing. John 12 verse 39 says, Man cannot
believe. Romans 8 verse 8 says, Man cannot
please God. Verse Corinthians 2 verse 14
says, Man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God.
He cannot know them. John 6 verse 44 says, Man cannot
come to Christ. Just can't. and you tell men
and women the truth, and they're not gonna like it. And they will
not believe it. Our Lord just told them, you're
in bondage. And they said, you don't even
know what you're talking about. The actual condition of every
man and woman by nature is far worse than they could ever imagine. It is far worse. Now, if you
have your Bible with me, turn over to Isaiah 64, and let's
look at this together. Isaiah 64, verse 6 says, But
we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf. And our iniquities,
like the wind, have taken us away. We don't have any righteousness. We don't have anything that is
right in us. Nothing. All we are is an unclean
thing. Can you acknowledge that from
the Scripture? Go with me over to Romans 3. Romans chapter 3 verse 11 says,
There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. There's none that has any wisdom.
That's what it's saying. There's no understanding. None
that seek. Romans 5 verse 6 says, For when
we were yet without strength, No strength. Romans 7 verse 18 says, For I
know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing,
for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which
is good I find not. No good. No good at all. Ephesians 2 verse 12 says, that
at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world. No hope. None. Without God, we by nature
have no hope. Our condition is far worse than
we could ever imagine. Ever. Galatians 3 says we're under
a curse. 2 Peter 2 says that we cannot
cease from sin. We just can't stop sinning. Isaiah 1 says, from the sole
of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in us,
nothing but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. How awful
is that? Is that not terrible? We are slaves to sin. That's what we are. We are in
bondage to sin, prisoners of sin. Now how much sweeter does that
make freedom sound? How much more glorious and amazing
does it make deliverance sound? Here's the truth about man's
condition. And I'm talking about every man and woman on the face
of this earth as they are in their flesh. Here's the truth.
Go with me over to 2 Timothy chapter 2. 2 Timothy 2 and look
at verse 26. It says, and that they may recover
themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive
by him at his will. Are men and women in bondage?
Oh, are they ever? Are they ever? Do they have any
idea? Not at all. I'm talking about
all men and women. I'm talking about the good church
going men and women. Do they have any idea? All, that includes me. I'm talking
about me. But back in our text, if you
go back with me to John chapter 8, our Lord said, the truth shall
make you free. Verse 33, they answered him,
we be Abraham's seed, and we're never in bondage to any man.
How sayest thou, you shall be made free? Why are you saying
that? Now here's the proof of the blindness
of man. Here's the proof. They said,
we're Abraham's seed. We've never been in bondage. All right, here's the proof of
the blindness of man. This Bible contains physical
things with spiritual meaning. physical happenings which represent
spiritual happenings. The number one happening, the
number one event, the most noted illustration and picture of what
Christ did for His people is this. Abraham had a son and his
name was Isaac. And Isaac had a son. and his
name was Jacob. And God changed his name to Israel.
Jacob had a son and his name was Joseph. And Joseph was sold
into slavery. He was sold into bondage. But God made him a ruler in Egypt.
And he ultimately was put in charge of all the corn that was
in Egypt. And his brothers, his father,
found out there was corn in Egypt and he sent his sons. And Joseph's
brothers came to him and he gave them corn. He gave them plenty
of corn. And he told them, you all come
into Egypt and I'll take care of you. So they did. And when
they did that, they became the slaves of the Egyptians. There came a point when Joseph
died A new Pharaoh took over, and all of the sons of Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, they all became slaves to the Egyptians, just
like God said to Abraham in Genesis 15. God told Abraham long before
any of that ever happened, He said, is going to be in bondage 400
years. And they were. And this whole book continually
reminds us that Abraham's seed was in bondage, but God sent
a deliverer to bring them out. 400 years they were in bondage. Then after that, in the book
of Judges, Seven times God mentions either delivering them or giving
them over to the Canaanites. They were in bondage to the Canaanites
after Exodus. They were in bondage again. Now
turn with me over to Matthew chapter 1 and look at verse 1. It says,
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David,
the son of Abraham. Verse 11 says, And Josias begat
Jeconias and his brethren about the time they were carried away
into Babylon. They were in bondage to Babylon
for 70 years. Again, after they were in bondage
to the Canaanites, after they were in bondage to the Egyptians.
Seventy years. And these men who are speaking
to our Lord in our text in John chapter 8, at that exact moment
in time, they were under the rule of the Romans. Now why am I going into all this?
Why such a college lecture? Here's why. I'm trying to prove
the point that men are blind. Men are blind to their own bondage. Blind. Back over in John chapter
8 verse 33, they answered him, we be Abraham's seed. And we're
never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou, you shall be
made free? Jesus answered them, verily,
verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant
of sin. Servant means slave. That's what
it means. Whosoever committeth sin is the
slave of sin. Now a sinner's gonna hear that
and he's gonna say, wait a minute, I'm not a slave to sin. You better
watch what you're calling me, don't you call me that. I'm a
slave to no man and I'm a slave to no sin either. Okay, then stop sinning. If you're not a slave to sin,
stop sinning. The commandment is in 1 John
2 verse 1, my little children, these things write I unto you
that you sin not. Sin not. The problem for us is We can't. We can't not sin. We're enslaved to it. Verse 34, Jesus answered them,
verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the
servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in
the house forever, but the son abideth. The Lord Jesus Christ is called
the only begotten Son of the Father. And I've tried to clearly set
forth that we are the slaves. We are the sinners. And the slaves
are not going to abide in God's house. They're just not. But if we could be made a son, If there was a way that we could
be made a son, not a slave, but a son, then we would abide in the house
of God forever. Now the picture that we've painted
this morning is very black. Very, very black. But right in
the middle of this picture, Christ is the diamond that's going to
shine. The blacker the backdrop, the
more clearly we see His glory. John chapter 8 verse 36 says,
If the Son therefore shall make you free, If I'm going to be made free,
only the Son of God can do it. Scripture says men loved darkness
rather than light. I don't even want to be made
free by my own physical nature. He has got to make me free. He
has to move on me and work on me in spite of me and set me
free. David said, he maketh me lie
down in green pastures. Why does he do that, David? Because
if he didn't, I wouldn't lie down. He maketh me. If the Son therefore shall make
you free, how can I be made free? I've
got to be made a son, that's how. If I'm not made a son, I'm
not gonna abide in the house. Well, how can I be made a son?
Here's the answer. Here's the answer. How can I
be made a son? Here is the answer. Christ has
to be made a servant. That's the answer. If I'm going to be made a son,
Christ has to be made a servant. He has to take my place and he
has to give me his. Substitution is what that's called. He must be cast out. so I can abide forever. Now this is what our precious
Lord, the Son of God, this is what our Lord cried.
He said, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why hast thou forsaken me? Do you know what the answer is? To make me free. To set us free. The song says, hallelujah, what
a savior, who can take a poor lost sinner, lift him from the
miry clay, and set him free. Free at last. Thank God Almighty,
we're free at last. We're free from the law. That law of do this and don't
do that, Christ set us free from it. Look over at Galatians 3
with me. Verse 10 in Galatians chapter
3 says, For as many as are of the works of the law are under
the curse, For it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God,
it is evident. For the just shall live by faith.
And the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall
live in them. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law. being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak after
the manner of men, though it be but a man's covenant, Yet
if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth or addeth thereto." Now, I want
you to listen to this last verse I'm going to read right here.
Verse 16. Galatians 3 verse 16. Listen to this. It says, Now
to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not,
And to seeds as of many, but as of one. and to thy seed, which
is Christ." The seed of Abraham is Christ. All the promises of God were
made to Christ. And we were made free from the
curse because of Christ. What is the curse? It's death.
That's what it is. We just read it in verse 13.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangs
on a tree. We're free from the curse because
Christ set us free from death. He set us free. Look over at
John chapter 11. Verse 21 says, Then said Martha unto Jesus,
Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But
I know that even now whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will
give it thee. Jesus saith unto her, thy brother
shall rise again. Martha said unto him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He
that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" Well, I
see people die all the time. Not if they're God's people,
you don't. Their body sleeps for a little while, but no one
can die in Christ. No one. In Christ, we've been
set free from death. We cannot die because we've been
made free from sin. Does that mean we're not going
to sin anymore for the rest of our lives? No, it doesn't mean
that. But God said, in Christ, sin
shall not have dominion over you. We're all, if we belong
to God the Father, and if we were placed in God the Son, called
by God the Spirit, we're going to live out the rest of this
life in sin. Carrying out the sins that this
flesh commits. But Christ has already put away
every one of them. And sin will not have dominion
over us. Call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sins. He shall. 1 Corinthians 15 verse
51 says, Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump, for the trump shall sound, and
the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For
this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal
must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ has gotten
the victory. We've been made free. Made free. 1 Corinthians 7 verse 22 says,
For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the
Lord's free man. Likewise also, he that is called
being free is Christ's servant. You are bought with a price.
Be not ye the servants of men. Bought with a price. All of Christ's
servants are free men. If the Son therefore shall make
you free, you shall be free indeed. Free indeed. Until next Sunday
morning, may our Lord bless His Holy Word. 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.