Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 2709 Rock Springs Road in Kingsport, Tennessee,
would like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
of their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. For information and service times,
visit www.ksgc.church. And now, Gabe Stoniker. I would like to bring a message
today of thanks and praise and rejoicing for salvation from
sin. deliverance from sin, redemption
from sin. The message is going to come
from Psalm 107. This is such a wonderful Psalm.
Psalm 107, and it says here in verse one, Oh, give thanks unto
the Lord for he is good, For his mercy endureth forever. Give
thanks. That's what we're going to do.
Give thanks. Just give him thanks. Such a
wonderful thing to do. Verse eight in this Psalm says,
Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness. and for his wonderful works to
the children of men. Praise him. I love the song. Praise him. Praise him. Give
thanks to him. Give praise to him. Verse 22
in this psalm says, and let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving
and declare his works with rejoicing. Rejoice. Thanks, praise, rejoicing. Verse 32 says, let them exalt
him also in the congregation of the people and praise him
in the assembly of the elders. Let them exalt him. Let them exalt him. Who is he
talking about? Who is the them? Let them exalt him. Well, look at verse one with
me. Psalm 107 verse one, it says, Oh, give thanks unto the Lord
for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Verse two says,
let the redeemed of the Lord say so. The redeemed of the Lord
say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. That's
who will say this. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so. That's who will give thanks.
That's who will rejoice. That's who will praise. the redeemed
of the Lord, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. The world in general, this world
does not acknowledge the goodness and the grace and the mercy and
the salvation that is only, meaning alone,
only in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. This world honestly
does not acknowledge that in full truth. Alone, Christ alone,
His goodness alone, His mercy alone, His work alone, His glory
alone, His credit alone. This world generally, naturally
does not acknowledge Christ alone. This world wants to add self
to Christ, me and him. We have a good thing going together.
He started it, I finished it. He offered it, I accepted it.
The world, mankind naturally wants to add something to Christ. But generally the world does
not praise and thanks and acknowledge and glorify Him for His grace,
His mercy, His goodness, His salvation to His people alone. He did it alone. But I tell you
who will acknowledge all of that and who will thank Him and praise
Him and rejoice in what He has done alone? The redeemed will. It's true. The redeemed Will
the redeemed do? The redeemed do. The redeemed
of the Lord say so. They say Christ did it alone.
He saved alone. It was his grace. It's grace
alone. Grace alone, Christ alone. Look
at Psalm 103, just a couple of pages back, Psalm 103. Verse
one says, bless the Lord, oh my soul. David is the man who
penned this. And David said, no matter who
else does, even if no one else does, soul, bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. I have to, David said. I've been
caused to. By God's grace, I've been made
to. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and
all that is within me, bless His holy name. Every believer says, thank God
I have been made to do that. Thank God I've been caused to
do that. Thank God I get to do that. What
a blessing. Thank God He has reminded me
to do that. Thank God He keeps a remembrance
in me that won't let me forget what Christ has done for me.
Everything that Christ has done for me, it's not what I have
done for Him. It's not what I am going to do
for Him. It's what He has done for me. Verse two, David said, bless
the Lord. Oh, my soul. And forget not all
his benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities. That's amazing, isn't it? Who
forgiveth all thine iniquities, all your sins, every transgression
of the law that you've made. Who healeth all thy diseases. If we're healed from any disease
on this earth, it's the Lord. It's the Lord that healeth. And
we may get another disease and he'll either heal us from that
or he won't. But ultimately, for all of his
people, all of the redeemed, when they go to glory to be with
him, there are no more diseases. He removes sin and every effect
of sin. He will heal every disease for
his people. Verse 3 says, Who forgiveth all
thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth
thy life from destruction. Men and women are born into this
world in sin. They're headed to condemnation.
But the mercy and grace of God pulls them out. who redeemeth thy life from destruction,
who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercy. That's
what he did for his people. Who satisfieth thy mouth with
good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. The
redeemed of the Lord, they don't have a choice in the matter.
They just don't have a choice. There is no way they could refrain
and stop themselves from blessing the Lord and thanking the Lord
and praising the Lord. Once it is revealed to them everything
that Christ has done. Everything Christ has done. He
did a work they couldn't do. If He redeemed us, He did a work
that we could not do. He paid a price that we could
not pay. That's what redemption is. It's
a price paid, and it is a price paid in full. That's what redemption
is. If a price has not been paid
in full, redemption has not been made. This is very, very important. If a price has not been paid
in full, redemption has not been made, and there's nothing to
rejoice in yet. Nothing. Turn over to Hebrews
9, and while you're turning there, let me tell you a little personal
story here. Hebrews 9, I have the fondest
memories of my mother. I'm very thankful to say that
the Lord revealed himself to my mother. She was a believer
on the Lord Jesus Christ. All of her hope was in him alone.
And he called her home many, many years ago, called her home
to glory. And she was a very, very special
person. Obviously, she was my mother
and everyone loves their mother and is thankful for their mother.
But she was an exceptional person. She was a very happy person.
She had a great smile. She was a very positive. person
and there's just so many things that I'm just so thankful for.
And I have such wonderful thoughts and memories of her. And one
of the things that I'm so fond of is when I was young, she lived
in the way that people lived back in those days. Anytime you
wanted something or needed something, if you did not have the money
on hand, you used to have to put that item on layaway in a
store. I realized that layaway is not
really done anymore and people really don't know what that means.
But if you have a little gray hair like I have, you understand
what I'm talking about. You remember this. Now everybody
just gets a credit card and you go get what you want and figure
out how to pay for it later. But back in the day, They would
not give you the item until you paid for it. The item had to
be paid for in full before you were able to take it home. So
my mother would put things on layaway. You know, there were
four children in our family. I have three siblings and we
needed shoes and we needed clothes and we needed all kinds of things.
And my mother would go out and put items on layaway. And I remember being young and
it felt like we were constantly stopping into some store to make
a payment on her layaway. And I would stand there right
beside her, and my head would be about as tall as the counter,
and I'd watch her. I'm here to make a payment on
my layaway, and the man would take the money and record the
payment, and it would be all about business. And then we'd
move on to the next thing on the list. You know, it's just
a common occurrence, just making a payment. Just then you go on
life is usual. Everything was just all business
until. The day that redemption came.
I can remember her talking about having a particular item on layaway,
and she's been making payments on her layaway and next month.
is going to be her last payment. And she's going to get to take
that item home. And she'd be all excited about
it. And I can still see her going in with that smile on her face
saying, I'm here to make my last payment on my layaway. And she'd
lay that money on the counter and the person would take that
money and stamp her receipt paid in full. Give her that receipt
of payment in full and hand that item to her and she would be
so happy to get that item. And she would take that item
home. It was hers. It didn't belong to the store
anymore. It was hers. It was bought with
her price. That's redemption. That's the
redemption that Christ made. He made a payment for his people
in full. The payment that Jesus Christ
made was a stamped receipt, hand them over, payment is done. Payment in full, bought with
a price. bought with a price, total redemption. That's what Christ accomplished
for his people. Look right here at Hebrews 9
verse 11. It says, but Christ being come
and high priest of good things to come by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say not
of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves.
It's saying the law didn't do this. Christ did. The law was a picture pointing
to Christ. Verse 12, Neither by the blood
of goats and calves, but by his own blood he went in once into
the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Bought, paid, delivered. from bondage, from captivity
with only one payment. One payment. What that means
is no need for layaway. Now let me tell you something.
False religion. Men who stand in pulpits who
do not know what Christ accomplished on the cross of Calvary. They
declare Him and they declare His salvation as though it were
a layaway. That's what false religion preaches. That's what men and women who
are under the lies of false religion believe. They believe that Christ
on the cross of Calvary made the first payment of the layaway. He made one of the payments on
the layaway. And there are still payments
that need to be made in order for redemption to be complete
and for us to be brought home. But I'm going to tell you that
is not so. That is not so. Christ did not
put his people on layaway on the cross of Calvary. He made
one payment in full, bought with a price, redeemed, taken home. That's it. That's it. We were bought with a payment
so valuable. One payment obtained eternal
redemption for his people. Eternal forever redemption for
his people. One payment. What was that payment?
It was the most valuable substance in heaven. Christ made the payment
with the most valuable substance that heaven possessed. The Apostle
Peter said, you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers, but you were redeemed with the
precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless, holy blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot. Oh, give thanks. to the Lord,
praise the Lord, rejoice in the Lord, exalt the Lord. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy."
There's a song that says, redeemed how I love to proclaim it, redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb. redeemed through His infinite
mercy, His child and forever I am. He bought me, I'm His.
There's another song that says, Up Calvary's mountain, one dreadful
morn, walked Christ my Savior weary and worn, facing for sinners
death on the cross, that He might save them from endless loss. Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer,
seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree, wounded and bleeding, for
sinners pleading." Sinners who were blind and unheeding, they
did not listen to His Word, they rebelled against Him. And the
writer of that song said, that was me, he was dying for me.
That blessed redeemer, thank God, he died for me. This blind,
unheeding sinner. It goes on to say, now are we
free? There's no condemnation. The
Lord Jesus provides a perfect salvation. Come unto me, oh,
here is sweet call. Come, and he saves us once for
all. He has redeemed us once for all
of his elect people. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so. Let the redeemed of the Lord
say so. Back in Psalm 107, this whole
psalm is a picture of redemption. This shows us what Christ redeemed
his people from, the bondage, the trouble, the sorrow of sin. This psalm shows us how the Lord
causes his people to realize that they cannot redeem and deliver
themselves. Men and women think that they
have some ability to redeem themselves. Until God reveals to them, it's
not a possibility, not with man. With man, it's impossible. This
psalm shows us the place that all of God's people are brought
to, where all they can do is cry out to him for mercy. And
I love how it says every time that his people do that, every
time they do cry out to him for mercy, he delivers them out of
their distress. He's so faithful. Every time
God's people need mercy and cry out to him for mercy, they find
that there's a brand new faithful portion of mercy waiting on them.
The last verse of the Psalm here, Psalm 107, the last verse of
the Psalm says, who so is wise and will observe these things,
even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord.
Whoever's wise and will observe these things will understand
the loving kindness of the Lord. And that's what this is. This
is the loving kindness of the Lord to his people. We're just
going to read down through this psalm here. Verse one. It says,
O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy
endureth forever. If he has chosen to show grace
and mercy to us, his grace and mercy will last forever. Forever. Will he ever take it away from
us? Never. He never will. Verse two says,
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed
from the hand of the enemy. Let every particular soul that
he chose before the foundation of the world to redeem in the
blood of Jesus Christ, let them say so. Whom he hath redeemed
from the hand of the enemy, verse three, and gathered them out
of the lands from the east and from the west, from the north
and from the south. I love that. Thank God God has
a particular chosen people out of every tribe, nation, kindred,
tongue on this earth, everywhere, east, west, north, south. It's a people who were ruined
by a fall into sin. It's a people who were lost,
lost in sin, wandering in sin, so prone to wander. Lord, we
feel it. Verse four says they wandered
in the wilderness in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell
in. That's where all of God's people
were when the Lord found them, including us. Law, scripture
says, all we like sheep have gone astray. We did not know
the way to God. Man is not naturally born knowing
the way. to God, he's off lost some other
way. Christ comes and says, I'm the
way. That's the moment we're found.
Verse five says, hungry and thirsty. They're so fainted in them. That means empty. That's what
God's people are in themselves. Empty. When you're hungry and
thirsty, you're empty. It takes the spirit of God to
reveal to a sinner that he or she is empty. And it takes the
Spirit of God to create in a sinner a hunger and a thirst for Christ,
a hunger and a thirst for His righteousness. It takes the work
of the Spirit of God to cause a sinner to cry out to the Lord
for mercy and grace to help in his time of need. And that's
exactly what the Spirit of God does for every one of the redeemed. And when He does, verse 6, It
says, then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He
delivered them out of their distresses. Our Lord said, if you ask, you'll
receive. It's our Lord who causes us to ask in the first place.
It's God which worketh in us, both to will and do of His good
pleasure. He's the author, He's the finisher. Verse six, then
they cried unto the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them
out of their distresses and he led them forth by the right way,
that's Christ, that they might go to a city of habitation. He led them forth by Christ,
by the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He leads his people
in paths of righteousness for his namesake. That path leads
straight to the city which hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God. Verse 8 says, Oh, that men would
praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to
the children of men. Oh, that men and women would
give him the glory alone for the finished work of salvation.
He's the one who saved us and called us. It's his work. Verse
nine, for he satisfies the longing soul and filleth the hungry soul
with goodness. He's the one who does these things.
Now, beginning in verse 10, there are three illustrations here
proving our inability. God reveals this to us. Let's
just read down through this. Verse 10, such as sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron.
because they rebelled against the words of God and condemned
the counsel of the Most High. Therefore, He brought down their
heart with labor. They fell down, and there was
none to help. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke
their bands in sunder. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children
of men. For He hath broken the gates
of brass and cut the bars of iron in sunder." What that's
saying is, we did the sinning, He did the saving. Verse 17 says,
"'Fools,' because of their transgression and because of their iniquities,
are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner
of meat, and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they
cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their
distresses. He sent his word and healed them and delivered
them from their destructions. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children
of men, and let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving
and declare his works with rejoicing. Not only is he able to save,
he's willing to. Verse 23, they that go down to
the sea and ships that do business in great waters, these see the
works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth
and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
They mount up to the heaven. They go down again to the depths
of the, their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel
to and fro and stagger like a drunk man. And right there where it's
in, then they cry to the Lord and he saves them. You see the
repeated story here? We're in trouble and He saves. We're in trouble and He saves.
Now, I'm out of time. Read the rest of this psalm and
see the salvation of the Lord. And when you do, give Him thanks
and glory and praise for everything that He's done. May the Lord
make it to be so. 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 call
or write to the number and address on your screen or visit www.ksgc.church. Tune in at this same time next
week for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.