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
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. For information and service times,
visit www.ksgc.church. And now, Gabe Stoniker. If you
would like to follow along, we will be in the book of Acts today. Acts chapter 24. Acts chapter
24. While you're finding that place,
I'll just tell you a few things here. And the first thing is
this, the scripture, the word of God is very specific. Do we realize that? The scripture
is very specific. What is said in the Word of God
is very exact, very, very specific. But mankind has a way of generalizing
things. That's man's doing. Man has a
way of generalizing things and generalizing can be very dangerous. Very dangerous. God's true people
do not want a general religion. Some people are okay with a general
religion. Some people do not really care
about specifics. Some people really do not worry
about it. They just kind of want to be
under the blanket of religion and that's good enough. That's
fine enough. That's not how it is for God's
people, not God's true people. They do not want a general religion. They do not want to generally
know what God has said in his word. They want to know specifically,
specifically. The world is fine with the general
knowledge, a general understanding. We can go here, we can go there. It's all about the same. That's
not God's people. That is not God's people at all.
They want to know specifically who it is they are worshiping. They want to know specifically
what he has to say. And they want to know if he is
saying it specifically to them. That's what God's people want
to know. All of God's people are this way. All of them. He
puts that heart and that desire in all of them. All of them. They search for the details. They want the truth. They want
the truth at all costs. no matter how condemning it is
to their flesh. And I can speak on my own behalf
to you. I want to know the truth of what
God has to say about me, even if it condemns me and slays me
in the sin of my flesh. That's how I feel about it. I
pray you feel the same way. God's people want to know the
truth no matter how exposing it is of their sin. That's what
this word does. It exposes our sin. They want the truth no matter
how much it strips them of their pride and ability. That's what the truth of this
word does. They want it no matter how much
it causes them to decrease. in God's eyes and in their own
eyes. The more we read in God's Word,
the more we will decrease in God's eyes and in our own eyes. No matter how much the honesty
of the Word strips them of all credit, this Word says we don't
get any credit. It strips us of all glory in
anything concerning salvation, anything and everything. from
the decision of it, even just the decision of salvation. The
word strips us of that. To the execution of it, to the
obtaining of it. No matter how contrary the truth
of God's word is to the flesh of man, God's people want it. They want the truth. They're
not satisfied to have a general understanding of God and a general
understanding of what saved them and what saves sinners. They're
not satisfied with a general form of religion. They want to
get to the heart of these things. And there's a particular subject
that I want to do that with right now. There's something that is
very generalized in religion. and I want us to look at it specifically. And it's this right here. What is it to be a believer? What is it to be a believer?
The general acknowledgement of whether or not a person is religious
is whether or not he or she is a believer. The way we gauge
whether someone is religious is we find out whether or not
they are a believer. You ask people point blank, are
you a believer? And some will tell you, some
would say, no, I don't believe any of that. I don't believe
the Bible. I don't believe in God. I don't
believe any of that. All right. That's not a religious person.
Person's not religious. Most people though, would say,
oh yes, I'm a believer. Absolutely. I'm a religious person. Every child of God will say that.
You ask a child of God, are you a believer? Oh yes, I'm a believer.
But a child of God will not be satisfied with a general understanding
of what that means. And that's probably a good way
to respond to that question. If someone says, are you a believer?
The best response really ought to be, what do you mean by that
question? Rather than just throwing it
into a general umbrella. A true child of God will want
to get to the heart of it. He or she will want to get to
the root of the issue and they will ask themselves, a true child
of God will ask them their own self. A believer of what? A believer in what? A believer
on what? Is a general belief in God enough? You know, people just think about
just God. You know, is a general belief
in God enough? Is what I believe about God correct? This is what a true believer
will ask himself or herself. Is what I believe about God correct? What is it to truly be a believer?
What does a believer believe? Am I one of them? Am I one of
them? How can I know if I'm a believer?
A child of God will specifically want the answer to that. Well,
we're going to go ahead and answer that question. And then we're
going to prove it with the word. All right. The Apostle Paul is
on trial right here in Acts 24 for preaching the gospel. That's
the reason why. He's on trial for preaching the
gospel. And they gave him an opportunity to speak on his own
behalf, to defend himself, and this is what he said. If you
look at verse 10, Acts 24, verse 10, then Paul, after that the
governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, for as much
as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this
nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself, Paul said.
because that thou mayest understand that there are yet but twelve
days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship. And they neither
found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising
up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city,
neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me."
Verse 14 says, "'But this I confess unto thee, that after the way
which they call heresy, So worship I the God of my fathers, believing
all things which are written in the law and in the prophets."
He said, I'm going to lay it all out there for you. I'm going
to make a confession to you. After the way, which they call
heresy, that means division. That's what it means, division.
They grabbed Paul, they detained him. They said, why are you preaching
this? You're creating division. All you're doing is causing division
in what you're doing. You're ruffling the feathers,
you're troubling the waters. Why are you doing this? Verse
14, this I confess unto thee that after the way which they
call heresy, they call it, it's not really heresy. But after
the way which they call heresy, so worship I, the God of my fathers,
believing all things which are written in the law and in the
prophets." He said, why am I preaching this? Because I have to. I have to. I'm a believer. I have to. I'm a believer. What does a believer
believe? all things which are written
in the law and in the prophets." We talk about believing on Christ,
okay? We say it all the time, you hear
it all the time, believing on Christ. Well, to believe on Christ
is to believe His Word. This is the Word of Jesus Christ. It was inspired by the Holy Spirit
of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of Christ. It is to believe on the
particular person of Jesus Christ. That is what it is to believe
on him. It's to believe the pages of
his word. That's what Paul just said. The
only way we can know the person of the Lord Jesus Christ is by
knowing his word and believing his word. The Spirit reveals
Christ to his people through the word. This is how we can
know him. That's what determines whether
or not a person is a true believer. If you show a man something in
the Word of God, this has happened many times, I've witnessed this
so many times. You show a man or a woman something in the Word
of God and he responds by saying, I don't believe that. That person
is not a believer. That person is just not a believer.
But if you show a man something and he says, huh, well, there
it is. If God wrote it in his word,
it must be so. If that is a man or a woman's
response, he or she is a believer. A believer believes all things
which are written in the word of God. Now, let me emphasize
that. A believer believes all things
which are written in the Word of God. A believer does not believe
part of the things which are written in the Word of God. That's
where everybody goes wrong. That's what denominations are
built on, believing part of the things that are written in the
Word of God. That's not a true believer. A true believer believes
all things A believer does not believe most of the things written
in the Word of God. A believer believes all things,
all things. A believer does not just believe
the things that he or she can understand. And I want to emphasize
that and I'll tell you there are many things in here I don't
understand. But if God wrote it, amen, I believe it. By God's grace, by his faith
given, I believe it. Doesn't matter whether we understand
it or not. God said it. His ways are higher than our
ways. God's people believe it. All of it. Turn with me if you
would to Matthew 4. If you have your Bibles there,
turn over to Matthew chapter 4. This is when our Lord was
tempted in the wilderness. and he was hungry, and the adversary
said, why don't you turn those stones into bread? All right,
verse four, Matthew four, verse four. Our Lord answered, but
he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Every
word, every word. Somebody says, well, I don't
understand that. I don't understand what that's saying. It doesn't
matter. It does not matter. Well, I just
don't know if I can go along with that. Again, that doesn't
matter whether a person goes along with it or doesn't go along
with it. That's irrelevant. This is God we're talking about.
This is God and a true believer will believe God Almighty's word
no matter what. Now, are we believers? You and I, are we believers?
Let's see what he has said in his word and then let's see if
we believe it, okay? Turn with me to Ephesians 2. Ephesians chapter two, verse
eight says, for by grace, grace means gift, free gift, favor
from God, God's doing, for by grace are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. Believing is faith. That's what believing is, faith.
If we have the ability to believe, it's because we have faith. And
the word of God says, faith is not of ourselves. It is the gift
of God. Most people believe, many people
believe that faith is their faith. You know, they'll say, you need
to exercise your faith. Most people believe faith is
their own faith. It's not. Faith is not of ourselves. That means it doesn't come from,
it doesn't originate with us. It's not of ourselves, it is
the gift of God. All right, Hebrews 12 says, He,
God, is the author and the finisher of our faith. Our ability to
believe. He is the author. Think about
what that means. The author is the one who wrote
it, started it. The finisher is the one who finished
it. Our ability to believe on him. He is the author. It is in his hands and we are
at his mercy. That's what that means. He's
the author and the finisher of it. We're at his mercy. The scripture
says, whoever believes on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved.
But the scripture also says we do not have that ability of faith
in ourselves to do that. God must give that faith to us
and God must perform that faith in us. If we end up being true
believers, God did that. That's what it means. and He
gets the credit for our believing on Him, and He gets the glory
for our believing on Him. He gets the credit and the glory
for all of our faith. We can't even brag about the
fact that we're believers. We can't brag to anybody about
the fact that we're believers. He made us to be that way. Being
a believer is His decision. If He's the author of it, If
it's not of ourselves, but the gift of Him, okay? Being a believer
is His decision. It is His work. It is His doing. We cannot even
decide whether or not we're going to be a believer. That's how
bad a shape man is in. Talk about spiritually dead,
that's a good definition of spiritually dead. Cannot even decide, do
not even have the ability to decide whether or not we're gonna
be a believer. That's what the word of God says.
All of it is in his hands. Again, verse eight says, for
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast,
for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Now, that's what the scripture says. Here's our question. Do
we believe it? That's what the scripture says.
Do we believe it? Faith is not of ourselves, it's
the gift of God. Do we believe that? Really? A true believer will. A true
believer will. He or she will say, it is God
which worketh in me both to will and to do of his good pleasure. That's Philippians 2.13. It's
God who's doing it. Turn with me over to Psalm 14. Psalm 14, verse one says, the
fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt. They have done abominable works.
There is none that doeth good. There is none that doeth good."
Now who is he talking about? He's talking about everybody.
He's talking about all of mankind from all generations. He's talking
about me. Psalm 14 is about me. He's talking
about you. Verse 2 says, The Lord looked
down from heaven upon the children of man to see if there were any
that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside. They are all together become
filthy. There is none that doeth good. No, not one." Now, here's our
question. Really, do we believe that? Do we believe that? Or do we
say, well, now wait a minute, hold on now. I mean, it can't
be that there are none that do with good. Wait a minute. I did not come up with this.
If you have your Bible there, you see just like I do. God said
this. People say, I just, I don't know.
I can't believe that there's none that do with good. If I say that, I'm not a believer. If I do not believe what God
has to say about me in my sinful, wretched flesh, then I'm not
a believer. A true believer will cry, Amen. Oh, wretched man that I am. Oh,
wretched man that I am. The Apostle Paul was a believer.
Turn with me to 1 Timothy 3. 1 Timothy 3. Verse 16 says, And without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up in the
glory. Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. God is the one that came down.
That's what 1 Timothy 3.16 says. Not just God's son, not just
God's son, not just God's helper, not just God's representative.
God was manifest in the flesh. John 1 says, In the beginning
was the Word, speaking of Christ, and the Word was with God and
the Word was God. God is three persons. It's not
that the Father is God and then the Son and the Spirit are not
God. That's not it at all. Those three equal persons collectively
are God. Three equal persons, the Father
of God, the Son of God, the Spirit of God. God the Father, God the
Son, God the Spirit. These three are one and these
three agree in one. All the fullness of God is seen
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of it. If you want
to see God the Father, look at Jesus Christ. If you want to
see God the Son, look at Jesus Christ. If you want to see God
the Spirit, look at Jesus Christ. Isaiah 9, 6 says, Unto us a child
is born. Call his name the Counselor.
That's the Spirit. Call his name the Everlasting
Father. That's the Father. Call his name the Prince of Peace.
That's Christ the Son, the Messiah. Well, who is he? Is he God the
Father? Is he God the Son? Or is he God the Spirit? Here's
what a true believer will say. Yes. Yes. If you've seen him, you've seen
the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Do we believe that? True believer will. Over in Hebrews
chapter one, verse one says, God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the worlds. Verse three says, who being the
brightness of his glory, and the express image of God's person,
the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the
word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, He
sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." Jesus Christ,
God manifest in the flesh by himself. And that's what I want
to emphasize here. By himself purged the sin of
his people. They did not help him. We did
not help him. This word says God's people did
not give him permission to do it. They did not accept it, thereby
making it effectual to them. They had no role in the matter
whatsoever. By His own blood, the Lord Jesus
Christ entered into the holy place of God and offered one
sacrifice for the sin of all of His people, throughout all
generations, throughout all the end of the world. And by that
one sacrifice of himself, he purged, he wiped out, he cleaned
out, emptied the sin of his people forever, forever. He did that
by himself forever. There's nothing that God's people
can do. Christ already did it, already did it by himself. It's
finished. Now here's our question. Do we
believe that? A true believer will. He or she
will say it is not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to His mercy. He saved us by the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost. He did it. Now
let me see if I have time to give you one more. Go to John
11 here, I'll be very quick. John 11, this is where Lazarus
had just died, and the Lord has come and he's speaking to Martha.
And in John 11, verse 23, Jesus said 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. And then
he said to Martha, Believest thou this? He said, Martha, are
you a true believer? Believest thou this? Verse 27,
she said unto him, yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ,
the Son of God, which should come into the world. She said,
I most certainly do. I believe. I believe you're the
Christ. I believe all life is in you.
I believe all hope is in you. I believe. Do we? true believer
will. May God give that faith to us
and cause us to truly believe on Christ and believe every word
He has written. 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.