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. I will be speaking to you today
from John 14. If you would like to follow along
with me, we will be in John 14. And I would like to read the
first six verses of John chapter 14. It says, Let not your heart
be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions, If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there you may be also. And whither I go, you know,
and the way you know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord,
we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father,
but by me. Now, I hope this message is a
help in answering the question. This is a critical question. We have a few critical questions
this morning. But I hope this message is a
help in answering the question, what must I do to be saved? What must I do to be saved? And
I hope this message is a help in answering the question, who
should I believe? Who should I believe? This preacher
says this, and that preacher says that. You're watching me
right now on your television. And if you see anyone else on
television, you may notice one man will say this and another
man will say that. Everyone does not say the same
thing. This denomination says one thing and another denomination
says another thing. Who should I believe? Who should
I trust? I hope this message is a help
in answering the question, number one, what must I do to be saved? Number two, who should I believe? And number three, how can I know
if I am a child of God? How can I know if I belong to
God? How can I know that? Well, let's
read these verses again. John 14, verse one, our Lord
said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there you may be also. And whither I go, you know,
and the way you know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord,
we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father,
but by me. Now, here is the answer. To all
three of those critical questions, I just want to go ahead and say
it. I just want to go ahead and answer it. And then we will explain
the answers with the word of God. Okay. Verse six, Jesus sayeth
unto him, I am the way. I am the way. What must I do
to be saved? How can I be saved? Our Lord said, I am the way. I am the way. And then he said,
I am the truth. Who should I believe? Do you
ever ask yourself that question? Who should I believe? This one
saying this, that one's saying that, how can I know who's right?
How can I know who's right? Who should I believe? Our Lord
said, I am the truth. I am the truth. And then he said,
I am the life. How can I know if I'm a child
of God? How can I know if I'm one of
his followers, one of his disciples? How can I know if I have been
born again, as the scripture says, quickened to life again,
born again? You'll hear people say all the
time, I'm a born again Christian. You ever heard somebody say that?
Yes, sir, buddy. I'm a born again Christian. How do you know? Really, let's get honest, let's
get real. How do you know? People go around
just spouting that off. I'm a born again Christian. How
do you know? How can we know that we have
been born again by God's Holy Spirit? How can we know? Our
Lord said, I am the life. He said, no man comes to the
Father but by me. I am the way, I am the truth,
I am the life. Now let's explain those three
things through the Word of God. What does our Lord mean when
He says, I am the way? And I pray we will really get
a hold of this. Ask the Lord to open your eyes
and your heart to this. This is so important. What does
our Lord mean when he says, I am the way? Well, turn with me over
to Matthew 7. Matthew chapter 7. This is a
scripture we turn to a lot because it is so eye opening. Matthew
chapter 7, verse 21, it says, And this is our Lord speaking.
He said, not everyone that sayeth unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my
father, which is in heaven. What is the will of the father,
which is in heaven? What is the will of the father,
which is in heaven? Well, we could pick a page. I have a Bible
right here. We could turn to any page in
this word. This is the will of the Father
which is in heaven. We could pick any law. We could
pick any commandment. That would be the will of the
Father which is in heaven. The will and the demand of the
Father is, and we will see this as we read this word, The will
and the demand of the Father is absolute, holy perfection. That's the will, that is the
demand of the Father. And that's not what mankind is. God demands absolute, holy perfection. And that's not what mankind is
at all. And mankind is not gonna be allowed
into the glory of heaven just because he says, Lord, Lord.
Not at all. That does not meet God's demands.
That does not meet the will of the Father. In order to be allowed
in, a man or a woman has to be absolute, holy perfection. Verse 22 right here, he said,
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name? That's what I'm doing right now,
preaching in his name. Have we not prophesied in thy
name? And in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done
many wonderful works." They said, Lord, we preached, we cast out
devils, we did mission work, we did humanitarian efforts. Why did they do that? Here's
the reason why. It's because they thought that
was the way. They thought that was the way.
They thought if a man or a woman wants to go to heaven, he or
she has to become religious. Have you ever thought that? There
was a time in my life when I thought that. They thought if a man or a woman
wants to go to heaven, he or she has to become religious. He or she has to cast out all
sin. They thought if a man or a woman
wants to go to heaven, they have to get rid of all their sin.
Have you ever thought that? They thought he or she has to
do works that are pleasing to God. If you want to go to heaven,
you got to do things that are pleasing to God. That's what
they thought. Have you ever thought that? Our Lord said right here, that's
not the way. That is not the way. Look at
verse 23. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you depart
from me, ye that work iniquity. Preaching is iniquity. Casting
out devils is iniquity. Many wonderful works is iniquity.
According to God it is. He said, what you thought was
the way, that was actually sin against me. His ways are not
our ways. The pride in thinking that we
can do for Him what only He can do for us, that is sin against
Him. The Apostle Paul said over and
over again, mortify the deeds of your flesh. That means kill
your own works. That's what that means. He's
not talking about the works. He's not talking about sin. When
he says, mortify the deeds of the flesh, he's not talking about
sin. Paul couldn't kill his own sin. He could not kill his own
works of sin. Just read Romans 7, read 1 Timothy
1. He's talking about the works
of self-righteousness. That's what he's talking about.
Self-righteousness that man is fooling himself in thinking that
he's doing. And man is going to go meet God
in his own works, thinking that's the way. But that's not the way. Man's anything is not the way. Christ said, I am the way. My
work is the way, my righteousness is the way, my goodness, my good
deeds, my perfection. Why is that? It's because only
He and only His work is absolute holy perfection. Only Christ,
it's not me and you, only Christ is absolute holy perfection before
God. He is the only one. And His work
is the only thing that God will actually accept. That's it. His blood is the only thing that
will actually put away our sin. We can't decide to stop sinning.
We're sinners. We're sinners. That's like trying
to decide to no longer be human. We're humans. There is only one
way. Christ Jesus the man, Christ
Jesus the Lord, Christ Jesus our God, he said, I am the way.
Turn with me to Galatians 2. Galatians chapter 2, there are
so many scriptures we could turn to to see this very thing. Galatians
2 verse 16 says, knowing that a man is not justified by the
works of the law, the scripture. A man is not justified by the
works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. His faith. The faith of Jesus
Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ. Looking to Him. Trusting Him.
That we might be justified by the faith of Christ. We believe
in Him. that we are justified by the
faith of Him and not by the works of the law. For by the works
of the law shall no flesh be justified." Looking to Christ,
believing on Christ, that's the way. Galatians 3, verse 11 says,
But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God,
it is evident. For the just shall live by faith.
Looking to Christ, Trusting in Christ, believing Christ did
it for us. Christ had to do it for us. We
could not do it ourselves. Verse 13 says, Christ hath 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. Us doing
it is not the way. Christ doing it, that's the way. And he said, and this is the
glory of the gospel, he said, it's done. That's what he said. He said, Father, I finished the
work that you gave me to do. It's done. Well, what does this
mean for us? How does this translate to us?
Hebrews 4 says this means we can rest from all of our labors
as God has from his. We can rest as he has rested. If Christ said it's done, we
can trust him. Let's trust him and let's not
try to do again what he says he has already finished. This
is what it is to believe on Christ and to look to Christ and to
rest in the finished work of Christ. It is to believe He is
the way. I don't look to myself at all
for anything anymore. I look to Christ alone. He is
the way. Not me, Him. Not my work, His. His. People hear that and they
say, oh yeah, I believe that. Okay, if so, let's rest in it.
If we believe it, let's rest in it. Now, it won't take us
any time at all to answer the second question. That was the
first question, and we spent the most of our time on it. But
it won't take any time at all to answer this second question.
Who should I believe? All right, as you listen to preachers,
this one says this, and that one says that. Who should I believe? Well, turn with me to Romans
3. Romans chapter 3, I'll give you just a second to get there
because I want you to see something with me here. Romans chapter
3, I want us to look at the fourth word of the fourth verse. Okay, Romans 3, the fourth word
of the fourth verse says, let God be true. but every man a liar." Let God
be true, but every man a liar. Who should I believe? Here's
the answer. God. Who should I trust? Here's the answer. God. This preacher says this and that
preacher says that. Who's right? Which one is right? Here's the answer. It's the one
who will not give you his own word. It's the one who will only
quote God's word to you. It's the one who will not declare
an opinion on God's Word, will not add to what God has said. But it's the one who will only
declare God's Word, only declare the things that God has written.
Let God be true and every man a liar. Every man. If a man is
quoting God's word, he will be quoting God's word. If he's not
quoting God's word, he's quoting his own. Let God be true and
every man a liar. John, the apostle John said,
try the preachers, whether they are of God. Try them. You need to try me. You need
to search the scriptures to see if I'm telling you the truth.
Don't believe me. Believe God. You need to try
every man you hear. How can we know if a preacher
is of God? That man will only declare to
you God's word. God's messengers will not add
anything to God's word. They will not say God's word
says this. And then also in addition to that, they won't do that.
They will not take anything from God's word. They won't go through
the scriptures and then find one they don't like and skip
that verse. They won't do that. They won't withhold anything
God has said. They will only declare it in
the simplicity of how God declared it. Our God wrote this Bible
right here so that a babe can understand it. That's what he
said. He wrote this in a way so that a babe can understand
this. Our God does not write with trickery. He did not write one thing meaning
another thing. He wrote exactly what he meant
to say. And where man struggles with
it is man doesn't like it. Man says, well, I don't understand
it. That's not so. It's very easy
to understand. The flesh of man naturally just
does not like what God has to say. It's very hard on sin, very
condemning of sin. And that's what man is. We are
sin. Man does not like it. Man does not believe it. Man
does not agree with it. So man tries to explain it away. That's what men do in pulpits.
They don't like it. They don't believe it. They don't
agree with it. So they try to get up and they'll open the word
and quote something and then try to explain it away. When
a man does that, mark it down. He's a liar. He's a liar. When man says, well, now, yeah,
that's what God said, but that's not exactly what God meant. That's exactly what the adversary
did to Eve. We need to realize that. That's
exactly what the adversary did to Eve. If that's what God said,
that's what God meant. And the only safe thing for me
to declare and the only safe thing for you to hear are the
very words of God himself. Christ said, I am the truth. Everything else is a lie. If
a man is telling you something and you can read it for yourself
in God's actual word, Listen to that man. If a man is telling
you something and you cannot find it in God's word and you
ask him to show you where it is and he can't show you where
it is because it's not there. Don't listen to that man. He's not telling you the truth.
Don't listen to him. Our Lord said, I am the way. I am the
truth. and he said, I am the life. How can I know if I have been
made alive by God? Made alive. Turn with me to John,
I'm sorry, 1 John 5. 1 John 5. 1 John 5, we're gonna read a few
verses right here. Verse one says, whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ. And to understand this verse,
we need to understand what it means to say He is the Christ. It means to say He is the Messiah.
He is the only mediator between God and man. He is God manifest
in the flesh. The fullness of the Godhead bodily. That's what it is to say He is
the Christ. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born
of God, and every one that loveth him that begot loveth him also
that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love
the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God,
that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not
grievous." What are his commandments to us? He said, this is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased, hear him. Whoever believes on
him, whoever follows him, bows to him, that's the commandments.
Verse four, for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.
And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our
faith. This is what causes a sinner
to overcome the condemnation of the world. It's the faith
that God gives to his people. Verse five, who is he that overcometh
the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the son of God. And that doesn't just mean God's
son. That means the equal member of the Trinity, the father of
God, the spirit of God, the son of God. Verse 6, This is He that
came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only,
but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth
witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that
bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one. And there are three that bear
witness in earth, the Spirit and the water and the blood,
and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of
men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God,
which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the
Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not
God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that
God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things
have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son
of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and that
you may believe on the name of the Son of God. How can I know
if I am quickened to eternal life? How can I know if the Spirit
has quickened me to eternal life? He will give me absolute, total
faith in Jesus Christ. He will cause me to completely
look to Jesus Christ alone. Not me and Him. Him alone. Not my decision and Him. Not
my works and His works. Him alone. In closing, let me
tell you this. Sinless living is not where a
believer's assurance comes from because a believer cannot achieve
that. We are sinners. Sinless living is not where a
believer's assurance lies. Faith in Christ, hoping, looking,
trusting. That's where a believer's assurance
comes from. It says this life is in him. In Him we live and
move and have our being. Paul told the Colossians, when
Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear
with Him in glory. He's our life. So this is how
we can know that God has quickened us to Himself. Our life won't
be our life at all. Our life will be Christ. It will
be Christ we will say with absolute confidence, He is the way, He
is the truth, He is the life. No man comes to the Father but
by Him. His will, His decision, His work. Now if God has put that resolve
in us, our Lord said we can let not our heart be troubled. If
He's taught us that and confirmed that in us, we can let not our
heart be troubled. He said you believe in God, You
believe in Christ? He said, I go to prepare a place
for you that I may come again to receive you to myself. And
what he's saying in all that is just rest, just rest. I pray God will give that to
us for Christ's sake. 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.