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 turn with
me to the book of Romans, chapter 10, Romans chapter 10. My prayer today is that the Lord
might reveal to us something concerning what is said in verse
13. Romans 10 verse 13, it says,
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Whatever God says in his word
is so. If he said it, it's so. If God has written it, it's so. Period. It is so. God cannot lie. That's what the
scripture says. God cannot lie. God does not
write with trickery. He does not write with trickery. There's no guile in him. That's
what guile means. Trickery. God does not say one
thing, meaning something else. Never. He does not do that ever.
Whatever he says, that's what he means. Plain and simple. If he says it, he means it. Now that doesn't mean that we
always understand what he has written. Sometimes we wonder, we read
something in the scripture and we wonder, how does that fit
into my doctrine? This doctrine that I have in
my mind, we may not always understand everything that our God has written,
but here's the thing about it. God's people believe everything
that he has written. whether they understand it or
not. And this is the reason why. For God's people, this word is
our doctrine. This is very important, very
important to understand. This is the truth for all of
God's people. For God's people, this word is
our doctrine. This is our doctrine. God's people
do not try to conform the word to their doctrine. Their doctrine, our doctrine,
the doctrine of God's people conforms to the word. When a person tries to conform
the word to his or her doctrine, that person has to end up throwing
out the word and not believing the word. If they are having
to somehow conform it to their doctrine, if it doesn't just
fall right in line and they're having to try to figure out how
can I conform that to my doctrine? The only way that that can happen
is if you end up throwing out the word and not believing the
word because you just can't make it fit. When the word is a person's doctrine, a man or woman won't throw out
any of it. A man or a woman will believe
all of it. A man will throw out his or her
own beliefs and his or her own thoughts on doctrine before he
or she throws out God's word. Does that make sense? He doesn't
conform to us, we conform to Him. His Word is ordered and
sure and stable and unmovable, not us. We have so many things
wrong in our mind and our thoughts. So what do God's people believe? Here it is. Every word that proceeds
out of the mouth of God, if He said it, amen. If he said it,
it's so. Every word he has to say concerning
God is so. Every word he has to say concerning
man is so. Every word he has to say concerning
Christ is so. Every word concerning salvation
is so. Whatever God says is so. This is what God has said in
Romans 10 verse 13. He said, Whosoever Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's what he said. You say,
well, Gabe, I've watched you and I believe I understand what
you're preaching. And I thought that you believed
in election. I thought you believed that God
chose before the foundation of the world who he would save.
I thought you said that you believed salvation was totally in God's
hands alone, not man's. I do believe that. Amen. And the reason I believe that
is because that's what God's word says. Absolutely. Amen. All right. Well then, Gabe,
how can you say that you believe whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved? It's because John 5 verse 40
says no man will. None. Not in his totally depraved
natural condition. Man will not. And John 6 verse
44 says in Ephesians 2 verse 8 also says no man can. No man can, not in his totally
depraved natural state. If he could, he wouldn't. And if he would, he couldn't. Psalm 110 verse 3 says, God has
to make His people to be willing in the day of His power. That's what has to happen. God
must first perform a work in his people before they will or
do anything. Philippians 2 verse 13 says it
is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good
pleasure. So that call talking about whoever
shall call on the name of the Lord that cry That's the open
evidence of what God has done in a sinner. That is the open
evidence of God's work in a person. And in understanding that we
can see that this statement is absolutely true. Whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's the evidence
that call is the evidence of the fact that a person has been
saved, that a person is saved. Now, if God says something once,
it carries an eternal weight of truth. All he has to do is
say at one time, but God has said this three times in the
scripture. I want to show those to you.
Acts chapter two. This portion of scripture tells
us where it was originally said in the Old Testament. Acts chapter
2 verse 16, it says, but this is that which was spoken by the
prophet Joel back in the Old Testament. Verse 17, it shall
come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my
spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your
old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my
handmaids I will pour out in those days of my spirit, and
they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in heaven
above and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor
of smoke. The sun shall be turned into
darkness and the moon into blood before that great and notable
day of the Lord." The Lord said, I will do all of those things.
I am going to do all of those things. And then he said in verse
21, it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall. I love the shalls of scripture,
not might, not should be, not hopefully as long as they don't
mess it up. shall be saved. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. And over in Joel chapter two,
I know this one is a hard one to find. It's at the end of the
old Testament, but in Joel chapter two, this is what verse 32 says. It shall come to pass that whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered. For
in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the
Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call." Excuse
me. Now, who is going to call? Who is going to call? Who is
going to end up being a whosoever? Whosoever shall call, well, who
is that? Here's the answer. Whoever is
in the remnant, as it says in Joel, whoever is in the remnant
that the Lord calls, that's who's going to call. Our call unto him is the evidence
of his call to us. Everything that we do unto him,
Everything is only a response to him doing it first. Everything. David said in Psalm 27, Lord,
when you said, seek my face, that's when my heart cried unto
thee, thy face, Lord, will I seek when you did it. 1 John 4 19
says we love him because he first loved us. That's the reason why
it all started with him. Every action in us is only a
reaction to him. That's it. Our actions only evidence
his actions. So with that being said, let
it be known that this truth will stand forever. Whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now I want to
go into the heart of this message. Okay. We're about to go into
the heart of this message. If you do have a Bible, I'd like
for you to see this with me. Turn over to Matthew chapter
seven. This is so important to understand
Matthew chapter seven, verse 21. Now let's read this very
carefully. It says, Not every one that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but
he that doeth the will of my father, which is in heaven. Do we hear that? Not every one
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Not every single person that
cries, Lord. We'll enter into the kingdom
of heaven. That's so. If God wrote it down,
that is so. Verse 22, he said, many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name
done many wonderful works. Verse 23, and then will I profess
unto them. I never knew you depart from
me, ye that work iniquity. That's the truth. That is the
absolute truth. Whatever God says in his word
is so take it to the bank. It is so God cannot lie. God does not write with trickery. He does not say one thing and
mean something else. He does not do that. Whatever
he has said, that's what he means. That's what he means. And this
is what he said, verse 21, not everyone that saith unto me,
Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. but he that
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to
me in that day, Lord, Lord. Have we not prophesied in thy
name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done
many wonderful works. And then while I profess unto
them, I never knew you depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Now this is what I pray God might
cause us to understand this morning. I pray that the Lord might reveal
this to me and to you. I sincerely do ask the Lord to
open your eyes to this. Okay. saying, Lord, many will
say to me, Lord, Lord, saying, Lord, and calling on the name
of the Lord are two different things, two totally different
things. They are not the same thing to
just spell it out. Let me just lay it out here.
Okay. Saying, Lord, is saying, Lord, look at me. Acknowledge me. To call on the
name of the Lord is to say, Lord, I'm looking to you. I'm acknowledging
you. To say, Lord, to just say, Lord,
is to say, I want recognition for the things that I've done. To call upon the name of the
Lord is to say, I need forgiveness for the things that I've done. To say, Lord, is to say, give
me what's coming to me. To call upon the name of the
Lord is to say, please don't give me what's coming to me. To say, Lord, is to say, I plead
my works before you. To call upon the name of the
Lord is to say, I plead your works before you. I plead your
mercy. I plead your grace. I plead you
in every way, shape or form. Do you see how verse 22 right
here says, Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in thy name? Don't you realize that we are
preachers in your name? Have we not prophesied in thy
name and in thy name have cast out devils? Don't you see that
we cast out devils in your name? We did that. And in thy name
done many wonderful works. Aren't you looking at all the
wonderful works that we have done? Don't you see what we have
done? Do you see that? That's a common
conversation among men and women today. That is a common theme
of the conversation of religious men and women today. Lord, the
Lord's going to see everything I've done. Don't you see what
I've done, what I'm doing for the Lord? That's dangerous. That's dangerous. That's what
that Pharisee in the temple said over in Luke 18. You can read
that sometime. Luke chapter 18. He said, Lord,
I'm not as other men are. Look at me. Just look at me,
Lord. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not unjust. I'm not an adulterer. I fast twice in the week. I give
tithes of all that I possess. That's saying, Lord, that's what
that is. Lord, look at me, Lord, just
look at me. God said concerning him in Luke
18, that man is not justified. That man's not going to stand
with me. But while that Pharisee was saying,
Lord. That publican was standing afar
off. calling upon the name of the
Lord. He smote upon his breast, crying,
God, be merciful to me. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. The sinner concerning him in
Luke 18, God said he's justified. He'll be with me. He's justified.
Do we see this difference? It's clear, it's such a clear
difference to say, Lord, is to say I am. To call upon the name
of the Lord is to say, you are, you are the I am. And I'm not, I'm not. One cry is unto damnation and
one cries unto life. Both of them include Lord. But
one is under damnation and one is under life. Now, our Lord
has declared his name in his word. Whosoever shall call on
the name of the Lord. Our Lord has declared his name
in his word. He has said, this is who I am.
And in knowing his name, we can know who we are calling on. And
we can know what we are calling for. And I want to show you something,
and then I want to tell you something, OK? I pray the Lord will really
cause us to understand and enter in what it is to call upon His
name, His name. Turn with me, if you would, to
Exodus chapter 3. Exodus chapter 3. Verse 13. Moses said unto God, behold,
when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto
them, the God of your fathers hath sent me unto you, and they
shall say to me, what is his name? What shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I am
that I am. And he said, thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am, hath sent me to you. He said, I am. I am that I am. I am what I am. There are two
parts to his name. I am. I am. You tell them I am. To say it
another way, the Lord is. The Lord is Jehovah. The Lord
is, I'm going to tell you seven names that he has given to tell
us who he is. who He is to us, who He is for
us. Seven names, each one of these
say the Lord is, Jehovah is. And to start, let's see what
the Lord, the name of the Lord Jehovah means. When we talk about
Jehovah, what does that mean? Let's start with that right there.
In Genesis 14, it says in verse 22, I'll find it here in one
second. Genesis 14 verse 22. It says, Abraham said to the
king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor
of heaven and earth. That's what Jehovah means, the
most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth. In Genesis
17 verse one says, when Abraham was 90 years old and nine 99,
the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the almighty
God. I am. the almighty God walk before
me and be thou perfect. That's what Jehovah means. The
almighty God. Now, amazingly, this is what
the almighty, the possessor The Most High God says he is to and
for his people. I want to quote these seven names
that he's given. And we're going to turn to the
first one because it's just right here. And then I'll I'll quote
the rest of them for you. In Genesis 22, this is where
Abraham took Isaac up on Mount Moriah to sacrifice him before
God. God told him to do that. And
I can only imagine the fear and the heartbreak that Abraham was
experiencing as he took his son up there. And by faith, he built
an altar and he tied his son up and he raised his knife up.
And in the last moment, just before he plunged that knife
in, God said, Abraham, he stopped him. He said, Abraham, there
is a ram. right there behind you, caught
in a thicket, a picture of Christ in his crown of thorns. He said,
lay hold of that ram and slay him instead of your son. That's
a picture of Christ on the cross of Calvary. Verse 13 says, And
Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him
a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and
took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the
stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of
that place Jehovah Jireh. As it is said to this day in
the mount of the Lord, it shall be seen. That means the Lord
will provide Jehovah Jireh. That's his name. Jehovah Jireh,
the Lord will provide. To call upon the name of the
Lord is to call upon our provider, the only one who can, the only
one who has, the only one who will provide everything that
his people need. To call upon him is to say, I
cannot provide for myself. My only hope is that you will
provide for me. The Lord, my provider. That's
what it is to call on the name of the Lord. Now, let me just
quickly quote the rest of them to you, OK? Exodus 15, verse
26, it says, Our Lord declared his name to be Jehovah Rapha. That means the Lord is our healer. That's what that name means.
He said, I am the Lord that healeth thee. To call upon his name is
to call upon the healer, the only one who can heal me from
my sins. the one who heals all my diseases,
namely the greatest one being sin. The next one is in Exodus
17 verse 15. Our Lord declared his name to
be Jehovah Nisi. The Lord is our victory. That's what it means. The Lord
is our banner. The Lord is our victory. To call upon his name is to call
upon his victory, his victory over sin, over death, the grave,
hell, his name. The next one is in Judges 26,
verse 24. Our Lord declared His name to
be Jehovah Shalom. The Lord is our peace. He made
peace for us in His own blood, in the blood of His cross. All
of our peace with God. is in Jehovah Shalom. Number
five is found in Psalm 23, verse one. This one, you look it up
in the concordance and it gives you the name Jehovah Rea or Jehovah
Ra. It means the Lord is my shepherd. to call upon his name is to say,
I need a shepherd. I need someone to lead me, feed
me, protect me. I'm calling on him. Number six
is in Jeremiah 23, verse six, the Lord called his name. Jehovah
said, canoe, the Lord is our righteousness. All of our righteousness
before God, all the perfection we need. And the last one, The last one is in Ezekiel 48,
verse 35, Jehovah Shammah. That means the Lord is near.
To call upon Him is to say, I need you right here. May the Lord
make His Word to be a blessing. 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.