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. Our message will come from Colossians
chapter 3, And if you have a Bible and would like to turn there
and read along while you're turning, I want to remind us of the fact
that our Lord asked a group of Pharisees one time a very simple
but a very critical question. Very critical. One that carried
eternal significance. The question still carries eternal
significance. This is such an important question.
The answer to this five word question will evidence who the
people of God are and who the people of God are not. That's
pretty critical, isn't it? That's pretty critical. The question
was, and the question still is, what think ye of Christ? That's what he asked. What think
ye of Christ? Now, our Lord asked the disciples
that question in another way. He asked the Pharisees, what
think ye of Christ? And then he asked his disciples
the same question in another way. He said, Who do men say
that I am? And they answered him saying,
well, men say a lot of things. Some say you're this and some
say you're that. And that's the case, isn't it?
Men still do that. Men say that this man, Jesus
Christ, is a lot of things. He said, but who do you say that
I am? Who do you say that I am? What
he was saying is, what think ye of Christ? We're going to
consider that today because of what the Apostle Paul said in
Colossians chapter three. We're going to read the first
four verses here in Colossians chapter three. It says, if ye
then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection
on things above, not on things on the earth. For you are dead,
and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our
life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory."
He said, if you then be risen with Christ, If you are one of
the people that God the Father chose to save, he said, then
seek those things which are above. Verse two, he said, set your
affection. That means your mind, your thoughts,
your heart on things above. Now let's just suffice it to
say that it's better to think on and to dwell on things that
are above, sinless, holy things above than the sinful, wicked
things of this world. It's better to do that. But in
the context of everything that Paul is saying to the Colossians
right here, he is telling the Colossians and he's telling all
of God's people, don't become sidetracked. by the irrelevant
religious idols of this world. We're not going to have time
to read it, but you can go back and read chapter two. He's talking
about meats and drinks and holidays and new moons and Sabbaths and
all of these things that people get sidetracked on and they get
their mind on and they get their focus on. And they ask questions,
you know, what think ye of Sabbath days and what think ye of meats
or what think ye of drinks or what think ye of all these different
things that can become idols. If we're not careful, we'll think
on them and look to them and dwell on them. And none of them
will save none of them. If you get to the heart of what
you think about all of these different things, there's no
salvation in any of that. He said, set your affection on
things above. Set your mind only on things
above. This is so critical. We need
to set our mind and our heart and our affection only on things
above. God's people, they hear that.
When this declaration goes out, God's people hear that and they
say, I can see that. Yes, I agree. I agree with that.
But then they want to know, okay, what things above should I set
my affection on? I hear that. Okay. Set your affection
on things above. It's better to do that than things
down here. But what things above should
we set our minds and our hearts and our affections on? Angels? Should we set our minds and hearts
and affection on angels? They are above. What about buildings? or golden streets or pearly gates. Is that the things that we should
set our affection on? What about people who we think
are there? People who have gone on before
us. Is that who we should dwell on? What about the morality? So often we think about how glorious
it will be and it will be. When we no more have sin reigning
over us and this body of death is laid down and we're in a sinless,
holy state of goodness and rightness and morality, moral conduct. Is that what we need to set our
affection on? What about ourselves being there? Is that what we
need to dwell on? Here's the answer. know to all
of that. If all of those things take place
and we experience that, that's wonderful. But what should God's
people think on and dwell on and set their affection on? In
those four verses, look how many times it says Christ, Christ,
Christ, Christ, Christ. It just keeps saying Christ,
the Lord Jesus Christ. What do God's people set their
minds on? Christ. Christ, the things of
Christ, the things pertaining to Christ. Let's all ask ourselves
this question and get this settled in our minds. What do we think
of Christ? What do we think of Christ? A
man made some comments on this from the scripture. and they
were so good, I want to repeat them to you. And if God has given
us eyes to see the truth, I believe we will most definitely agree
with these things. This is what all of God's people
believe about Christ. And this is what God's people
think concerning Christ. Look at this, these four verses
one more time. It says, if you then be risen
with Christ, Seek those things which are above, where Christ
sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth, for you are dead and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you also appear with him." Christ. in glory. Now, this is what God's
people think and believe and set their affection on concerning
Christ. Okay. Again, I'm just going to
repeat these comments that were made. These are so good. And
they're so true. Number one, what do we think
of Christ? Number one, he is God. He is God. And I mean, God. I mean THE God. I'm talking about
the Almighty Highest God. Verse 1 says, If you then be
risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Christ sitteth on the
right hand of God. Now, the right hand is not a
location. It's a position. It's a position. That phrase means when you look
this phrase up as it was originally written, this is the definition
of the right hand. It means the seat of honor and
authority. Seek those things which are above
where Christ sits on the seat of God's honor and God's authority. God is three persons, Father,
Son, and Spirit. And all the fullness of the Godhead
dwell in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. You want to see
the Father? Look to Christ. If you want to see the Spirit,
look to Christ. There are not two thrones in
heaven. So many people believe that God
the Father sits on the throne and then God the Son sits right
next to him on his little throne. That's not so. There are not
two thrones in heaven. There is one throne. There's
only one throne and Jesus Christ is sitting on it. The express
image of God. The Godhead. Jesus Christ. He is sitting in it. He is God. He is God. Jesus Christ is God. Everybody wonders, who is God?
Here's the answer. Jesus Christ. He is God. He is the very glory of God. John 1 says, In the beginning
was the Word. That's Christ. The Word was with
God. The Word was God. And then verse
14 says, The Word, Christ, was made flesh and dwelt among us. Christ, He is God. John said,
The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. That does not
mean made of. Christ is eternal with the Father. He is the only begotten image
of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, full of grace
and truth. And John said we saw the only
begotten image of God when we saw Jesus Christ, the fullness
of His glory, the express image of the fullness of the Godhead.
Let me show you that in Hebrews 1. It says in Hebrews 1 verse
1, God, who at sundry times, and in divers or different manners,
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these
last days spoken unto us by His Son." And I love how if your
Bible has italicized words, those words were added by the translators
to make it more readable, easier to read in our language. The
word His is in italics and this originally was written to say,
He hath in these last days spoken unto us by Son, by Son, whom
He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made
the worlds, who being the brightness of His glory, or the brightness
of glory, and 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." He didn't say that Christ was in the brightness
of God's glory. He said Christ is the brightness
of God's glory and he didn't say that Christ was in the express
image of God's person. Man was made in the image of
God's person. He said Christ is the image of
God's person. So Christ is the one who sits
in that majestic seat of honor and authority. He is God. Let me show you this. Look at
verse 8, right here in Hebrews 1, verse 8. This is God the Father
speaking to God the Son. And in verse 8, it says, But
unto the Son he saith, the Father saith, Thy throne, O God, is
forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. That's what the father said to
the son. So what do we think of Christ? What think we of Christ? Number
one, he is God. That's what God's people will
say. Number one, he is God. All right. Number two, he is
the Bible. He is the scripture. We just quoted John saying, the
Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The Word. In the beginning
was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word
was God. Revelation 19 verse 13 says,
His name is the Word of God. That's his name. This book is
Christ. If we want to understand the
scripture, if we want to understand the Bible, what's it saying?
What's it all about? Here's the answer. Christ. It's all about Christ. It all
speaks of Christ. It's talking about Christ. No
matter where you go, no matter what the text is, no matter what
the story is, no matter what the instruction is, all of it
is talking about Jesus Christ. All of it. In John chapter five,
this is John five, verse 39. Our Lord said, search the scriptures
for in them, you think you have eternal life and they are they
which testify of me. He was rebuking some Pharisees
there. He said, you search the scriptures. You think by obeying
these scriptures, that's where eternal life comes. He said,
you don't see it, do you? These are they which testify
of me. These are all talking about me. Verse 45, right here
in John chapter five, he said, do not think that I will accuse
you to the father. There is one that accuseth you,
even Moses in whom you trust. The law came through Moses. He
said, for had you believed Moses, you would have believed me for
he wrote of me. The God that Moses was writing
about, the Lord said he was writing about me. He was writing about
Jesus Christ, verse 47. But if you believe not his writings,
how shall you believe my words? They're the same thing. Writing
of me. To him, give all the prophets
witness. That's what the scripture says.
All the law givers, all the psalm writers, all the apostles, all
of it is about him. Every word of it. Luke 24, 27
says, beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded
unto them in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself.
So what do we think of Christ? Number one, he is God. He's God. Number two. He is the Bible. He is the scripture. Number three,
he is the gospel. He is the gospel. Turn with me,
if you have your Bible there, go to Romans 1. Romans chapter
1, verse 1, it says, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be
an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, Verse 2 says,
which He had promised afore by His prophets in the Holy Scriptures. Now, if you are reading with
me, you'll notice that verse 2 is in parentheses. And when
something is in parentheses, that's an added statement within
a complete thought. If you did not have those words
in the parentheses, you would still have the complete thought.
Now let me show you the complete thought. Okay. Let's read verses
one and then verse three. It says, Paul, a servant of Jesus
Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of
God. Verse three says, concerning
his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Do we see that? The gospel of
God concerning his son. The one and only gospel message
that there is, is concerning Jesus Christ, our Lord. Well, what about Jesus Christ,
our Lord? What is the good news declaration
of the Lord Jesus Christ? That's what gospel means. It
means good news. What is that declaration? Verse
three says, he was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh. concerning His Son, Jesus Christ,
our Lord, which was made of the seed of David, according to the
flesh." You know what that means? That means God became a man. What is this amazing news of
the gospel? Here it is. God, God was manifest
in the flesh. God was. He didn't take upon
Himself the nature of the fallen angels. All of those angels rebelled
against him and fell, and he did not take upon the nature
of the fallen angels, but he took upon himself the nature
of fallen man. He did this for fallen man. He came down, he condescended
for fallen man, and he lived a perfect life for his sinful
elect people. And then he traded his spotless,
perfect life for their wretched, decayed, miserable, wicked life. He traded places with them. He traded deeds with them. And then he died the perfect
death to put away all of that wretched, miserable sin that
he took from them. And with that transaction being
fully accomplished, verse four right here says, he was declared
to be the son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection of the dead. He is the gospel. Christ is the
gospel. Who he is, what he did, who he
did it for, his accomplishment in it, what it means for them
now. That's the gospel. He is the
gospel. He is the good news declaration. The gospel is not concerning
us. It's not. The gospel has nothing
to do with any work on our part. If I, me, or my is involved,
this is important. When we talk about the gospel,
if I, me, or my is involved, that's not the gospel. If I make
a decision, that's not the good news. If I decide to accept Jesus
into my heart, that's not the good news because I can undecide.
I can change my mind. That's not the gospel at all.
And I can't go around telling everybody that I have good news.
Good news only involves Christ. Only involves him. The good news
of the gospel cries this. He made the decision. That's
the good news of the gospel. He chose to accept me into his
heart. He did everything. I did nothing. That is the good news of the
gospel. So what do we think of Christ? Number one, he is God,
the person of the highest God that there is, none higher. The
father, because of what Christ accomplished has raised him up
and given him a name, which is above every name. There's no
other name for God than Jesus Christ. You say, well, there's
Jehovah. Yes, that's the Lord, our Savior.
That's the Lord, our righteousness. That's the Lord, our God, Jesus
Christ. Number two, he is the Bible.
This is a hymn book. Number three, he is the gospel. The only good news that there
is, it's all about him. And number four, just to say
this plainly, And I hope this will be a light bulb moment for
all of us. Just to state it plainly, what do we think of Christ? Here
it is right here. He is salvation. He is salvation. In 2 Timothy
2, verse 10 says, Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake,
that they may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with
eternal glory. Salvation is in Him. Why? Because He is salvation. He is salvation. People hear
about salvation and they think about salvation and they wonder,
what is salvation? What is salvation? Here it is.
Christ is salvation. He is salvation. In Acts chapter
four, It says in verse 10, Be it known unto you all, and to
all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is
the stone which was set at nought of you builders which has become
the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in
any other for there is none other name under heaven given among
men whereby we must be saved. None. None. To have him is to have salvation. To have our works is not salvation. To have doctrine is not salvation. To have religion is not salvation. To have church is not salvation. To have Christ is salvation. He is salvation. He is God. He is this word. He is the gospel. He is salvation. And if you go
back quickly to Colossians 3 verse 4 says, when Christ who is our life shall appear,
then shall you also appear with him in glory. What do we think
of Christ? What do God's people think of
Christ? He is our life. He's our life. He said, as the
branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine,
neither can you except you abide in me. We live in him. We live by Him. He is our life. It's not that He just enhances
our life like so many people believe. It's not that He just
directs our life or straightens up our life and cleans up our
life. He is our life. We live and move
and have our being in Him. Outside of Him, there's no life. None. 1 John 5, 12 says, he that
hath the son hath life. He is life. He is life. And we could just keep, if we
had time, we could just keep going and going with this. But
what do we think of Christ? We think he's good. We think
he's merciful. We think he's so kind. We think
he's so generous to beggars like us. What do we think of Christ? We think he's altogether lovely,
don't we? We think he's merciful. We think he's forgiving. We think
he's loving. Based on the promise of his word,
we think he's ours. He said he came for sinners and
that's what we are. I pray that so. I pray He belongs
to us. Till next week, may the Lord
bless His Word to our hearts. 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.