Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. If you would like to turn with
me to the book of John, John chapter 1, THAT'S WHERE OUR MESSAGE
WILL TAKE PLACE TODAY, JOHN CHAPTER ONE. AND THIS MESSAGE IS GOING
TO DEAL WITH SOME DOCTRINAL, FUNDAMENTAL FACTS CONCERNING
GOD, MAN, AND SALVATION. SOME VERY IMPORTANT AND VERY
CRITICAL FACTS CONCERNING GOD, MAN, AND SALVATION. AND I WANT
TO, AS CLEARLY AS I CAN, SET FORTH SOME ABSOLUTE TRUTHS, ABSOLUTE
TRUTHS THAT MUST BE DECLARED AND MUST BE UNDERSTOOD. THEY MUST BE. MUST BE DECLARED,
MUST BE UNDERSTOOD IF WE'RE GONNA HAVE A RIGHT VIEW, IF WE'RE GONNA
HAVE A CORRECT VIEW OF GOD'S DEALINGS WITH US. WE NEED TO
HAVE A CORRECT VIEW OF GOD'S DEALINGS WITH US, BECAUSE MANY
PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE A CORRECT VIEW, AND IT'S CRITICAL THAT
WE DO. I WANT TO BEGIN OUR MESSAGE TODAY
BY STATING THE FACT God purposed the work of salvation
for his people. And I want to repeat that God,
God purposed the work of salvation for his people on purpose. GOD, HE DID THAT. SALVATION,
THERE'S NOTHING ABOUT SALVATION THAT'S LEFT UP TO CHANCE. NOTHING. EVERYTHING WITH GOD IS ON PURPOSE. IT IS PARTICULAR. IT IS ORDERED. IT IS SECURE. AND GOD CHOSE A
PARTICULAR PEOPLE TO GIVE THAT PURPOSED, ORDERED, SECURED SALVATION
TO. IN THE SCRIPTURES, THEY ARE CALLED
HIS ELECT. AND YOU CAN READ IT. YOU CAN
LOOK UP THE WORD ELECT, ELECTED, ELECTION, THOSE KINDS OF WORDS.
BUT GOD HAS AN ELECT PEOPLE. AND IN DECLARING THAT TRUTH,
I WANT US TO REALIZE AND I WANT US TO UNDERSTAND TWO THINGS ABOUT
IT. NUMBER ONE, ONLY GOD'S ELECT ARE GOING TO BE SAVED. GOD IS
GOD ALMIGHTY. GOD DOES NOT TRY TO DO ANYTHING. HE DOES WHAT HE HAS PURPOSE TO
DO. GOD HAS NEVER TRIED TO SAVE ANYBODY. GOD SAVED HIS PEOPLE. AND ONLY GOD'S ELECT ARE GOING
TO BE SAVED. THAT'S THE FIRST THING I WANT
US TO UNDERSTAND. BUT THE SECOND THING IS THIS, HAD GOD NOT CHOSEN
TO ELECT A PEOPLE, HAD HE NOT CHOSEN A PARTICULAR PEOPLE, NO
ONE WOULD BE SAVED. NO ONE WOULD BE SAVED. PEOPLE
THINK THAT GOD'S ELECTION IS AN EXCLUDING THING. WELL, GOD
CHOSE THESE FOUR AND NO MORE. THAT'S NOT HOW IT IS AT ALL.
GOD'S ELECTION IS AN INCLUDING THING. HERE'S THE FACT OF THE
MATTER. ONLY GOD'S ELECT WILL BE SAVED.
AND THE REASON IS BECAUSE HAD GOD NOT ELECTED A PEOPLE, NO
ONE WOULD BE SAVED. NO ONE. I want us to understand this.
Election is one of the sweetest declarations that could ever
be told. I just started this by telling
you I want to declare something that must be told. Election is
one of the sweetest declarations that could ever be told. Election
is the kindness of God Almighty to a bunch of undeserving sinners
like you and me. THAT'S WHAT ELECTION IS. IT IS
GOD'S KINDNESS. IT IS A PRECIOUS KINDNESS FROM
GOD TO SINNERS. IT IS A JOYFUL THING. IT IS A
HAPPY THING. IT'S SOMETHING THAT ALL OF GOD'S
PEOPLE WHO KNOW SOMETHING OF THEIR SIN WILL CRY THANK GOD
FOR. THANK GOD FOR HIS ELECTION. ELECTION IS GOD CHOOSING TO SAVE
A SINNER IN SPITE OF THE SINNER. THAT'S WHAT ELECTION IS. WE CAN
SEE THAT IN THE FIRST VERSE THAT WE READ HERE, JOHN CHAPTER 1. LOOK WITH ME IF YOU WOULD AT
VERSE 11. IT SAYS, SPEAKING OF THE LORD
JESUS CHRIST, IT SAYS, HE CAME UNTO HIS OWN AND HIS OWN WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHOULD HE
HAVE SAVED THEM? HE CAME UNTO HIS OWN, AND HIS OWN REJECTED
HIM, WOULD NOT RECEIVE HIM. DO YOU... DOES THAT SOUND LIKE
PEOPLE WHO ARE WORTHY OF BEING SAVED? HIS OWN RECEIVED HIM NOT. ELECTION
IS GOD CHOOSING TO SAVE A SINNER IN SPITE OF THAT SINNER. ELECTION
IS GOD CHOOSING TO SHOW KINDNESS AND TO SHOW MERCY. TO A SINNER
IN SPITE OF THAT SINNER. THE REASON THAT WE CONFIDENTLY
KNOW, CONFIDENTLY, THAT HAD GOD NOT CHOSEN TO SAVE HIS PEOPLE,
NO ONE WOULD BE SAVED, THE REASON WE KNOW THAT IS BECAUSE NOT ONE
SOUL ON THIS EARTH WANTED HIM. NOT ONE SOUL ON THIS EARTH WANTED
HIM TO SAVE THEM. IN THEIR FLESH. NOT ONE SOUL
ON THIS EARTH DESIRED HIM. NOT ONE SOUL, THE SCRIPTURE SAYS,
RECEIVED HIM. AND WHEN YOU LOOK UP THE DEFINITION
OF THAT WORD, RECEIVED, IT MEANS NO ONE WOULD TAKE HIM. NO ONE
WOULD TAKE HIM. NO ONE. AND IT'S THE TRUTH. IT IS THE TRUTH. MEN AND WOMEN
HAVE A GOD AND A JESUS THAT THEY HAVE MADE
UP IN THEIR MINDS THAT THEY LIKE AND THEY WILL RECEIVE AND THEY
WILL TAKE. BUT IT'S NOT THE GOD AND LORD
JESUS CHRIST DECLARED IN THE SCRIPTURES. IT'S NOT THE ONE
WHO CHOOSES WHO HE WILL SAVE. IT'S NOT THE ONE WHO HAS AN ELECT
AND ONLY SAVES THAT ELECT. AND WHEN MEN AND WOMEN FIND OUT
WHO HE TRULY IS, THE FLESH NATURALLY REJECTS HIM. AND THE FLESH SAYS,
I DON'T WANT THAT. I DON'T WANT HIM TO BE MY SAVIOR.
THAT'S IN THE HEART OF EVERY MAN AND WOMAN ON THIS EARTH.
NO ONE NATURALLY DESIRES HIM. HE CAME UNTO HIS OWN AND HIS
OWN WOULD NOT EVEN RECEIVE HIM. AND HOW AMAZING IS THAT? HE IS
LIFE. LIFE CAME. SALVATION CAME. REDEMPTION CAME. TO THE ONES
THAT HE CHOSE TO SAVE, AND THEY DID NOT... THEY WOULDN'T TAKE
HIM. THEY WOULD NOT TAKE HIM. AND THAT CAN BE SAID OF EVERY
MAN AND WOMAN THAT'S BORN ONTO THIS EARTH, BORN INTO SIN, WE,
BY OUR NATURE, WOULD NOT TAKE HIM, DID NOT WANT HIM. OVER IN
ISAIAH 53, IF YOU'RE TURNING WITH ME AND WANT TO LOOK AT ISAIAH
53, THE HEADING AT THE TOP OF MY PAGE SAYS, THE HUMILIATION
AND SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST. ALRIGHT, THIS IS SPEAKING OF
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. SOMEBODY CAN SAY, WELL, HOW DID,
HOW IS IT THAT ISAIAH WROTE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST? EVERY
WORD IN THE SCRIPTURE IS SPEAKING OF CHRIST. THIS IS ALL CONCERNING
CHRIST. EVERY WORD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
IS CONCERNING THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. GENESIS 1-1 IS SPEAKING
OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, IN THE BEGINNING, GOD. THAT'S THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST. WE'LL SEE THAT IN JUST A SECOND.
BUT RIGHT HERE IN ISAIAH 53, VERSE 1 SAYS, WHO HATH BELIEVED
OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM IS THE ARM OF THE
LORD REVEALED? FOR HE SHALL GROW UP BEFORE HIM
AS A TENDER PLANT, AND AS A ROOT OUT OF DRY GROUND. HE HATH NO
FORM NOR COMELINESS, AND WHEN WE SHALL SEE HIM THERE IS NO
BEAUTY THAT WE SHOULD DESIRE HIM. HE IS DESPISED AND REJECTED
OF MEN, A MAN OF SORROWS, AND ACQUAINTED WITH GRIEF, AND WE
HID AS IT WERE OUR FACES FROM HIM. HE WAS DESPISED AND WE ESTEEMED
HIM NOT. WE. ISAIAH SAID WE. ISAIAH WASN'T EVEN ALIVE IN THE
DAYS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, BUT HE SAID WE. AND EVERY MAN
AND WOMAN NEEDS TO SAY THAT. VERSE FOUR, HE SAID, SURELY HE
HATH BORN OUR GRIEFS AND CARRIED OUR SORROWS, YET WE DID ESTEEM
HIM STRICKEN, SMITTEN OF GOD, AND AFFLICTED. THAT'S WHAT WE
WANTED. BUT HE WAS WOUNDED FOR OUR TRANSGRESSIONS, HE WAS BRUISED
FOR OUR INIQUITIES, THE CHASTISEMENT OF OUR PEACE WAS UPON HIM, AND
WITH HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED. ALL WE LIKE SHEEP HAVE GONE ASTRAY,
WE HAVE TURNED EVERY ONE TO HIS OWN WAY, AND THE LORD HATH LAID
ON HIM THE INIQUITY OF US ALL. SO WE CAN CLEARLY SEE THAT GOD
CHOSE TO HAVE MERCY ON HIS PEOPLE IN SPITE OF THEM. IN SPITE OF
THEM. SECOND THESSALONIANS 2, 13 SAYS
WE WERE CHOSEN TO SALVATION THROUGH THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE SPIRIT
AND BELIEF OF THE TRUTH. GOD DID IT. GOD DID IT. SO BACK OVER IN JOHN, CHAPTER
1, BACK IN OUR TEXT HERE, JOHN, CHAPTER 1, VERSE 11, IT SAYS, AND HIS OWN RECEIVED HIM NOT.
DID NOT WANT HIM, WOULD NOT HAVE HIM. VERSE 12 SAYS, BUT AS MANY
AS RECEIVED HIM, AND THAT MEANS AS MANY AS WERE FORCED TO RECEIVE
HIM. IT DOESN'T SAY AS MANY AS ACCEPTED
HIM. AS MANY AS CHANGED THEIR MIND
AND DECIDED TO ACCEPT HIM. NO, IT SAYS AS MANY AS RECEIVED
HIM IN SPITE OF AS MANY AS HIS GRACE IRRESISTIBLY
CAME TO. IT GOES ON TO SAY, TO THEM GAVE
HE POWER. THE RIGHT OR THE PRIVILEGE IS
WHAT THAT MEANS. TO THEM GAVE HE POWER TO BECOME
THE SONS OF GOD, EVEN TO THEM THAT BELIEVE ON HIS NAME. THAT MEANS THEY WERE ARRESTED. THEY WERE APPREHENDED. THEY WERE
LAID HOLD OF BY POWER, HIS POWER. THEY WERE CAUSED TO COME. AND THAT'S ALWAYS THE CASE. THAT'S
ALWAYS HOW IT IS FOR ALL OF GOD'S PEOPLE. THEY ARE LAID HOLD OF
AND CAUSED TO COME, ORDERED TO COME, COMMANDED TO COME. LOOK
WITH ME AT ACTS, CHAPTER 13. THIS IS A...THIS IS A WONDERFUL
VERSE OF SCRIPTURE, AND IT VERY CLEARLY DECLARES THIS. ACTS 13,
VERSE 44 SAYS, AND THE NEXT SABBATH DAY CAME ALMOST THE WHOLE CITY
TOGETHER TO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD. BUT WHEN THE JEWS SAW THE
MULTITUDES, THEY WERE FILLED WITH ENVY AND SPAKE AGAINST THOSE
THINGS WHICH WERE SPOKEN BY PAUL, CONTRADICTING AND BLASPHEMING.
THEN PAUL AND BARNABAS WAXED BOLD AND SAID IT WAS NECESSARY
THAT THE WORD OF GOD SHOULD FIRST HAVE BEEN SPOKEN TO YOU. BUT
SEEING YOU PUT IT FROM YOU, AND JUDGE YOURSELVES UNWORTHY OF
EVERLASTING LIFE, LO, WE TURN TO THE GENTILES. FOR SO HATH
THE LORD COMMANDED US, SAYING, I HAVE SET THEE TO BE A LIGHT
OF THE GENTILES, THAT THOU SHOULDEST BE FOR SALVATION UNTO THE ENDS
OF THE EARTH. NOW WATCH VERSE 48. IT SAYS,
AND WHEN THE GENTILES HEARD THIS, THEY WERE GLAD, AND GLORIFIED
THE WORD OF THE LORD, AND AS MANY AS WERE ORDAINED TO ETERNAL
LIFE, BELIEVED. AS MANY AS WERE ORDAINED TO IT,
BELIEVED. IT DOESN'T SAY AS MANY AS BELIEVED
WERE ORDAINED TO IT. IT DOESN'T SAY THAT. IT SAYS
AS MANY AS WERE ORDAINED. HAD THEY NOT BEEN ORDAINED TO
IT, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE BELIEVED. BUT THEY WERE, SO THEY DID. AND THAT'S WHAT VERSE 13 TELLS
US BACK IN JOHN, CHAPTER 1. BACK IN THE TEXT HERE, IT SAYS...
VERSE 11 SAYS, HE CAME UNTO HIS OWN, AND HIS OWN RECEIVED HIM
NOT, BUT AS MANY AS RECEIVED HIM, TO THEM GAVE HE POWER TO
BECOME THE SONS OF GOD, EVEN TO THEM THAT BELIEVE ON HIS NAME. VERSE 13 SAYS, WHICH WERE BORN. NOW, THIS IS WHY THEY RECEIVED HIM.
THIS IS WHAT THEIR ELECTION WAS UNTO, WHICH WERE BORN, WHICH
WERE GIVEN LIFE, WHICH WERE SAVED, WHICH WERE REDEEMED. VERSE 13
GOES ON TO SAY, NOT OF BLOOD, NOT OF BLOOD. NOW THAT'S NOT
SPEAKING OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. WE ARE SAVED IN THE BLOOD OF
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. HE'S SAYING NOT OF OUR OWN BLOOD. NOT OF BLOOD, HE SAID. SOME DIDN'T
RECEIVE HIM AND SOME DID. SO EVERYONE IS NOT GOING TO BE
SAVED. HE THAT HATH THE SON HATH LIFE,
AND HE THAT HATH NOT THE SON OF GOD HATH NOT LIFE. THE WRATH
OF GOD ABIDES ON HIM. SO EVERYONE IS NOT GOING TO BE
SAVED. SALVATION DOES NOT RUN THROUGH EVERYONE'S FAMILY TREE.
YOU KNOW, PEOPLE JUST ASSUME, WELL, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY'S SAVED. GRANDPARENTS, PARENTS, AUNTS,
UNCLES, SIBLINGS, COUSINS WERE ALL SAVED. EVERYONE WHO DIES,
PEOPLE SAY, WELL, THEY'RE IN A BETTER PLACE NOW. EVERYBODY'S
SAVED. NONE WOULD RECEIVE OUR LORD, AND NONE WILL RECEIVE HIM
OUTSIDE OF HIM CHOOSING TO RECEIVE THEM. SO THE FIRST THING WE NEED
TO REALIZE IS SALVATION IS NOT TO EVERY SOUL. SALVATION IS TO
HIS PARTICULAR PEOPLE THAT HE HAS CHOSEN TO SAVE. IT'S NOT
IN A FAMILY TREE. IT'S NOT IN A NATIONALITY. HE
SAID THIS IS NOT BY BLOOD. IT'S NOT BY OUR BLOODLINE AND
IT'S NOT BY A NATIONALITY. IT'S NOT BY, YOU KNOW, ANY TYPE
OF PEDIGREE OR HISTORY OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. I'M NOT SAVED BECAUSE
I WAS, YOU KNOW, BORN TO A PARTICULAR SET OF PARENTS WHO WERE SAVED
AND I'M NOT SAVED BECAUSE I WAS BORN INTO A NATION THAT FOR THE
MOST PART CALLS ITSELF A CHRISTIAN NATION. OVER IN ROMANS CHAPTER
2, IT SAYS, VERSE 28, IT SAYS, HE IS NOT A JEW WHICH IS ONE
OUTWARDLY, NEITHER IS THAT CIRCUMCISION WHICH IS OUTWARD IN THE FLESH,
BUT HE IS A JEW WHICH IS ONE INWARDLY, AND CIRCUMCISION IS
THAT OF THE HEART IN THE SPIRIT AND NOT IN THE LETTER, WHOSE
PRAISE IS NOT OF MEN, BUT OF GOD. SO WHAT THAT MEANS IS, MEN ARE
NOT MADE TO BE CHILDREN OF GOD BY WAY OF THEIR OWN NATION, NOT
BY WAY OF THEIR OWN TRADITION, NOT BY WAY OF THEIR OWN RELIGION. GOD CHOSE WHO HE WOULD HAVE MERCY
ON. GOD CHOSE WHO HE WOULD CALL TO
HIMSELF. AND IN REVELATION 5, VERSE 9,
HE SAID IT WAS A PEOPLE OUT OF EVERY TRIBE, NATION, KINDRED,
AND TONGUE ON THIS EARTH. HE'S GOOD. HE HAS POURED OUT
HIS BLOOD ON A PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THIS WORLD, OUT OF EVERY
GENERATION. CHRIST DIED ON THE CROSS FOR
A NUMBER THAT NO MAN CAN NUMBER, THE SCRIPTURE SAYS. BUT IT'S
NOT TO EVERY SOUL. THAT WOULD MAKE THE BLOOD OF
CHRIST OF NONE EFFECT TO SOME. IF CHRIST DIED FOR EVERYBODY,
BUT SOME ENDED UP IN HELL, CHRIST'S BLOOD FOR THAT PERSON WAS A FAILURE,
AND HE IS NOT A FAILURE, NOT AT ALL. SO BACK IN JOHN, CHAPTER
1, VERSE 13 SAYS THAT RECEIVING CHRIST AND RECEIVING LIFE, BEING
MADE TO BE A CHILD OF GOD IS NOT OF BLOOD. IT'S NOT BECAUSE
OF ANYTHING ABOUT A MAN, NOT BECAUSE OF HIS RACE, HIS PLACE, VERSE 13 SAYS, WHICH WERE BORN
NOT OF BLOOD, NOR OF THE WILL OF THE FLESH. THIS IS IMPORTANT. SO IMPORTANT. IT'S NOT BECAUSE
OF ANYTHING ABOUT A MAN. IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF ANYTHING
IN A MAN. AND I WANT TO REPEAT THAT. AND
THAT'S WHAT THIS IS SAYING. SALVATION IS NOT BECAUSE OF ANYTHING
ABOUT A MAN. AND IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF ANYTHING
IN A MAN. IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF MAN'S WILL. IT IS NOT BECAUSE OF MAN'S WILL.
PEOPLE TALK ABOUT MAN'S FREE WILL. I KNOW YOU'VE HEARD, YOU'VE
HEARD THAT. PEOPLE TALK ABOUT MAN'S FREE
WILL AND MAN'S DECISION IN SALVATION. IT IS NOT BECAUSE OF MAN'S DECISION.
IT'S NOT. IN SPITE OF MAN'S DECISION. WE'VE ALREADY ESTABLISHED WHAT
MAN'S DECISION WAS. MAN REJECTED GOD. THAT WAS HIS
DECISION. MAN SINNED AGAINST GOD AND REBELLED
AGAINST GOD. SALVATION IS IN SPITE OF MAN'S
SINFUL DECISION TO REJECT GOD. SO IT IS MOST DEFINITELY NOT
OF THE WILL OF THE FLESH BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THE WILL OF SINFUL
FLESH IS. IF YOU LOOK WITH ME AT JOHN,
CHAPTER 5, OUR LORD SAID IN JOHN, CHAPTER 5, VERSE 40, AND THIS
IS CONCERNING SINFUL MAN AND HIS SINFUL WILL, HIS SINFUL FLESH. HE SAID IN JOHN 40, YOU WILL
NOT COME TO ME THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE LIFE. AND THAT'S THE TRUTH
ABOUT MAN. HE SAID, I RECEIVE NOT HONOR
FROM MAN. THE ONLY WAY THAT PEOPLE TRULY
HONOR HIM IS IF GOD HAS PUT HIS SPIRIT IN A MAN OR A WOMAN, CAUSING
THAT MAN OR WOMAN TO HONOR HIM AND PRAISE HIM. HE SAID IN VERSE
42, I KNOW YOU THAT YOU HAVE NOT THE LOVE OF GOD IN YOU. IT'S
TOUGH TO HEAR, ISN'T IT? HE SAID, I AM COME IN MY FATHER'S
NAME, AND YOU RECEIVE ME NOT. IF ANOTHER SHALL COME IN HIS
OWN NAME, HIM YOU WILL RECEIVE. HE SAID, YOU WON'T RECEIVE ME.
HE CAME UNTO HIS OWN, AND HIS OWN RECEIVED HIM NOT. BUT ANOTHER
MAN COMES TO YOU IN HIS OWN NAME, AND YOU'LL RECEIVE HIM. SOMEBODY
COMES PREACHING ANOTHER JESUS WHO IS NOT THE ONE DECLARED IN
THE SCRIPTURE, MEN WILL WIDELY RECEIVE HIM. OH, YEAH, WE LOVE
JESUS. BUT YOU DECLARE THIS ONE, AND
THE FLESH WILL NOT NATURALLY RECEIVE HIM. VERSE 44, HE SAID,
HOW CAN YOU BELIEVE WHICH RECEIVE HONOR ONE OF ANOTHER AND SEEK
NOT THE HONOR THAT COMES FROM GOD ONLY? IT COMES FROM GOD ONLY. SO, HE'S SPEAKING TO ALL MEN
AND WOMEN IN THE FLESH. IN ROMANS 3, IT SAYS IN VERSE
10, AS IT IS WRITTEN, THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE. THERE IS NONE THAT UNDERSTANDETH,
THERE IS NONE THAT SEEKETH AFTER GOD. IT'S TOUGH, ISN'T IT? BUT IT'S TRUE. SO IT IS MOST
CERTAINLY NOT IN THE WILL OF THE FLESH. SALVATION IS NOT.
ROMANS 9 SAYS, VERSE 11, IT SAYS, THE CHILDREN BEING NOT YET BORN,
NEITHER HAVING DONE ANY GOOD OR EVIL, THAT THE PURPOSE OF
GOD ACCORDING TO ELECTION MIGHT STAND. NOT OF WORKS, BUT OF HIM
THAT CALLETH. IT WAS SAID UNTO HER, THE ELDER
SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER. AS IT IS WRITTEN, JACOB HAVE
I LOVED, BUT ESAU HAVE I HATED. THAT'S TOUGH TO HEAR, ISN'T IT?
BUT THAT'S THE TRUTH OF GOD'S WORD. VERSE 14 SAYS, WHAT SHALL
WE SAY THEN? IS THERE UNRIGHTEOUSNESS WITH
GOD? GOD FORBID. FOR HE SAITH TO MOSES, I WILL
HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I WILL HAVE MERCY. I WILL HAVE COMPASSION
ON WHOM I WILL HAVE COMPASSION. ROMANS 9, VERSE 16 SAYS, SO THEN
IT IS NOT OF HIM THAT WILLETH, NOR OF HIM THAT RUNNETH, BUT
OF GOD THAT SHOWETH MERCY. IT'S OF GOD. IT IS OF GOD. AND THAT'S WHAT OUR TEXT, JOHN
CHAPTER 1 SAYS. VERSE 13 SAYS, WHICH WERE BORN
NOT OF BLOOD, NOR OF THE WILL OF THE FLESH, NOR OF THE WILL
OF MAN, NO, WE CAN'T DECIDE TO SAVE OURSELVES AND NO ONE ELSE
CAN DECIDE TO SAVE US. A GRANDMOTHER CAN'T PRAY A GRANDCHILD
INTO HEAVEN. AND A PREACHER CAN'T SOUL WIN
SOMEBODY INTO HEAVEN. YOU KNOW, PEOPLE THINK THEY'RE
SOUL WINNERS AND PEOPLE THINK THEY'RE THE ONES LEADING PEOPLE
TO SALVATION. GOD DOES NOT USE THE WORKS OF
MEN TO SAVE HIS PEOPLE. GOD USED THE WORKS OF JESUS CHRIST
ALONE. IT WAS THE WORK OF THE CROSS
OF CHRIST ALONE. IT WAS THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST
ALONE. NOT MAN'S BLOOD, HIS BLOOD. NOT
MAN'S WORK, HIS WORK ALONE. SO GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE ARE NOT
BORN TO ETERNAL LIFE OF THEIR OWN BLOOD. THEY'RE NOT BORN OF
THE WILL OF THE FLESH. THEY'RE NOT BORN OF THE WILL
OF ANOTHER MAN OR WOMAN. HOW ARE THEY BORN? THE END OF
VERSE 13 PLAINLY SAYS, BUT OF GOD. THEY ARE BORN OF GOD. IT'S A WORK THAT GOD DOES START
TO FINISH. FIRST CORINTHIANS 130 SAYS, OF
GOD ARE YOU IN CHRIST JESUS, OF GOD. THE BIRTH OF LIFE INTO
BEING A CHILD OF GOD, THAT BIRTH WAS BY THE WILL OF GOD IN THE
BLOOD OF GOD, BORN IN HIS SPIRIT, WASHED IN HIS BLOOD, THE SONG
SAYS, THIS IS MY STORY, THIS IS MY SONG. AND HERE'S THE COMFORT
IN ALL OF THIS. YOU SAY, WELL, I KNOW GOD ELECTED
A PEOPLE. DID HE ELECT ME? WELL, PAUL SAID WE'RE BOUND TO
GIVE THANKS. BRETHREN, BELOVED OF THE LORD,
BECAUSE GOD HATH FROM THE BEGINNING CHOSEN YOU TO SALVATION THROUGH
SANCTIFICATION OF THE SPIRIT, MEANING GOD'S SPIRIT CAME AND
DID THE WORK IN BELIEF OF THE TRUTH. I ASK YOU THIS QUESTION. YOU'VE READ IT WITH ME. YOU'VE
READ WHAT GOD HAS SAID CONCERNING THESE THINGS. HAS HE GIVEN YOU
A HEART TO BELIEVE HIM? IF HE HAS, THEN YOU'RE ONE OF
HIS ELECT. BECAUSE ALL OF HIS ELECT RECEIVE
FAITH TO BELIEVE HIM, AND THOSE WHO DO NOT RECEIVE FAITH TO BELIEVE
HIM DO NOT HAVE THE PROMISE, THE EVIDENCE OF BEING HIS ELECT. FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS
HOPED FOR, THE EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN. SO IF THAT FEAR HAS
COME TO YOU AND SAID, I SEE THAT HE HAS AN ELECT PEOPLE, AND HE'S
GONNA SAVE HIS ELECT PEOPLE, AND ONLY HIS ELECT PEOPLE ARE
GONNA BE SAVED. IF THAT FEAR COMES TO YOU AND
YOU SAY, AM I ONE OF THEM? REST ASSURED, FIND PEACE, FIND
COMFORT IN THE FAITH THAT HE HAS GIVEN TO YOU IN HIS WORD. ALL WHO ARE BORN OF GOD WILL
BELIEVE HIM. ALL WHO ARE BORN OF GOD WILL
SEE IT IN THE WORD, AND THEY WILL BOW TO IT, AND THEY WILL
SAY, AMEN, YOU'RE GOD, I'M NOT. AND I SEE YOU WERE GOOD AND KIND,
AND I REJECTED YOU. GOD BE MERCIFUL TO ME. GOD BE
MERCIFUL TO ME. OF GOD ARE WE IN CHRIST JESUS,
WHO OF GOD IS MADE UNTO US WISDOM AND RIGHTEOUSNESS, SANCTIFICATION
AND REDEMPTION, THAT ACCORDING AS IT IS WRITTEN, HE THAT GLORIETH,
LET HIM GLORY IN THE LORD. AMEN. MAY THE LORD BLESS THAT
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, log on to
our website at ksgctn.org. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 1045 a.m., and 6 o'clock p.m.,
Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. Please tune in next week for
another message of God's free and sovereign grace.