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 follow along
with me in your Bible, I will be speaking to you today from
Isaiah 35. Isaiah chapter 35. And while
you're turning there, let me give you a few opening comments
to this message. Grace is for those who cannot
earn it. That's who grace is for. We speak
of grace. Well, grace is for those who
cannot earn it. Mercy is for those who do not
deserve it. Salvation is for those who cannot
save themselves. That's who salvation's for. The
gospel is for sinners. It's for sinners. Now let's just
think about that. Grace means free gift. That's what it means. free gift,
it means unmerited favor. And it's for those who cannot
give anything for it in return, cannot make any kind of payment
for it in return. And I mean no kind, not a right
heart, not a right attitude, not even
a faithful following, nothing, nothing. MERCY MEANS SPARING
OF JUDGMENT. THAT'S WHAT IT MEANS. IT MEANS
NOT GIVING THE PUNISHMENT THAT IS OWED TO SOMEBODY. THAT'S WHAT
MERCY IS. SPARING THAT PERSON FROM THE
PUNISHMENT OWED TO THEM. AND THAT'S ONLY FOR THOSE WHO
DON'T DESERVE IT. THAT'S WHO MERCY IS FOR. IF A
PERSON RECEIVES MERCY, THEY WERE OWED AND THEY DESERVE JUDGMENT.
but they didn't get it. If a person is not owed judgment,
then they, there's no need to receive mercy. They're not owed
judgment. So it's only for those who don't
deserve it. It's only for those who, when
you look at them and when you look at what they are and look
at what they've done, you think they don't deserve it. Well,
that's who mercy is for. Salvation means deliverance. That's what it means, deliverance
from sin, deliverance from self, deliverance from death, deliverance
from hell. That is only for those who cannot
save themselves. Only those who cannot save themselves
will receive the salvation of the Lord. Deliverance from sin. That's only for those who cannot
stop sinning. You know how you hear people
say, well, now you need to stop sinning. Well, the deliverance
and salvation of God is for those who cannot stop sinning. Is that
you? Like it's me? The gospel. If the Lord will
help us, help me and help you, we will preach and hear the gospel
right now. the message of the gospel. And
I'll tell you this, that the word gospel means good news.
And it is, it is, it's the good news of the free gift of deliverance
through the saving blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that gospel
IS FOR SINNERS. IT'S TRULY FOR SINNERS. NOW,
WITH THAT BEING SAID, LET'S READ ISAIAH 35, VERSES 3 AND 4. IT SAYS, STRENGTHEN YE THE WEAK
HANDS, AND CONFIRM THE FEEBLE KNEES. SAY TO THEM THAT ARE OF
A FEARFUL HEART, BE STRONG. Behold, your God will come with
vengeance, even God with a recompense. He will come and save you. He will come and save you. That's
good news, isn't it? That's the gospel. That is the
gospel. That is God's command to his
preachers. That's what we are supposed to
preach. When we preach the gospel, there
it is. He said, you preach strength
to weak hands. I want you to strengthen the
weak hands. And he said, I want you to confirm,
firm up, sure up the feeble knees. And he said, I want you to encourage
the fearful heart. fearful before God, fearful for
so many self-inflicted reasons. In Isaiah 40, he said, comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, my people. And it's only his people
who will find comfort in this. But he said, you speak comfortably
to them. That means to the heart. You
speak to their heart. You speak peaceably to their
heart. In John 21, he said, I want you
to feed my sheep. That's what you're called to
do, preacher. If you're a true preacher of Christ, he said,
I want you to feed my sheep, nourish and build up my people. as they endure the journey of
this life, this very difficult, very trying, very sorrowful journey
of life. And he said, I want you to do
that very thing. And he said, the reason I want you to do that
is because they truly are weak. And I'm going to tell you, that's
what I am. I want to do that for you. I want to preach this
to you because I need it myself. My hands are weak. My knees are feeble. My heart
is fearful. I'm just speaking honestly to
you. That's describing me. I need
desperately to preach this to myself. In my flesh, that's what
I am, what we just read. And that's what all of God's
people are. That's what all of God's people are. You know, when
you think about what that's saying there, he said weak hands, let's
think about weak hands. You know what weak hands can
do? Nothing. Weak hands can't do. Think about feeble knees. You
know what feeble knees can't do, struggle to do? Stand. Weak hands can't do. Feeble knees
can't stand. A fearful heart can't trust. It just can't. The commandment
is trust in the Lord. Trust Christ. Look to Christ. Believe on Christ. Well, it takes
a strong heart to do that. It takes a courageous heart to
do that, but a fearful heart can't. A fearful heart struggles
to trust and struggles to believe, but gloriously, God's command
in the gospel is strengthen those weak hands. Confirm those feeble
knees and speak words of great encouragement and great assurance
to those fearful hearts because God has done something for them.
You tell them that God has done something for them and God is
going to do something for them. And he tells us right here what
it is. God has given a message right here and he tells us who
the message is to. When God gives a message, he
is sending that person to a, sending that message to a particular
person. Have you ever called somebody
on the phone and got their voicemail and you leave a message? Well,
that message is not just recorded for anybody in the world. It's
recorded for the person you've sent it to, the direct person
you called. And that's how it is with God.
He calls directly on purpose. He sends his message to his particular
people. And he tells us who the message
is to. And he tells us right here what
the message is, who it's to, what it is. And he tells us right
here what the message will produce when it's truly heard and truly
received, truly believed. And he tells us what the end
result of the message will bring. Now, we'll see this as we read
down through it, but let me give you a little summary before we
even start, okay? Based on what's said here in
these verses in Isaiah 35, this is who his message is to. It's
to, verse three says, the weak, we've read this, the weak, and
it's to the feeble. Verse four, he said the message
is to the fearful, and he goes on to say it's to the lost. That's
who he's speaking to. Verse five says it's to the blind. spiritually blind and the deaf spiritually can't hear. Verse
six, he says it's to the lame. That's who he's talking to. Lame means can't walk, can't
come. You know, come to Christ. Well,
a lame man can't come. He says it's to the dumb. That
means can't speak, can't cry out. He says it's to those who
are outcast in the wilderness, just out there in the wilderness.
Verse seven says it's to the parched, the thirsty. It's to the dead. Verse eight
says it's to those without a way. They don't have a way. Those
who are without holiness, the wayfaring, Verse nine says it's to those
who need redemption. They need a payment made for
them. They need to be bought back. Verse 10 says it's to those
who have gone astray, who are sad, sorrowful, and sighing,
just destitute, destitute. That's who God says this message
is to. Now, here's my question. Do you
fall into any of those categories? IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED GOD-GIVEN
FAITH, THIS IS WHAT YOU WILL SAY, JUST LIKE ME. I SAY, AND
I PRAY YOU SAY THE SAME THING. CAN WE SAY, I FALL INTO ALL OF
THOSE CATEGORIES? IN THIS FLESH, I FALL INTO ALL
OF THOSE CATEGORIES? WELL, THAT'S WHO GOD SAYS HIS
MESSAGE IS TO. ALRIGHT, NOW HERE'S WHAT THE
MESSAGE IS. VERSE 3, STRENGTHEN YE THE WEAK HANDS, and confirm
the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful
heart, be strong, fear not, behold, your God will come with vengeance. Even God with a recompense, he
will come and save you. God said, here is my message
to my people. You tell them to be strong and
fear not. I WILL COME WITH VENGEANCE. THAT'S STRANGE, INNIT? HE SAID
YOU TELL THEM BE STRONG AND FEAR NOT. I WILL COME WITH VENGEANCE. HE SAID I WILL RECOMPENSE. THAT MEANS I WILL DISH IT OUT. THAT'S WHAT IT MEANS. I WILL
GIVE WHAT'S OWED. I will recompense to every man
exactly what he is owed. God said time and time again,
I'm a holy God. I'm a righteous judge. I will
execute judgment rightly based on my law. I'll dish out to every
man what is owed. I will repay for every man what
he's done. I will repay. You say, well,
how's that good news to me? Wait a minute, how's that good
news to me? We've just established I'm weak. I'm feeble, I'm fearful. And here's the reason why. I
know that I'm a sinner before God. I know that I'm a sinner
before God. I pray you do. I pray that God
has revealed to you that you are a sinner before God. I pray he has shown us our sin
and shown us what sin deserves. I pray that he has revealed to
us what the wages of sin is. Scripture says death. I know what my sin deserves.
I honestly do. It deserves God's vengeance.
That's what it deserves. It deserves God's recompense. So, somebody will say, well,
how then can that be good news from God to me? How can that
message from God to me be good news? Well, turn with me over
to 2 Corinthians 12. If you're following along with
me, go to 2 Corinthians 12. THIS IS WHERE THE APOSTLE PAUL
WAS GIVEN A THORN IN THE FLESH. AND IT SAYS IN VERSE 8, HE SAID,
FOR THIS THING I BESOUGHT THE LORD THRICE, THAT MEANS THREE
TIMES, THAT IT MIGHT DEPART FROM ME. AND HE SAID UNTO ME, GOD
SAID UNTO ME, MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR THEE, MY FREE GIFT. is sufficient for thee. For my
strength, God said, my strength is made perfect in weakness."
Your weakness. Most gladly, therefore, the Apostle
Paul said, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power
of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I
strong. When we feel so strong in the
flesh, like we just have everything by the tail and sitting on top
of the world and we're proud of who we are and proud of what
we've done, when we are strong in the flesh, I'm telling you,
we are weak before God. But when we are weak in the flesh,
when what we truly are and truly have done before God has been
revealed to us and it's brought us down, and we're looking to
Christ alone, That's when we're strong. That's when we're strong. How can a sinner be strong? We
have to know our weakness. Honestly, how can a sinner fear
not this Holy God who's gonna execute vengeance and recompense
and judgment? How can we truly fear not? Here's
the only way, look to Christ. LOOK TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
YOU SAY, WELL, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LOOK
TO CHRIST? WELL, TURN WITH ME TO ISAIAH 61. OVER IN ISAIAH
CHAPTER 61, THIS IS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST SPEAKING. I KNOW
THAT THIS IS THE OLD TESTAMENT, BUT THIS IS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
SPEAKING. THE ETERNAL GOD WHO WAS IN THE
BEGINNING WITH GOD WAS GOD. THIS IS JESUS CHRIST SPEAKING.
ISAIAH 61, VERSE 1, IT SAYS, THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD GOD IS
UPON ME, BECAUSE THE LORD HATH ANOINTED ME TO PREACH GOOD TIDINGS
UNTO THE MEEK. THAT MEANS THE GOSPEL. TO THE
MEEK. HE HATH SENT ME TO BIND UP THE
BROKENHEARTED, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES, AND THE OPENING
OF THE PRISON TO THEM THAT ARE BOUND. TO PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE
YEAR OF THE LORD AND THE DAY OF VENGEANCE OF OUR GOD. CHRIST SAID, I AM ANOINTED TO
DO ALL THOSE THINGS FOR THOSE PEOPLE. AND IF YOU FALL INTO THE CATEGORY
OF THOSE PEOPLE, THAT'S GOOD NEWS. THOSE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO
CAN LOOK TO HIM WHO SAID, I CAME TO DO THIS FOR THESE PEOPLE.
AND HE SAID, I AM ANOINTED TO DECLARE THE DAY OF VENGEANCE
OF OUR GOD, SO THAT IT WILL COMFORT ALL WHO MOURN OVER GOD'S VENGEANCE
COMING DOWN ON THEM. WHAT IS THAT DAY? THAT DAY THAT
WILL COMFORT ALL THAT MOURN OVER THEIR SIN. IT'S THE DAY THAT
CHRIST BORE THE VENGEANCE OF GOD FOR HIS PEOPLE ON THE CROSS
OF CALVARY. God's vengeance had to come down
on us for our sin. Those who belong to God and those
who don't belong to God, all the same vengeance had to come
down. He's a holy God. He's a just God. But God came. He said, I'm coming to do something.
And he did. God came, God was manifest in
the flesh. And it was for one reason only,
to bear the sin of his people and to suffer the vengeance of
God on that sin. That's the whole reason Christ
came. He came to bear for them what
they could not bear and survive. Vengeance had to come down on
them. So Christ came and said, I'll bear it for them. GOD DID
RECOMPENSE VENGEANCE ON OUR SIN. IF YOU BELONG TO CHRIST, I'M
HERE TO TELL YOU, GOD HAS ALREADY POURED OUT HIS VENGEANCE ON YOU
FOR ALL OF YOUR SIN. HE'S ALREADY DONE THAT. AND HE
DID THAT IN OUR SUBSTITUTE, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. BECAUSE OF
THAT, BECAUSE CHRIST CAME AND DID THAT FOR US, BECAUSE HE MADE
A TRADE WITH US, HE TRADED OUR SIN FOR HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. HE TOOK OUR SIN UPON HIMSELF
AND HE PUT HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ON US. AND BECAUSE OF THAT, GOD
WILL NOW RECOMPENSE REWARD ON CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS. HE RECOMPENSED
VENGEANCE ON OUR SIN. AND NOW HE'LL RECOMPENSE REWARD
ON CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS IN US. A TOTAL CHANGE. TOTAL SUBSTITUTION. THAT'S WHAT HE SAID HERE IN VERSE
3. HE SAID, TO APPOINT UNTO THEM THAT MOURN IN ZION TO GIVE UNTO
THEM BEAUTY FOR ASHES. I TOOK THEIR ASHES AND I GAVE
THEM MY BEAUTY. for mourning. They were mourning
and sorrowing, and I came in the joy and glory of heaven,
and I gave that to them, and I took their mourning to myself.
He said, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
They were in their sin, just wallowing in all their heaviness,
and he said, I took all that heaviness off of them, and I
laid on them the garment of praise. And he said, I did that so that
they might be called trees of righteousness. the planting of
the Lord that he might be glorified. And he is, he gets all the glory
in what he's done for us. And I'll tell you, if you're
a sinner like I'm a sinner, that'll be good news to you. That is
good news for sinners. It is good news to sinners. That's where our comfort comes
from. That's the only place that comfort comes from for a sinner. It's in hearing that because
of my weakness, Christ came to be my strength. Because of my
feebleness, Christ stood firm for me. He stood firm before
the judgment throne of God for me. He did that for me. Because
of my fearfulness, Christ came and saved me. Came and saved
me. Our God said, you tell that to
my people. You give that message to my people.
And he said, when you do, THIS IS WHAT THE MESSAGE WILL PRODUCE.
LOOK WITH ME BACK AT ISAIAH 35, VERSE 3. IT SAYS, STRENGTHEN
YE THE WEAK HANDS AND CONFIRM THE FEEBLE KNEES. SAY TO THEM
THAT ARE OF A FEARFUL HEART, BE STRONG, FEAR NOT, BEHOLD,
YOUR GOD WILL COME WITH VENGEANCE. EVEN GOD WITH A RECOMPENSE, HE
WILL COME AND SAVE YOU. VERSE 5 SAYS, THEN THE EYES OF
THE BLIND SHALL BE OPENED. YOU TELL THAT MESSAGE. YOU TELL
WHAT CHRIST CAME AND ACCOMPLISHED FOR HIS PEOPLE IN THE EYES OF
THE SPIRITUALLY BLIND, THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN BLIND TO THE TRUE
AND LIVING GOD. THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN BLIND TO
WHAT CHRIST CAME TO DO AND BLIND TO WHAT CHRIST ACCOMPLISHED.
HE SAID YOU PREACH THE TRUTH and their eyes will be open and
they'll see it. Verse five, he said, the eyes
of the blind shall be open and the ears of the deaf shall be
unstopped. They will hear. They'll hear
the voice of Christ speaking to them. They'll hear the truth
of the word of God. It'll reach their hearts. Verse
six says, then shall the lame man leap as a heart. LAME, THE
MAN WHO CANNOT WALK, THE MAN WHO CANNOT COME, THE MAN WHO
SEES NO WAY TO COME TO CHRIST. HE SAID YOU PREACH THAT GOSPEL,
AND NOT ONLY WILL HE COME TO CHRIST, HE'LL LEAP TO CHRIST. VERSE 6 SAYS, THEN SHALL THE
LAME MAN LEAP AS AN HEART, AND THE TONGUE OF THE DUMB SHALL
SING. COULDN'T SPEAK AT ALL, WE'LL
START SINGING PRAISES TO GOD. WITH THE MOUTH CONFESSION WILL
BE MADE, CRYING, HE DID IT ALL, HE PAID IT ALL. VERSE 6 GOES
ON TO SAY, FOR IN THE WILDERNESS SHALL WATERS BREAK OUT AND STREAMS
IN THE DESERT, IN THE PARCHED GROUND SHALL BECOME A POOL, IN
THE THIRSTY LAND SPRINGS OF WATER, IN THE HABITATION OF DRAGONS
WHERE EACH LAY. YOU CAN TELL WHERE THEY LAID
BECAUSE THERE'S A DEAD SPOT THERE. AND HE SAID IT'S GOING TO BE
GRASS WITH REEDS AND RUSHES. LIFE IS GOING TO COME FORTH.
VERSE 8 SAYS, AND A HIGHWAY SHALL BE THERE. A HIGHWAY, A WAY THAT
FOR SINNERS WHO COULDN'T FIND ANY WAY AT ALL, ALL OF A SUDDEN
A HIGHWAY IS GOING TO APPEAR. AND A WAY, AND IT SHALL BE CALLED
THE WAY OF HOLINESS. THAT'S CHRIST. Christ our holiness. The unclean shall not pass over
it. That means those who have not
been washed in the blood of the Lamb. cleansed in the water of
the word of Christ, robed in his righteousness. But it shall
be for those the wayfaring men, though fools, they're not ever
gonna err anymore. They're not gonna err therein.
No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon. It shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk therein. No sin will ever enter into the
glorious kingdom that God's people have been saved into. ONLY THE
REDEEMED, ONLY THOSE WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF CHRIST ARE GONNA
ENTER IN. VERSE 10 SAYS, AND THE RANSOMED OF THE LORD SHALL
RETURN AND COME TO ZION, THAT BEAUTIFUL CITY OF GOD. THEY'RE
GONNA COME WITH SONGS AND EVERLASTING JOY UPON THEIR HEADS. THEY SHALL
OBTAIN JOY AND GLADNESS, ETERNAL JOY AND GLADNESS. AND IT SAYS,
SORROW AND SIGHING SHALL FLEE AWAY. Now that's glorious news,
isn't it? Are you weak because of your
sin? Are you feeble because of your
sin? ARE YOU FEARFUL OVER STANDING BEFORE GOD BECAUSE OF YOUR SIN?
IF SO, LOOK TO THE LAMB OF GOD. LOOK TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
HE ALONE IS ABLE TO SAVE YOU. AND IF YOU LOOK TO HIM AS ALL
YOUR HOPE AND HIS SUBSTITUTION IS ALL YOUR HOPE, THAT'S THE
EVIDENCE THAT HE HAS SAVED YOU. I PRAY THAT THIS WILL BE AN ENCOURAGEMENT
TO ALL OF GOD'S PEOPLE. 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 10.45 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.