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. I would like to preach the gospel
to you today from Psalm 48. If you would like to follow along
in your Bible, it'll be Psalm 48. And the definition of the
word gospel, to say that I would like to preach the gospel, the
definition of the word gospel is good news. Glad tidings, that's
what the word means. And that's what I have for us
today. I have wonderful news, very wonderful news. Here in
Psalm 48, verse 14 says, for this God is our God forever and
ever. HE WILL BE OUR GOD EVEN UNTO
DEATH. THIS GOD IS OUR GOD FOREVER. THAT'S WONDERFUL NEWS, ISN'T
IT? WONDERFUL NEWS. THAT TRULY IS GLAD TIDINGS. THIS GOD IS OUR GOD. THINK ABOUT THAT. FOREVER. FOREVER. Now, there are some
things that we can know based on the wording of this verse,
this verse. And the first thing is this.
He is speaking of a specific God. He said this God, he's speaking
of a specific God. The second thing we can know
is this God is not everybody's God. This God is not, as the
scripture words it, their God. You'll see that many times. He
talks about their God. This God is the God of a particular
people. It says this God is our God. He's the God of a particular
people. The third thing we can know is
THIS GOD TRULY IS GOD. I MEAN HE IS GOD. NOTHING AND
NO ONE CAN DETHRONE HIM. YOU TALK ABOUT GOOD NEWS. IT
SAYS THIS GOD IS OUR GOD FOREVER. FOREVER AND EVER. NO ONE CAN
DETHRONE HIM. NOW I WANT US TO SPEND THE MAJORITY
OF OUR TIME ON THE TWO WORDS THIS GOD. And I want us to know
who this God, who our God is forever. I want us to get to
know him. And how can we know him? If we're
going to get to know this God, how can we know him? The answer
is through his word, through his own word. This God has declared
who he is in his word. If the little g God we talked
about the scripture mentioning their God, the lowercase g God,
if the God that a man or a woman worships, if that little g God
does not match the description of this God, and I have a Bible
right here in front of me, the God of the Bible, the God of
the scripture, If the God of men and women does
not match the description of the God written in this word,
then here's the truth. Their God is not this God. And that makes sense, doesn't
it? If their God does not match the description right here, their
God is not this God. And if their God is not this
God, their God is no God at all. None whatsoever. So our hope
of salvation, and this is the truth, our hope of salvation
and our good news is only in knowing this God to be our God
forever. Now, who is this God? We're going
to skim the word. I want us to let the word answer
that question for us. We're going to let the word tell
us who this God is. And I'll go ahead and mention
to us that as we read this, God is the Lord. That's what Psalm
118 tells us. So whether we read God is. Or if we read the Lord is. In
both cases, the word is speaking of this God. All right. Now, let's see who he is, and
let's start with this right here. Turn with me, if you would, to
Isaiah 45. I hope you have a Bible there with you and you'll follow
along with me. It's very important to see this
and read it together. Isaiah 45 verse 20, it says,
assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, ye that are
escaped of the nations. They have no knowledge that set
up the wood of their graven image. Their graven image, their idol,
their little g God idol. It says, and they pray unto a
little g God that cannot save. And that's what men and women
are doing all over this world. They're praying to a little G
God that cannot say. Verse 21 says, tell ye and bring
them near. Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
time? Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside
me. a just God and a savior. There is none beside me. There are countless, I mean countless,
numerous, numerous little g gods that cannot save. And they exist
in the mind of men and women all over the world, all over
this world. And in great error, and that's
what the Lord said to some Pharisees. He said, you err not knowing
the scriptures. In great error, not knowing the
scriptures, men and women have made up in their mind what they
imagine God to be like. They have fashioned their own
God. They may not carve him out of wood anymore, but they have
carved him in their mind. And they say, well, you know,
I think God is like this. This is what I think about God.
In the process of doing that, men and women have formed in
their mind their own little man-made God. And that's all that he is. That's all that he is, just a
man-made idol that cannot save. that cannot save. There is only
one true alive God. There's only one living God,
and this word tells us exactly who he is. So let's continue
reading in the word so we can know for certain who he is. Turn
with me over now to Numbers 23. In Numbers chapter 23, verse
19 says, God is not a man that he should lie, neither the son
of man that he should repent. Hath he said, and shall he not
do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall
he not make it good? Now, here's the first thing we
need to understand about this God, the only God there is, none
beside him. God is not like sinful man. God is not like us. He's not
like you and me. We're going to see in a moment
that God made himself to be a man. He did. HE PREPARED A BODY FOR
HIMSELF. HE TOOK UPON HIMSELF THE LIKENESS
OF SINFUL FLESH, THE LIKENESS OF IT. HE MADE HIMSELF TO BE
IN THE FORM OF A MAN. AND THAT'S THE FORM THAT HE IS
STILL IN TO THIS DAY. WHEN HE COMES BACK, HE WILL COME
BACK AS THE MAN, CHRIST JESUS THE MAN. BUT GOD IN HIS PERSON
IS NOTHING LIKE A SINFUL MAN, NOTHING. Men and women hear that
man was made in God's image, and that's what the scripture
says. God made man in his image. Therefore, they assume that God
is like man. God is nothing like sinful man.
Nothing. Just listen to these. Psalm 99
says, God is holy. We just read in Isaiah 45, it
says, God is a just God. Second Chronicles 12 verse six
says, the Lord is righteous. Man is sinful. The Lord is righteous. What all that means is the Lord
God is perfect. He is spotless. He is pure. He's right. We're wrong and he's
right. And because of that, all of his
ways are perfect and spotless and pure and right. Everything
he does. Isaiah 55 says, His thoughts
are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways. As
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher
than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. When
we, in our mind, imagine Him to be like us, and that's what
men and women do, they imagine God to be like us, and when men
and women do that, they bring Him down. They bring him down. Our tongue lies. Our minds change. We're weak. The scripture says
unstable as water. God is nothing like that. Nothing. We try to do things. We try and
we hope to do things. Sometimes we succeed and sometimes
we don't. God is nothing like that. He said, if I said it, it will
be done. That's what we just read. If
I said it, it'll be done. He said, all my counsel shall
stand. He said, I will work and no one
will stop me. Whatever this word says that
he is, that's what he is. That's what God is. All right,
now go with me to Deuteronomy chapter four. In Deuteronomy
chapter 4 verse 23 says take heed unto yourselves lest you
forget the covenant of the Lord your God which he made with you
and make you a graven image or the likeness of anything which
the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee for the Lord thy God is
a consuming fire even a jealous God. What does he mean when he
says God is a consuming fire? Well, over in Deuteronomy 6,
just two chapters over, in Deuteronomy 6, verse 13 says, Thou shalt
fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. You shall not go after other
gods of the gods of the people which are round about you. For
the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you. Lest the anger
of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee
from off the face of the earth. Destroy me from off the face
of the earth. Did he really say that? Destroy
me from off the face of the earth. Somebody will say, well, that's
not the God I had made up in my mind. That doesn't sound like
the God I have in my mind at all. Well, I know. I know. Somebody else will say,
yeah, but this is the Old Testament. This right here is the Old Testament.
God has changed. GOD'S NOT LIKE THIS ANYMORE.
WELL, NOT ONLY DID THIS GOD SAY IN MALACHI 3, VERSE 6, I AM THE
LORD, I CHANGE NOT. BUT ALONG WITH THAT, OVER IN
HEBREWS, CHAPTER 10, VERSE 30 SAYS, YOU KNOW HIM THAT HATH
SAID VENGEANCE BELONGETH UNTO ME, I WILL RECOMPENSE, SAITH
THE LORD. And again, the Lord shall judge
his people. Verse 31 says it's a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God. It's a fearful
thing. Hebrews 12 verse 29 says, for
our God is a consuming fire. It said that in the Old Testament.
It says that in the New Testament. This is our God. This God has
not changed. If you look at Hebrews 13 verse
8, it says, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and
forever. The same. The same. He's the same. Exodus 15 says
the Lord is a man of war. Have we ever read that or known
that? DEUTERONOMY 32 SAYS THIS GOD SAID, I KILL, I MAKE ALIVE,
I WOUND, I HEAL. I'M THE GOD THAT WILL EXECUTE
JUSTICE. HE SAID THAT. PSALM 7 SAYS THIS
GOD IS ANGRY WITH THE WICKED EVERY DAY. PSALM 75 SAYS THIS
GOD IS THE JUDGE OF ALL OF MANKIND AND HE'S GOING TO JUDGE MAN FOR
HIS SIN. SECOND THESSALONIANS 1 SAYS THIS GOD IS COMING BACK
WITH HIS MIGHTY ANGELS IN FLAMING FIRE TO TAKE VENGEANCE ON THEM
THAT KNOW NOT GOD AND HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO CHRIST. AND
IT SAYS HE'S GOING TO PUNISH THEM WITH EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION
FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD AND FROM THE GLORY OF HIS POWER.
GABE, WHY ON THIS EARTH ARE YOU TELLING ME ALL THIS? IT'S BECAUSE
THIS IS GOD. And we need to know who this
God is because this is the God with whom we have to do. This
is the God. Believe me, I understand that
he is not really being preached today. I understand that men
and women are not being warned about who the true God really
is, but we need to be. We need to be. We are gonna go
meet this God. This is the God with whom we
have to do. The scripture says every man
and woman must stand before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, God. This God. This is not the God
of man's imagination. I know that. Man has imagined
a weak God like man is. Man has imagined an unjust God,
like man is, who will just turn a blind eye to sin. Well, you
know, let's just forget about that. Man has imagined a God
who is trying to do things, but he has to get man's permission
first. And he's just hoping that the
devil won't mess it up along the way. I can't tell you how
many times I've heard false preachers stand up in pulpit saying, now
God's trying, but the devil just keeps messing it up. That's not
so. God is the God of all. Everything is subject to him. That God is not this God. That God is no God at all. But
here's the thing. This God is our God. This is
the God with whom we have to do. And he is a just God. He is a just God. But let me
tell you something. That's not all that he is. Thank
God that's not all that he is. That's not all that Isaiah 45
said he is. We read it just a moment ago.
It said, this God is a just God. And thank God for the end. It said, this is a just God.
He said, I am a just God and a savior and a savior. This God is the savior. You know who the Savior is? The
Savior is this God. We're searching the scriptures
to find out really who this God is, this just God, this God of
all little g-gods. Who is this God exactly? Well,
turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 3. First Timothy three, I just
love this. I love this verse that we're
about to read right here. First Timothy three, verse 16,
it says, and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God, do you see that capital
G? God was manifest in the flesh. Who was it that was manifest
in the flesh? God. Jesus Christ. God was manifest
in the flesh. It says God was justified in
the spirit, everything he did. God was seen of angels. When he walked out of that tomb,
they said, he's not here. God was preached unto the Gentiles. That's what we're doing right
now. I'm a Gentile and I'm preaching, I believe to other Gentiles.
And God was believed on in the world. I pray that God might
send his spirit and cause me and you both to believe on him
right now. And it says God was received
up into glory, sat down on his throne. Who is this God? ISAIAH 7 SAID, BEHOLD, A VIRGIN
SHALL CONCEIVE AND BEAR A SON, AND SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMANUEL,
GOD WITH US. ISAIAH 9-6 SAYS, UNTO US A CHILD
IS BORN, UNTO US A SON IS GIVEN, AND THE GOVERNMENT SHALL BE UPON
HIS SHOULDER, AND HIS NAME SHALL BE CALLED WONDERFUL COUNSELOR,
THE MIGHTY GOD. THAT CHILD THAT WAS BORN. The
mighty God, call his name, the everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. People have made up in their
minds, they've made this up in their minds that Jesus Christ
is just God's son. Well, that's God's son. Oh, no. He's the Son of God. If God will ever reveal to us
what that means, our eyes will be opened. The Father is the
Father of God. The Spirit is the Spirit of God. These three are one. You can't separate them. God
is three equal persons. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, if
you have seen me, you've seen the Father. You want to see God
the Father? He said, just look at me. Philip said, Lord, show
us the Father. He said, have I been so long
time with you and yet has thou not known me? To seek Christ
is to seek God. Isaiah 40 said that John the
Baptist would come and would prepare the way. He would make
the announcement of the coming of the Lord God. And what was
he to say to announce the coming of the Lord? What was he to say?
John was to say, behold, your God. BEHOLD YOUR GOD. JOHN 1-1 SAYS, IN THE BEGINNING
WAS CHRIST THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD
WAS GOD. VERSE 14 SAYS, AND THE WORD WAS
MADE FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US. HEBREWS 1 SAYS, GOD THE FATHER
SAID TO GOD THE SON, THY THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER. THIS GOD NOW WE'RE STILL TALKING
ABOUT THE ONE WHO DOESN'T CHANGE. WE'RE STILL TALKING ABOUT THE
JUST GOD. AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE SAVIOR.
HE SAID I'M A JUST GOD AND I'M A SAVIOR. THIS GOD IS OUR GOD. DOES THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY? IT
MAKES ME HAPPY. THIS GOD IS OUR GOD FOREVER. FOREVER. HE IS OUR GOD. FOREVER. NOW, LET ME ASK YOU
THIS QUESTION. HOW DO WE KNOW HE'S OUR GOD? I'M POINTING TO
YOU AND I'M POINTING TO ME. HOW DO WE KNOW HE'S OUR GOD?
WELL, LOOK ACROSS THE PAGE HERE AT FIRST TIMOTHY 1, VERSE 15. IT SAYS, THIS IS A FAITHFUL SAYING
AND WORTHY OF ALL ACCEPTATION THAT CHRIST JESUS CAME INTO THE
WORLD TO SAVE SINNERS. SINNERS. I'm the chief. How can we know
that he's our God? Here's how we can know. Because
this God said he is the God of sinners. He said, I'm the God
of sinners. I'm the God of Jacob and all
of his children. Who's Jacob? He's the sinner.
That's who he is. It pleased the Lord to make sinners
his people. Are you a sinner? Yes, I'm asking
you, are you a sinner? Like I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. And I'm not talking about a little
sinner. Well, yeah, I told a white lie last week. No, no, no. I'm
talking about a head to toe, in to out, complete ruin sinner. No good sinner. In my flesh dwells
no good thing. Sinner. If a person says, oh
no, You know, I'm asking, are you a sinner? And if somebody
says, no, no, well, that person cannot say that this God is their
God, then. That person cannot say that this
God is his saving God and his calling God, because this God
said he came to save sinners. This God said he did not come
to call the righteous. He came to call sinners. So I ask it again, are you a
sinner? Like Peter said, you'll never
wash my feet. The Lord said, if I don't wash
your feet, you'll have nothing to do with me. Peter said, wash
me from my head to my toes. So I ask again, are you a sinner?
Are you a sinner like I'm a sinner? If you are, here's our good news. Here's our gospel. This God,
this God right here, took our sins and our sorrows and he made
them his very own. This God had all the sins of
His people laid on Him. It's the whole reason this God
came. He came to take our sin from us. He came to bear the
sins and iniquities of His people. He came to die in order to put
away their sin. And that's what He did. THAT'S
WHAT HE DID BECAUSE HE DID PUT THE SINS OF HIS PEOPLE AWAY AND
BECAUSE HE FINISHED THE WORK OF OUR REDEMPTION AND WASHED
US IN HIS OWN BLOOD BECAUSE HE MADE US TO BE PURE AND CLEAN
IN HIM DOING THAT. THIS GOD HAS SAID THAT HE IS
NOT ASHAMED TO BE CALLED OUR GOD BECAUSE HE CLEANSED US. HE SAID I'M NOT ASHAMED TO BE
CALLED THEIR GOD. He said He will be our God and we can be
His people. Psalm 68 20 says, He that is
our God is the God of our salvation. In His own blood, through His
own blood, all because of His own blood. He's the God of mercy. That's who this God is. He's
the God of grace. He's the God of compassion. Psalm
116 says, Gracious is the Lord and righteous. Yea, our God is
merciful. Our God. He's merciful. This God is merciful to sinners.
And if you're a sinner, this God will be merciful to you.
He will cry out for mercy. He delights. This God delights
to show mercy for his own namesake. for His own namesake. Call this
God Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins."
That's who this God is. And I'll tell you, that's the
best news I know to tell us. That's the best news I know to
tell us. This God is our God forever. 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, 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.