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. Our text today is going to be
Psalm 51. Psalm chapter 51. But if you're
following along with me in your Bible and would like to turn,
we're going to begin in Matthew 7. That's where we will start
this message is Matthew chapter 7. And while you're turning there,
I want to tell you that our Lord told a large group of religious
people one time. And I want to really emphasize
the fact that he was talking to religious people. He told
a large group of religious people who thought they had salvation. They were religious. And they
thought that they were saved. But our Lord was very frank with
them. Our Lord was very bold with them,
and he just told them, you missed it. You missed it. You have missed Christ. You have
missed salvation. You don't have salvation. He told them that. And he said,
this is where you have gone wrong. He said, you have erred. You're in error. Not knowing
the scriptures. HE SAID, THAT'S WHERE YOU'VE
GONE WRONG, NOT KNOWING AND UNDERSTANDING WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY TO SINNERS
IN HIS WORD. NOW, RIGHT HERE IN MATTHEW, CHAPTER
7, THESE TWO VERSES ARE MATTER-OF-FACT VERSES. OUR LORD SAID THIS AND
IT WILL BE DONE. IF HE SAYS ANYTHING, IT WILL
BE DONE. IT WILL COME TO PASS. AND MATTHEW
7, VERSE 7 SAYS, Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth,
and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall
be opened. Now that's how it's going to
go for every man and woman on this earth. But here's the sad
thing. Here is the very sad thing. This
is where mankind has erred. This is where mankind has gone
wrong. Mankind does not ask for the
right thing. Mankind is not seeking the right
thing. AND MANKIND IS NOT KNOCKING ON
THE RIGHT DOOR, NOT ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES, NOT ACCORDING
TO GOD'S WORD. IF A MAN ASKS GOD TO GIVE HIM
WHAT HE DESERVES, WHICH IS WHAT MANY PEOPLE ASK GOD FOR, IN THEIR
HEART, THEY JUST SAY AND THINK AND BELIEVE, I'M JUST WANTING
WHAT'S COMING TO ME. I JUST WANT TO GET WHAT I DESERVE.
WELL, I DON'T BELIEVE WE DO, NOT AT ALL. IF A MAN ASKS GOD
TO GIVE HIM WHAT HE DESERVES, MAN IS GOING TO FIND THAT HE
DESERVES WRATH. HE DESERVES PUNISHMENT FOR HIS
SIN. AND IF A MAN SEEKS HIS OWN WORKS
AND HIS OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, WHICH MEN AND WOMEN ARE DOING ALL OVER
THIS WORLD, THEY'RE SEEKING THEIR OWN DEEDS AND THEIR OWN WORKS
OF GOODNESS BEFORE GOD. If a man does that, he's going
to find out that all of his righteousnesses are filthy rags in God's eyes. And if a man does not knock on
the door of Christ, but if a man knocks on the door of his own
way, which people are doing all over this world. Man wants his
own way. Man wants to get to glory and
get to God his own way. He wants to pick his own religion. He wants to believe his own truth,
not the one that God has declared. He wants to do things his own
way. He wants to believe what he wants to believe about God
and not what God has said concerning himself. Man wants his own way.
And if that's the way man wants, God will open that door to him.
And the scripture says, there is a way that seems right to
a man, but the end thereof is destruction. He doesn't realize
it, but that's the end. Now, here's my prayer for us. And I'm being very sincere in
this. I pray that God will teach us something through the scriptures.
I SINCERELY PRAY THAT. I WANT GOD TO KEEP US FROM ERROR. I DO NOT WANT IT TO BE SAID THAT
YOU AND I BOTH ERRED, NOT KNOWING THE SCRIPTURES. WE MUST KNOW
THE SCRIPTURES. NOW, IN PSALM 51, WHERE I TOLD
YOU OUR MESSAGE WOULD COME FROM TODAY, DAVID ASKS THE RIGHT THING. THIS IS WHY WE'RE GOING TO LOOK
AT PSALM 51. And David sought the right thing. And David knocked on the right
door. And that's what I want to do.
And that's what I want you to do. So let's see if the Lord
will open this to us and see if he'll teach us who we should
ask and what we should seek and where we should knock. Now, if
you have your Bible there, let's go to Psalm 51. Psalm 51, the Lord said that
David was a man after his own heart. That's what the scripture
says. God said David was a man after
his own heart. But here's the fact of the matter.
David was a sinner. David was a sinner, just like
I'm a sinner and just like you're a sinner. David, if you want
to get to the heart of that man, the core of what he was in his
flesh, David was a sinner. And the heading just under the
title of Psalm 51, it says in my Bible, I've got headings and
footnotes and things like that. And mine says to the chief musician,
a Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him after
he had gone into Bathsheba. And I'm sure you know that story
and know that great sin that David committed in taking this
married woman Bathsheba for himself. And he had her husband murdered
and just awful. WELL, THE MOMENT GOD REVEALED
HIS SIN TO DAVID, SEE, DAVID WAS SUCH A SINNER, HE WENT A
LONG PERIOD OF TIME WITH NO REMORSE, NO CONSCIENCE TOWARD THE MATTER,
BUT GOD FINALLY SENT A PREACHER TO HIM, A PROPHET TO HIM, AND
NATHAN SAID TO DAVID, YOU'RE THE MAN, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO HAS
SINNED AGAINST GOD, AND IT JUST BROKE DAVID. THE SPIRIT REVEALED
THAT TRUTH TO HIS HEART, AND WHEN GOD FINALLY REVEALED THAT
TO HIM, THIS IS WHAT DAVID SAID. PSALM 51, VERSE 1, HE SAID, HAVE
MERCY UPON ME, O GOD, ACCORDING TO THY LOVINGKINDNESS, ACCORDING
UNTO THE MULTITUDE OF THY TENDER MERCIES, BLOT OUT MY TRANSGRESSIONS. HAVE MERCY ON ME. Have mercy on me. Now, honestly,
let's let's just get honest right now. Let's get honest. Do you
ever hear men and women asking God for mercy? Really? Really? I MEAN TRULY, I KNOW
PEOPLE USE THAT AS A BYWORD, YOU KNOW, LORD HAVE MERCY AND
THAT KIND OF THING, BUT DO YOU EVER REALLY, I MEAN EVEN IN THE
CHURCHES, I'M NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT OUT ON THE STREET, BUT
I'M TALKING ABOUT EVEN IN THE CHURCHES, REALLY, DO YOU REALLY SEE PEOPLE
BEGGING GOD FOR MERCY? MERCY BECAUSE OF THEIR SIN? OUR GOD SAID, WHATEVER YOU ASK
FOR, YOU'LL RECEIVE. God has not changed. Man has
not changed. Man, mankind has always been
like me and you. And man's sin has not changed. That's the reason man has not
changed. Sin. But here's the fact of the matter.
It's very sad. Rarely will you find a sinner
ASKING GOD FOR MERCY. I MEAN TRULY BEGGING GOD ON THE
KNEES OF HIS OR HER HEART, BEGGING GOD FOR MERCY, CRYING, I NEED
MERCY. YOU JUST DON'T SEE THAT. YOU
DON'T HEAR THAT. MEN AND WOMEN VERY COMMONLY,
QUITE OFTEN, ASK GOD FOR HEALTH, WEALTH, HAPPINESS, STRENGTH,
COURAGE, THINGS. THEY'LL ASK GOD TO GET THEM OUT
OF A TIGHT SPOT. THINGS OF THAT NATURE. BUT IT'S
A RARE THING TO FIND A MAN OR A WOMAN WHO HAS TRULY IN THE
HEART FALLEN TO THEIR KNEES broken over their sin, crying, God be
merciful to me. That is just, that's just a rare
thing. I honestly wish I heard that
more. I wish I saw people more broken. I wish I heard that more out
of my own heart. I condemn myself in that matter.
God be merciful to me. God be merciful to me. THE ONLY
THING THAT WILL SPARE A SINNER FROM AN ETERNITY, I MEAN A NEVER-ENDING
ETERNITY OF DESTRUCTION AND PUNISHMENT FOR SIN IS GOD'S MERCY. THAT'S THE ONLY THING. GOD'S
MERCY. AND EVERY SINNER WHO'S EVER ASKED
FOR IT HAS RECEIVED IT. NOW, YOU TALK ABOUT GOOD NEWS.
THE GOSPEL IS GOOD NEWS. AND HERE'S THE MESSAGE OF THE
GOSPEL. EVERY SOUL ON THIS EARTH IS A SINNER IN NEED OF MERCY.
AND EVERY SINNER WHO'S EVER CRIED OUT FOR IT HAS RECEIVED IT. THAT'S
GOOD NEWS. THERE'S AN ACCOUNT OF A PUBLICAN
AND A PHARISEE IN A TEMPLE. IT'S IN LUKE 18. I WOULD ENCOURAGE
YOU TO READ THAT IN LUKE 18. And the Pharisee, he was, he
was telling God, you know, how wonderful he was and, um, you
know, bringing up all these different things to God. The publican could
only ask for one thing. He smote upon his breast crying,
God be merciful to me. I'm a sinner. And the scripture
says that man went home justified and the Pharisee did not. HE DID NOT. I BELIEVE ONE OF
MY FAVORITE ACCOUNTS IN THE SCRIPTURE IS THE TIME THAT OUR LORD WAS
PASSING THROUGH JERICHO. AND ANYTIME YOU SEE THAT OUR
LORD PASSED THROUGH A PLACE, WHAT THAT MEANS IS HE PASSED
PEOPLE BY. THE HORROR OF THAT THOUGHT. THERE
WERE ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE IN THIS CITY OF JERICHO AND HE WAS JUST
PASSING THEM BY. OH, THE AWFUL THOUGHT. HE WAS
PASSING PEOPLE BY. BUT AS HE PASSED THROUGH, IT
SAYS THAT HE HEARD THE CRY OF A BLIND MAN WHO WAS SITTING ON
THE HIGHWAY SIDE BEGGING. AND THAT MAN WAS CRYING, GOD
BE MERCIFUL TO ME. HE DID NOT CRY. WHEN HE HEARD
THAT THE LORD JESUS WAS PASSING BY, HE STARTED CRYING OUT. AND
HE DIDN'T CRY OUT FOR MONEY. HE DIDN'T CRY OUT TO GET ME OUT
OF A TIGHT SPOT. HE CRIED, GOD, BE MERCIFUL TO
ME. JESUS, THOU SON OF DAVID, HAVE
MERCY ON ME. AND THEY TOLD THAT MAN, HUSH,
HE DOESN'T HAVE TIME FOR YOU. AND HE STARTED CRYING OUT EVEN
LOUDER. LORD JESUS, HAVE MERCY ON ME.
AND THE SCRIPTURE SAYS, GOD STOOD STILL. The Lord Jesus Christ,
God manifest in the flesh. He stood still and he looked
at that man and he said, bring him to me. And he had mercy on
him. From that hour, he was made whole.
This is what I pray the Lord might teach us through the scriptures.
We need mercy. We need to be asking for mercy.
WE DESPERATELY NEED TO ASK FOR MERCY. WE NEED TO BE BEGGING
GOD TO HAVE MERCY ON OUR SOULS. HE SAID IF WE ASK IN SINCERITY,
NOT JUST LIPSERVICE, OKAY, GOD BE MERCIFUL TO ME. I MEAN IF
WE ASK IN THE DEPTHS OF OUR SOUL, HE SAID WE'LL RECEIVE IT. Psalm
51, verse one says, have mercy upon me, O God, according to
thy loving kindness. Loving kindness means grace.
It means graciousness. It means favor. It means free
generosity, free gift. Verse one says, have mercy upon
me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according to the multitude
of thy tender mercies. David said, I need a multitude
of tender mercies. Why is that, David? Because I
have a multitude of sins. DAVID WAS A MAN WHO HAD A MULTITUDE
OF SINS. A MULTITUDE OF SINS. MEN AND
WOMEN ARE SO BLIND TO THE TRUTH OF THEIR CONDITION BEFORE GOD.
THEY ARE SO BLIND. BY NATURE, MAN IS SO BLIND. AND THIS IS HOW YOU CAN TELL
IF A MAN OR WOMAN IS BLIND TO HIS CONDITION BEFORE GOD. BLIND
AND LOST TO WHAT HE IS. THIS IS HOW YOU CAN TELL. Men
and women think they rarely sin. And the sad thing and the scary thing
is that describes a lot of people on this earth. They think they
rarely sin. Very, very rarely. But if God
has in mercy revealed to a person the true reality of his or her
condition, their condition before God, what they truly are before
God, then that sinner will cry, I need infinite mercy because
I'm an infinite sinner. I see now what I am. I'm an infinite sinner and I need
to be spared from wrath. I need to not get what I deserve. I see now what I truly deserve
and I don't want that. THAT'S WHAT MERCY IS, BEING SPARED
FROM WHAT YOU TRULY DESERVE. IF YOU LOOK AT VERSE 3, DAVID
SAID RIGHT HERE, I ACKNOWLEDGE MY TRANSGRESSION AND MY SIN IS
EVER BEFORE ME. HE DIDN'T SAY RARELY, HE SAID
ALWAYS. EVER BEFORE ME. AGAINST THEE,
THE ONLY, HAVE I SINNED AND DONE THIS EVIL IN THY SIGHT, THAT
THOU MIGHTEST BE JUSTIFIED WHEN THOU SPEAKEST AND BE CLEAR WHEN
THOU JUDGEST?" HE SAID, WHATEVER YOU DO WITH ME, YOU'RE RIGHT
IN DOING SO. VERSE 5, HE SAID, BEHOLD, I WAS SHAPEN IN INIQUITY,
AND IN SIN DID MY MOTHER CONCEIVE ME. I WAS CONCEIVED IN SIN. Sin is what I do because sin
is what I am. He said, so I'm begging for mercy,
that's what I'm asking for, mercy. We need to desperately apply
this to our current state before God. That's what we need, that's
what we need to be asking for, mercy. All right, now look with
me at the end of verse one. David said, this is what I'm
seeking. He said, I'm asking for mercy,
and this is what I'm seeking. The end of verse one, he said,
according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out
my transgressions. What he said was, I'm seeking
blood. THAT'S WHAT HE SAID. I'M SEEKING
BLOOD. I'M ASKING FOR MERCY. I'M SEEKING BLOOD. IF YOU LOOK
DOWN AT VERSE 7, DAVID SAID, PURGE ME WITH HYSSOP. PURGE ME WITH HYSSOP. HYSSOP
WAS A BUSH. AND THEY WOULD... IT WAS A PARTICULAR
BUSH WITH LEAVES ON IT AND THEY WOULD TAKE A SECTION OF IT AND
DIP IT IN THE BLOOD OF THE SACRIFICED LAMB. WHENEVER THEY WOULD SACRIFICE
TO GOD. THEY WOULD TAKE THAT AND DIP
IT IN THE BLOOD AND THE PRIEST WOULD GO IN AND SPRINKLE IT ON
THE MERCY SEAT. AND DAVID SAID, I AM SEEKING
FOR YOUR BLOOD TO BE SPRINKLED ON ME. THAT'S WHAT I NEED. I NEED YOUR BLOOD TO COVER ME.
I NEED TO BE WASHED IN IT. WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT, DAVID?
Because that's the only thing that will blot out my transgressions. That's the only thing that will
cover my sin. The only thing. That's the only
thing. May God allow us to get a hold
of this. I want us to really get a hold
of this. We cannot right our wrongs. PEOPLE THINK THAT THEY
CAN. THEY SAY, WELL, I'VE DONE A BUNCH
OF WRONG, I'M GONNA HAVE TO MAKE IT RIGHT. WE CANNOT RIGHT OUR
WRONGS, NOT BEFORE GOD. NOW, IF I DO YOU WRONG, I CAN
COME TO YOU AND SAY, I'M SORRY, I SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE YOU WRONG,
BUT WE CAN'T DO THAT BEFORE GOD. WE DO NOT NEED TO SEEK OUR OWN
REDEMPTION BEFORE GOD, BECAUSE WE CANNOT REDEEM OURSELVES TO
GOD. We just can't. There's only one
thing that can blot out our transgressions and redeem us from our sin, and
that's the blood of God's lamb. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of God's
lamb. The sacrifice that he gave, not
my own sacrifice. People say, well, I'm gonna have
to start making some sacrifices and cut out some things and do
some things for God. No, no, no, it's only the sacrifice
he made. It's only the sacrifice that
he gave, which was his own blood, his own body and his own blood.
It's the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. DAVID SAID, I'M
SEEKING HIS BLOOD ALONE TO BLOT OUT MY TRANSGRESSIONS. IT WAS
GOD'S MERCY THAT GAVE US THE BLOOD OF HIS OWN SON. IT WAS
GOD'S GRACE THAT GAVE HIS SON. AND GOD'S MERCY THAT GAVE THE
BLOOD OF HIS SON BY THE SACRIFICE OF HIS SON. IT SAYS IN ISAIAH 43, VERSE 25,
I, EVEN I AM HE THAT BLOTTETH OUT THY TRANSGRESSIONS FOR MINE
OWN SAKE AND WILL NOT REMEMBER THY SINS. WHY WILL HE NOT REMEMBER
THE SINS OF HIS PEOPLE? IT'S BECAUSE THEY'RE BLOTTED
OUT, SMEARED OVER WITH BLOOD. THAT'S THE REASON WHY. CHAPTER
44, VERSE 21 SAYS, REMEMBER THESE, O JACOB, and Israel, for thou art my servant. I have formed thee. Thou art
my servant, O Israel. Thou shalt not be forgotten of
me. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and
as a cloud thy sins. Return unto me, for I have redeemed
thee. SING, O YE HEAVENS, FOR THE LORD
HATH DONE IT. SHOUT, YE LOWER PARTS OF THE
EARTH. BREAK FORTH INTO SINGING. YE MOUNTAINS, O FOREST, AND EVERY
TREE THEREIN, FOR THE LORD HATH REDEEMED JACOB AND GLORIFIED
HIMSELF IN ISRAEL. THE LORD SAID IN JEREMIAH 31,
I WILL FORGIVE THEIR INIQUITY AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SIN
NO MORE. HE SAID, I'LL REMEMBER THEM NO
MORE BECAUSE THEY'LL BE GONE. BLOTTED OUT IN THE BLOOD. NOW WHERE DID THAT BLOTTING OUT
TAKE PLACE? ON THE CROSS OF CALVARY. THAT'S WHERE IT TOOK PLACE. RIGHT
THERE THE BLOOD WAS DRAWN FROM EMMANUEL'S VEINS. GOD WITH US. THE BLOOD OF THE VEINS OF THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST AND ALL THE SINS OF GOD'S PEOPLE WERE BLOTTED
OUT IN THAT MOMENT. In Psalm 51, David said, Lord,
this is what I'm asking for. I'm asking for mercy. And he
said, this is what I'm seeking. I'm seeking blood. I'm seeking
sinless, holy blood. And he said, this is the door
I'm knocking on for both of those things. The door of Christ alone. Christ alone, not my door, not
anybody else's door, Christ's alone. Verse one says, have mercy
upon me, oh God. Oh God, I'm coming to you. I'm coming to no one else, but
you only, only you, not you and me, you alone. Verse one, he
said, according to thy loving kindness, ACCORDING UNTO THE
MULTITUDE OF THY TENDER MERCIES. I NEED YOU, YOU ALONE. I NEED FOR YOU TO BLOT OUT MY
TRANSGRESSIONS. YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO IT. I
CAN'T BLOT OUT MY OWN TRANSGRESSIONS. YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO IT. HE
SAID IN VERSE 2, I NEED YOU TO WASH ME THROUGHLY FROM MY INIQUITY. YOU MUST CLEANSE ME FROM MY SINS. Down in verse seven, he said,
you must purge me with hyssop. He said, if you do it, I'll be
clean. He said, if you wash me, I'll
be whiter than snow. Men and women are always talking
about what they're going to do for God. You'll hear that quite
often. Men and women talking about what they're going to do
for God. Oh, if God ever does anything for them, They'll stop talking about that
altogether. And they'll say, it has to be you and you alone. You're the one who's gonna have
to do this. You're the way, you're the truth,
you're the life, you're the door. No man comes to God, but by you. So David said, Lord, I'm asking
for mercy. I'm seeking blood. And to receive
that, I'm knocking on the door of Christ alone. In verse six,
he said, make me to know wisdom. Wisdom is Christ. Righteousness
is Christ. Sanctification is Christ. Redemption
is Christ. It's all Christ. And he went
on down to say, create in me a clean heart. That's what he
said in verse 10. And renew a right spirit within
me. And then he continued by the
end saying, Lord, if you do this, if you create a clean heart in
me, and if you renew a right spirit in all of your people,
he said, we'll worship you. We will worship you. We will
stop worshiping ourselves and we'll start worshiping you. Now,
I want us, I want to close this message by truly, truly saying,
it doesn't matter how old a man is, it doesn't matter how young
a man is, man, woman, boy, girl, all of us are sinners against
God. We need to know that. And we
need mercy. And we need the blood that will
put away our sin. And that is only going to be
found in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. So let's ask, let's
seek, and let's knock. Our Lord said if we do, we'll
receive it. 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, 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.