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 message today is going to
come from Galatians chapter one. Galatians one. I would like for
us to look at the first five verses of Galatians chapter one. And what I want us to see in
this is the good news of the gospel. That's our aim. That's our goal. It is to see
the good news of the gospel, this wonderful, glorious news
of the gospel. Now, before we get into this,
let's ask this question. This is a very important question. If you're going to look at the
good news of the gospel, here's the question. What is the gospel? What is the gospel? The gospel
is the declaration of Jesus Christ. It is the announcement of Jesus
Christ. The gospel, the good news message
is the message that tells about Christ. It speaks of Christ. If a man is preaching the gospel,
preachers stand up in pulpits all the time and don't preach
the gospel. They tell some truths, sometimes
they tell some lies. How do we know they're lies?
They're not consistent with God's word. But men stand up all the
time and never get to the gospel. If we are going to preach the
gospel, if a man is going to preach the gospel, he must be
preaching Christ, Jesus Christ. He must be speaking of and pointing
men to. the Lord Jesus Christ, the work
of Christ. If a man is truthfully declaring
the facts from the word of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ,
then that man is preaching the gospel. That's how you can know.
As you listen to men preach, that's how you can know. You
cannot talk about the gospel without talking about Christ.
You cannot. And if we're not talking about
Christ, we're not talking about the gospel. There may be many
truths that we can talk about. There are many truths concerning
many things that we can talk about and a man can preach and
you can say, yes, that's true. Many things that we could talk
about and be talking about the truth. But we're not talking about the
gospel until we're talking about Christ. Christ. So with that being said, I would
like to talk about Christ for a little while. Let's talk about
him. Let's look at him, look to him. In these five verses,
I'd like for us to see what Christ did. Who Christ did it for. why Christ
did it, by whose authority Christ did it, and what Christ is owed
in return. That's what I'd like for us to
see. Now the Apostle Paul begins verse 1 by telling us what qualifies
him to declare this to us. He said in verse 1, Paul an apostle. That's how he started
the verse. Paul, an apostle. The word apostle
means delegate. It means ambassador. It means commissioner. It means messenger. It means one who is sent. That's what an apostle is, a
messenger. one who is sent, an ambassador. He said, I'm going to tell you
something. And this is coming straight from the mouth of God
himself. I am a messenger sent with his
message straight from the mouth of God. This is firsthand information. This is a firsthand declaration
directly from God to you. That's what he was saying when
he said, Paul, an apostle. He said in verse 11, if you look
at verse 11 of this chapter here, he said, I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. This
did not come from a man, not even his own self, not even this
man. Verse 12, for I neither received
it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of
Jesus Christ, Christ himself. He said in Acts chapter nine,
let me show you that, the Lord Jesus Christ himself came to
Paul. If you look with me over at Acts
chapter nine, this is where when he was referred to as Saul of
Tarsus, whenever Saul was in religion, blind to the truth,
blind to who God truly was and who Christ truly was. And it
says in Acts chapter nine, verse one, Saul, who later became known
as the Apostle Paul. Saul, yet breathing out threatenings
and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high
priest and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues,
that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or
women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. Any who were
preaching Christ, looking to Christ, believing on Christ.
Verse three, and as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly
there shined round about him a light from heaven, and he fell
to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul,
why persecutest thou me? And he said, who art thou, Lord?
And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. It is
hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling
and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And
the Lord said unto him, Arise and go into the city, and it
shall be told thee what thou must do. And the man which journeyed
with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And
Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened, he
saw no man. But they led him by the hand
and brought him into Damascus, and he was there three days without
sight, and neither did eat nor drank. The Lord spoke directly
to him." Saul, Saul, directly, out loud. And in seeing him,
in turning and seeing him and crying, who are you? Just seeing
him. blinded him, totally blinded
him for three days. And while he was blinded, God
sent a man named Ananias to preach to him. If you look at verse
17, it says, And Ananias went his way and entered into the
house, and putting his hands on him, said, Brother Saul, the
Lord, even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way as thou
camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and
be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from
his eyes as it had been scales, and he received sight forthwith,
and arose and was baptized, and when he had received meat, he
was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with
the disciples which were at Damascus, and straightway he preached Christ. He preached Christ. Straightway,
he preached Christ in the synagogues that he is the Son of God. The Son of God. He had first-hand
experience. This is the Christ. This is the Christ. Over in Acts
chapter 18, this is when the Apostle Paul was in Corinth,
and he realized his calling to be a preacher to the Gentiles.
Acts chapter 18, verse 7, it says, and he departed thence
and entered into a certain man's house named Justice, one that
worshiped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. And Crispus,
the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all
his house, and many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized. Then spake the Lord to Paul in
the night by vision. Then spake the Lord to Paul in
the night by a vision. And he said, be not afraid, but
speak and hold not thy peace, for I am with thee, and no man
shall set on thee to hurt thee, for I have much people in this
city. And he continued there a year and six months, teaching
the word of God among them. The Lord spoke directly to him,
directly to him. Over in Acts 23, verse 11, says, And the night following,
the Lord stood by him, Paul, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul,
for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, thou must bear
witness also at Rome. The Lord stood right there next
to him and spoke to him. And Paul told the Corinthians
in 1 Corinthians 15 that after the Lord's resurrection, he said
he was seen of Peter and then of James, and then of the apostles. And he said, last of all, he
was seen of me. I saw him. I saw him. He said, as one born out of due
time, I saw him. And he said, in second Corinthians
12, I was literally caught up into the third heaven. He brought
me up into the third heaven. And he said, I heard things.
I heard the gospel directly from his mouth. I heard things directly from
the throne of God. So he begins our text in Galatians
1 by saying this is first hand information. And you can believe
every word of it. It's coming directly from the
mouth of Christ himself. All right, now look with me back
at Galatians 1. Verse 1 says, Paul, an apostle, not of men,
neither by man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised
him from the dead. He said, I'm a messenger sent
with a message from God. Verse two, he said, I'm sending
this to you. This is coming from me and it's
coming from all the brethren which are with me. All who have
been called into this brotherhood and this sisterhood. All who
have been called to be a part of God's family. He said, that's
who this letter is coming from and that's who this letter is
to. Verse two says, all the brethren which are with me unto the churches
of Galatia. He said, I'm not writing to every
soul in the region of Galatia. Did you know that this book was
not written to every soul on the earth? He said, I'm not writing to every
soul in Galatia. He said, I'm writing to God's
churches. I'm writing to the churches.
He said, I'm writing to the saints. He said, I'm writing to the faithful
brethren in Christ, those who have been filled full with the
faith of Christ. Peter said, those who have received
light, precious faith. That's who I'm writing to. God
calls those people his elect, his chosen, his separated, called
out people. Paul said, that's who I'm writing
to. And in verse 13, he said, you've heard of my conversation
in time past in the Jews' religion. That's where I was, he said.
I was in religion. How that beyond measure, I persecuted
the church of God and wasted it. And profited in the Jews'
religion above many, my equal in my own nation, being more
exceeding zealous of the traditions of my fathers, he said, but when
it pleased God. God did this. When it pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace. God was the one who separated
me from my mother's womb. God was the one who called me
by His grace. Verse 16 says to reveal His Son
in me that I might preach Him among the heathen. Him. When
it pleased God to do that, it was done. I was separated, Paul
said. I was called. I saw Christ. And what I saw leads me to say
with all confidence, all right, he says in verse three, grace
be to you. Grace be to you. That is the
message of the gospel. Grace be to you from God, our
Father. through Christ our Lord. Grace
be to you. That was the message of Peter.
That was the message of all the apostles. That's the message
of the word. The message of scripture. That's
the message of the gospel. Grace. Grace. Salvation by grace. Grace means free gift. Think about that. Salvation by
free gift. Freely bestowed. That's the announcement. Grace. Titus 3 verses 5 to 7
says, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according
to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration,
and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that being justified by His grace,
we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Free, gift, grace. Free, gift, grace. That's the
announcement. That's the gospel. Turn with
me over to Acts chapter 15. In Acts 15, it says in verse
1, certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren
and said, except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you
can't be saved. Men are still saying that to
this day over various different things. Unless you do this, you
can't be saved. You'll hear that. Well, now,
unless you do this, you can't be saved. Well, at this moment,
they were saying, except you be circumcised, you can't be
saved. Verse two, when therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small
dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul
and Barnabas and certain of other of them should go up to Jerusalem
unto the apostles and elders about this question. And being
brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenicia
and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and they caused
great joy unto all the brethren. And when they were come to Jerusalem,
they were received of the church and of the apostles and elders,
and they declared all the things that God had done with them.
But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees, which
believed, saying that it was needful to circumcise them and
to command them to keep the law of Moses. They said, well, they
got to be circumcised. And the apostles and elders came
together for to consider of this matter. And when there had been
much disputing, Peter rose up and said unto them, Men and brethren,
you know how that a good while ago God made choice among us
that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel
and believe. And God, which knoweth the hearts,
beareth them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as
he did unto us, and put no difference between us and them, Jews or
Gentiles. purifying their hearts by faith,
faith in Christ. Now therefore, why tempt ye God
to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our
fathers nor we were able to bear? He said, why are you trying to
put them under the bondage of the works of the flesh? Why are
you trying to do that? Our fathers weren't able to bear
that, we're not able to bear that. Why would you want to try
to put that on another? Verse 11, he said, but we believe
that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be
saved even as they. Grace alone, that is the announcement
of the gospel. Salvation by grace, through faith,
and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. It is the
gift of God and Paul is going to very clearly explain that
gift in our text. Back in Galatians 1, verse 1
says, Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus
Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. And
all the brethren which are with me unto the churches of Galatia,
grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord
Jesus Christ. Now he tells us very clearly
what Christ did. Verse four says, who gave himself. Who gave himself. Three simple
words. Three simple words. But oh, how
great the meaning is. Let's break each one of them
down and just consider each one. He said, who? Who did this? Who? Our Lord Jesus
Christ did this. Jesus Christ did this. Who did this? Our Lord Jesus
Christ, the God man, the spotless one. Who did this? the spotless
one, the God man, the holy one, the eternal one. Jesus Christ,
the Lord, did this. What did he do? Verse four says,
who gave? That's what he did. He gave. He gave, he didn't loan. He didn't offer. He gave. Freely gave. He gave willingly. He gave voluntarily. He gave
with no strings attached, truly, freely. He gave faithfully. He gave completely, fully, all. He gave. What did he give? Himself. Think about that. Himself. He didn't just give
his things. He didn't just give his time.
He didn't just merely give a payment. He gave himself. That's what
Christ did. He willingly, lovingly, freely
gave himself. Who did he do it for? Verse four
says, who gave himself for our sins. He did that for sinners. Not the obedient ones. Not the
obedient ones, not the good ones, sinners. Not the worthy ones
and not the righteous ones, sinners. Those who honestly can't say
anything about what they see in themselves except I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. Romans 5 says God
commended his love toward us because even while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us. He died for the ungodly. The
Apostle Paul said, you can believe this. I'm telling you firsthand
information. This is a faithful saying, and
it's worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. And he said, I'm glad I did.
I'm glad he did because I'm the chief. I'm the chief. Are you a sinner? Are you a sinner
like I am? What did Christ do? He gave himself. Who did Christ do it for? He
did it for sinners. who gave himself for our sins.
Why did he do it? Why did Christ give himself for
our sins? Verse 4 says that he might deliver us from this present
evil world. That he, not us. He didn't give
himself as a sacrifice for our sin so that we could deliver
ourselves. He didn't just make salvation
possible for us to deliver ourselves. He delivered us. He delivered
us. He did not Take the first step
so we could take the second. He delivered us. He didn't show
us how to deliver ourselves if we'll follow his example. He
delivered us. He said for this cause came I
into the world. He came to give his life a ransom
for many, a payment, a full payment. Every chosen sinner that his
father gave to him. Verse four says who gave himself
for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world. What does that mean? Who is this
present evil world? That's us. We are the world. We're the world. He came to deliver
us from ourselves. He came to deliver us from the
curse and the condemnation that we brought on ourselves. He made
himself to be cursed for us that he might redeem us from all of
our sin. He gave himself for our sins
that he might deliver us from this present evil world. By whose
authority did he do this? The end of verse four says Christ
did it according to the will of God and our Father. What that
means is it pleased the Lord to bruise him. It means God did
this. Not one sinner will ever be saved
except by the will and purpose and authority of God Himself.
Salvation is of the Lord. This was the will of the Father
who sent Christ. It was that every soul that He'd
given to Christ, Christ should lose none of them but should
raise them all up at the last day, should give his life for
them, make the payment for them and raise them up at the last
day. Christ said to his father, I delight to do thy will. All
that you've given me, he said, I've kept and none of them is
lost. So what did Christ do? He gave himself. Why did Christ
do it? Who did Christ do it for rather?
He did it for sinners like you and me. He gave Himself for our
sins. Why did Christ do that? He did
it that He might deliver us from this present evil world. Whose
will and authority did Christ do it on? He did it according
to the will of God and our Father. Not my will, not your will, His
will. Of His own will begat He us with
the word of truth that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His
creature. He did this. All right, last question. What
is Christ owed for all of that in return? Verse five says, to
whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. to whom be glory, not unto
us, unto thy name give glory. Thine is the kingdom and the
power and the glory forever. 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 AM, worship at 1045 AM and 6 o'clock PM,
Wednesday evening at 730 PM. Please tune in next week for
another message of God's free and sovereign grace.