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 in your Bible, we are going to be reading from John 21, John
chapter 21. And as you are turning there,
I want to make special note of the fact that every time that
we gather together for worship, whether it's in person or whether
it's through this program, every single time that we gather together
for worship, there are some critical things that must take place. They must take place. If we are
going to enter in to true worship, and think about that word, think
about what that word means, think about what that is, worship.
If we're gonna enter into true worship, true worship, some critical
things must take place. Number one, Our Lord must be
glorified. If we're going to enter into
worship, our Lord must be glorified. He must. He must. He must receive all the glory. He must receive all the honor. He must receive all the credit. He must receive all the work,
all the credit for doing all the work, all of it, all of it. He must be glorified. He must
increase. That's what John the Baptist
said. John said, he must increase if
we're gonna truly worship him. If we're gonna worship him, he
must. The second thing is, We must
receive none of the glory. None of it. We must receive none
of the credit for the work of salvation. We must decrease. That's what John the Baptist
said. He must increase. We must decrease. That's the
second thing. We must. If we're going to worship
him, we must. Now, along with that, This is
my sincere desire for every single time that we gather around the
Word. Every single time. If you look with me at John 21,
verse 15, it says, So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon
Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith
unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. The Lord said
unto him, feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second
time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, yea,
Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, feed
my sheep. He saith unto him the third time,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because
he said unto him the third time, lovest thou me? And he said unto
him, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee.
Jesus said unto him, feed my sheep, feed my sheep. I have
a message today for God's sheep. I have a message for God's sheep. Our Lord said, there are two
types of people on this earth, goats, That's what he called
them. Goats, those who do not belong
to him. Those who were not chosen to
receive his salvation and receive his blood that he shed. those
who were not chosen to receive His faith that He gives. This
is what our Lord said in John 10. The Lord said to some goats,
and I know that that's a harsh way to put it, but that's what
it is. He said to some who didn't belong
to Him. This was His wording. He said,
you believe not because You're not of my sheep. That's why you
don't believe on me. That's why you don't trust me.
That's why you don't look to me. So this message today is not
for goats. This message is for sheep. It's
for those that God the Father selected to bring into his fold. Those who have already been brought
into the fold and those who will be brought into the fold. I have
a message for sheep, and I say this in humility. I say this
in reverence. I say this in fear. With not
one stitch of arrogance, I want to be a sheep. I want you to
be a sheep. I pray God might make us sheep. Through this message, I pray
God might reveal to us that we are. I pray he might speak to
our hearts that we are. If we are, if we truly are God's
sheep, every time we gather together around the Word, my deep desire
is for Him to be glorified and for us to be fed. Him to be glorified, us to be
lowered and abased, and us to be fed. I want to be fed. I want
you to be fed. I truly do. I want you to be
fed. God's sheep must be fed. They must be fed. He said to
all of his preachers, we just read it, what he said to Peter,
he says to all of his preachers, if you love me, feed my sheep. Feed my sheep. It's our commission.
Now, if we have been called to be sowers of the seed, this word
is the seed of God. And if we've been called to be
sowers of the seed, we need to sow the seed to the sheep. That's
who will hear it. That's who will, by God's doing,
receive it, be blessed by it, grow from it. So I pray you and
I are both sheep. This is in God's hands. This
is His doing. But I pray that you and I are
both sheep and I pray we'll be fed through this. Look with me
if you would in your Bibles at Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter
20 verse 28 says, Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the
flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers. TO FEED
THE CHURCH OF GOD WHICH HE HATH PURCHASED WITH HIS OWN BLOOD."
WHAT A CALLING. WHAT AN HONOR. WHAT AN ABSOLUTE
HONOR. HE SAID, IF YOU LOVE ME, FEED
THE SHEEP THAT I HAVE PURCHASED WITH MY OWN BLOOD. FEED THE SHEEP. FEED THE SHEEP. THAT'S OUR LORD'S
COMMAND. FEED THE SHEEP. We need to ask
this question. If we truly are going to do that,
we need to know the answer to this question. What do God's
sheep feed on? What do God's sheep feed on? If my calling and my commission
is to feed the sheep, what do they eat? What do they eat? What truly feeds God's sheep? What nourishes them? What sustains
them? What satisfies them? To put it
into one word, it's Christ. To bring it down to one word,
it's Christ. We feed on Him. We feed on Him. We are strengthened
on Him. We are filled on Him. We are satisfied on Him. God's people are only satisfied
on Him. If they don't have Him, they're
not satisfied. We're satisfied on Him. Spiritual
malnourishment Malnourishment, when someone is not being fed.
Spiritual malnourishment comes the moment we start feeding on
something other than Him. That's when malnourishment starts
to come. Now, we're gonna turn to quite a few scriptures, and
we're gonna see from God's Word what His sheep feed on. All right? First one is Psalm 34. If you
wanna turn with me to Psalm 34, It says in Psalm 34 verse 8,
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that
trusteth in Him. Taste and see. Taste it. Taste and see that the Lord is
good. Taste Him. Taste His goodness. Taste that the Lord is good.
This is what God's sheep feed on. They feed on His goodness. They truly do. They feed on His
goodness. God's sheep are satisfied every
time they hear, just one more time, every time they hear it
again, about just how good the Lord our God has been to sinners
like us. Just how good He has been to
sinners. We feed on that. God's people
feed on that. Peter said, if so be, you have
tasted that the Lord is gracious. If you've been fed with that,
if you've tasted just how gracious he is, we feed on his grace,
the goodness of his grace. Grace means free gift. We feed
on his free gift. It means you don't have to earn
it. You don't have to earn it. Many people stand up in pulpits
and they tell others you gotta earn God's salvation, you have
to earn God's favor, you have to earn God's glory, you have
to earn heaven, you have to earn. Grace cries, no you don't. Christ
has freely given it to you. God's people feed on that. They
truly feed on that. HIS SOVEREIGN GRACE, THAT HE
WILL BE GRACIOUS TO WHOMEVER HE CHOOSES TO BE GRACIOUS TO.
THAT'S WONDERFUL. WHO DID HE CHOOSE TO BE GRACIOUS
TO? WRETCHED, MISERABLE, UNWORTHY,
UNDESERVING SINNERS. THAT'S WHO HE CHOSE. AND THAT
FEEDS MY SOUL BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I AM. THAT'S WHAT I AM. EPHESIANS 2 VERSE 4 SAYS, GOD
WHO IS RICH IN MERCY, FOR HIS GREAT LOVE WHEREWITH HE LOVED
US, EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN SINS, HATH QUICKENED US TOGETHER
WITH CHRIST, BY GRACE YOU ARE SAVED. THINK ABOUT THAT. I PRAY
THAT THE LORD MIGHT GIVE US EARS TO REALLY HEAR THAT AND HEAR
WHAT THAT MEANS. BY GRACE YOU ARE SAVED. How are God's people saved? How
are God's sheep called into the fold? By grace, by free gift,
by God's free doing, we're saved. That tastes so good to a man
who knows he's a helpless sinner, an unworthy sinner, that tastes
so good. We feed on his goodness, we feed
on his grace. Turn with me over to Psalm 90.
In Psalm chapter 90, Verse 14 says, Oh, satisfy us early with
thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. God's sheep feed on his mercy. That's what they feed on. They
delight themselves in the fatness, the plentifulness, the abundance,
OF HIS MERCY. HE SAID IN ISAIAH 55, DELIGHT
YOURSELF IN THE FATNESS OF THE SAME COVENANT OF MERCY THAT I
SHOWED TO DAVID. THAT'S WHAT HE SAID TO ALL OF
HIS PEOPLE. THE SURE MERCIES OF DAVID IN THE COVENANT OF MY
BLOOD, THOSE SAME MERCIES BELONG TO ALL OF GOD'S PEOPLE. That
covenant that says, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you.
When I shed my blood on you and see that the payment for sin
has been made, no death will come to you, no destruction.
That's my promise. That's my covenant. He said,
when I see that, I'll pass over you. And that's something God's
sheep feed on. They need that. They're nourished
by that. They're strengthened by that,
the blood. We are as wretched as God says we are and that's
much more wretched than we realize. We are wretched, wretched sinners
but this is God's promise to his people. Ruined ungodly he
calls all of his people ungodly sinners. He says you're a sinner
but my promise is to sinners. Now let me ask you a question.
Are you a sinner? Are you a sinner? God's sheep
are. God's sheep are. All of God's
sheep are. He said, My promise is to my
lost sheep. Lost. All of God's sheep are
astray. They're all prone to wander.
Isaiah 53 says, All we like sheep have gone astray. All of God's
sheep are in that boat. They're all sinners. Now, are
you a sinner? I am. And all of God's sheep
are. He said, I made a promise to
shed my blood. I've made a promise to pay your
debt. I've made a promise to not give
you what you deserve. And I'm going to uphold my promise.
Listen to this right here. Romans 8 verse 1 says, there
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.
Why? Mercy. That's why God in mercy
transferred all of that condemnation from all of his sheep. He took
all the condemnation that was supposed to go to all of those
sinful sheep. And he laid every bit of it on
his son. Every bit of it, transferred all of it to Christ. A true sinner
is going to say, if a man truly knows he's a sinner, he's going
to say, you know, he may have done that for me yesterday, but
I'm still a sinner today. I believe I'm going to be a sinner
till the day I die. Well, God has provided mercy
for every single day. That's what he said. HE SAID
IT STARTS OVER BRAND NEW EVERY MORNING. HIS COMPASSION, HIS
FAITHFULNESS TO HIS PEOPLE, IT'S BRAND NEW EVERY MORNING. EVERY SINGLE MORNING WHEN A SHEEP
OF GOD WAKES UP, THIS IS WHAT HIS SOUL FEEDS ON. EVERY SINGLE
MORNING HE SAYS THERE IS STILL NO CONDEMNATION IN CHRIST. THERE
WASN'T YESTERDAY. They're still not today. Still. God's sheep are nourished and
they're strengthened by the wonderful news of His mercy. His mercy. The good news of His grace and
the good news of His mercy. All right, go with me to Matthew
14. I'm sorry, Matthew 4. Matthew chapter 4, verse 1, it
says, Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty
days and forty nights, he was afterward and hungered. And when
the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command
that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It
is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." God's sheep FEED. THEY LIVE BY AND THEY FEED ON
HIS WORD. HIS WORD. EVERY WORD THAT HAS PROCEEDED
OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD. THIS IS SO TRUE. THIS IS SO TRUE. IF YOU HAVE TASTED, IF GOD HAS
CALLED YOU TO BE ONE OF HIS SHEEP, You know that to be so. This
is so true. David said, How sweet are thy
words unto my taste? Yea, sweeter than honey to my
mouth. And that's so. Again, Peter said,
As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may
grow thereby. Not the opinion of man. God's
sheep are not interested in the opinion of man, they're not interested
in a book man has written, they're not interested in a packet that
we're going to follow for our services, they're not interested
in anything of man. God's word alone, give me God's
word alone, that's what a sheep will say, give me God's word
alone. That's it. It's through this
word that we hear of His grace and hear of His mercy. It's through
this word that we hear of all the precious promises that He's
made to us, all of them. He said to His sheep, I'll never
leave you. I'll never leave you. He has
said, I will prepare a place for you. I have prepared a place
for you. He has said, I love you with
an everlasting love, and nothing can separate you from it. Nothing.
We feed on His Word. All of God's sheep do. The sweet
promises of His Word. Over in John chapter 6, In John
6 verse 51, our Lord said, I am the living bread which came down
from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The
Jews therefore strove among themselves saying, how can this man give
us his flesh to eat? They didn't understand what he
was saying. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink
his blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and
drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up
at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed,
and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father
hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me,
even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came
down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are
dead. He that eateth of this bread
shall live forever. God's sheep feed on the life
He lived and the death He died. That's what they feed on. That's
their meat. That's their sustenance. That's
what sustains them. That's what nourishes them, satisfies
them. They feed on His broken body
and His shed blood. They are honestly, spiritually
sustained by Jesus Christ crucified. That's all they want. That's
all they want. Paul said, I'm determined to
know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He
said, that's my only message, the cross of Christ. That's it. That's it. Living He loved me. Dying, He saved me. Buried, He
carried my sins far away. Rising, He justified freely forever. One day, He's coming. Oh, glorious
day. He said, I'm the living water. And if any man thirst, let him
come to me and drink. He told that woman at the well,
he said, if you ever drink of the water that I give to you,
you will never spiritually thirst ever again. You'll never be spiritually
thirsty ever again. Over in 1 Corinthians 10, It
says in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 1, and did all eat the same spiritual
meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank
of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ."
That rock was Christ. That rock was the one who feeds
our soul. God's sheep are fed by Him. We feed on Him. We feed on the
goodness of His grace. We feed on the absolute delight
of His mercy. We feed on the sweet promises
of His Word. We feed on the life He lived,
the death He died, His body, His blood. And if you look at
1 Corinthians 12, it says in 1 Corinthians 12 verse
13, For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, Whether
we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have
been all made to drink into one Spirit, we truly do feed on His
Spirit. We truly do. He said, when two
or three are gathered in my name, I'm in the midst of you. My Spirit
is in the midst of you. And when it says, God's sheep
feed on it, They are all made to drink into it. They're all
made to drink into one Spirit. And it's so satisfying. It's
so fulfilling. God's people are fulfilled, truly
fulfilled. Every time they feed on His Spirit,
His Word, His glory. Now, even though God has ordained
for men to minister the meal, of the preaching of the word.
God has ordained for this means right here. But this is what
he said. He said, I'm the one who feeds
them. God has purposed for men to serve. That's what I'm doing right now.
Serving a meal. serving the meal. But this is
what our Lord has said. He said, I'm the one who is feeding
my people. I am the one who feeds them myself. Isaiah said, He shall feed His
flock like a shepherd. He'll do it. So even though His
preachers are commissioned to hand out the meal, He's the one
doing the feeding. Our Lord said in Ezekiel 34,
Verse 11, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I, even I, will
both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh
out his flock in the day, that he is among his sheep that are
scattered. So will I seek out My sheep,
and will deliver them out of all places where they have been
scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out
from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will
bring them to their own land." and feed them upon the mountains
of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of
the country. I will feed them in a good pasture,
and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be. There
shall they lie in the good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they
feed upon the mountains of Israel." You know what that is right there?
That's a well-fed flock. Those are well-fed sheep. Our Lord has said, I will be
their shepherd, I will feed them myself, and I'll feed them for
all eternity. Oh, may God make us to be one
of his sheep. I pray he has. 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 730 p.m. Please tune in next week for
another message of God's free and sovereign grace.