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 today in your Bible, I will be speaking to you from
the book of Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. The title of this message is
going to come directly from the text. And as soon as we read
it, I believe you will see that this is a very powerful line
in the scripture. A very powerful line. This is
a very eye-opening statement. It is very clear and distinguishing
and it clarifies the difference in what a true believer is holding
to as opposed to every other message that false religion has
to offer. This is the defining difference. This right here is the defining
difference. Not only is this statement distinguishing
and clarifying, but it's also heartwarming, very heartwarming. When a child of God reads this
and enters into this, it brings him back to the heart of the
matter. And I believe you will immediately see what I mean by
this. Here's the difference in the
head of the matter and the heart of the matter. Here it is right
here. The first three words of verse
28 say, whom we preach. Whom we preach. That's the difference in the
head of the matter and the heart of the matter. Our message is
a person. That's the difference. That's
the clarifying, eye-opening difference. Our salvation is a person. Think about that. Oh, may God
reveal to us what that means. Our life and our hope is a person. as opposed to all of the what's
that are out there. Man is trying to get his mind
around a what, what, what, what does he say? What does this one
say? What does that one say? What, what is it? What is it?
That's what men are trying to figure out. Men and women, both.
What is it? It's not a what it's a whom. It's a whom. If God ever reveals
whom, if he ever shuts down the what and reveals whom, whom we
preach. Sinners will see salvation. They will see the difference.
They will see the heart of the matter. They'll see the truth.
They will come to know the truth and the truth will make them
free. whom we preach. We preach a person. We preach
a person. Now, who is this person? Who
do we preach? Well, the end of verse 27 says,
Christ in you. That's the hope of glory. Christ
in you, the absolute eternal hope of glory is not a system. It is not a plan. It is a person. It's a person. False religion is always talking
about the plan of salvation. You'll hear that. That's that's
a great error. The plan of salvation, the steps
of the system. It's not a system. It's not a
plan. It's a person. It's a person. Until God reveals that to a sinner,
that is the last thing a sinner will look to. Until God reveals
that, a person is the last thing a sinner will look to. A sinner
will look to the law. I have a Bible right here in
front of me. That's the first thing a sinner will look to,
the law. Sinner realizes I'm a sinner. I need to be saved.
I need salvation. What am I going to look to? Well,
the first thing that the flesh naturally looks to is the law.
The law. Now the law is good. I love this word. David loved
this word. He said, Lord, I love thy law.
The law is good. but it can't save. We need to
know that. The law is so good, it's so holy,
it's so right. It's the character of God, the
mind of God. It describes sinlessness. It tells us what the life of
every soul in glory is experiencing. Perfection. The law is good,
but the law can't save anyone, not one sinner. The law has never
saved one sinner from his sins. The do's and the don'ts that
are recorded in the word of God. Do this, don't do that. A person
trying to follow that, that's never saved one sinner, not one
sinner, not the commandments of the law. Now I want to stress
this, the commandments of the Bible are so good, so right,
so perfect, but here's the problem. We sinners, we sinners are so
evil in the flesh, so evil in the mind. I know it, you know
it. You know what goes through this
mind, so wrong, so ruined. We can't keep the law. The law
says, if you do this, you'll live. Here's the problem. We
can't do it. The law says, if you'll stop
doing this, you'll live. We can't stop doing it. That's
what the apostle Paul said in Romans 7. What I wish I could
do, I don't do it. The things I wish I didn't do,
I can't stop doing them. Read that for yourself. Romans
7. That's all men and women by nature. We cannot keep the law. And if the law is not kept, the
only thing it can do is condemn. The law's wholly just right. It says, if you don't do this,
you're going to be condemned. We don't do it. So this is the
only thing the law can do. Condemn us. condemn us. The problem is not with the law.
I want to make that very clear. The problem is not with God's
holy perfect right law. The problem is right here. It's
with us. Look with me at Galatians chapter
3. Galatians 3 verse 11 it says,
But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God,
it is evident. No man is justified by the law
in the sight of God. He said that's evident. For the
just shall live by faith. Now why is no man justified by
obeying the law? It's because verse 10 says, for
as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse.
For it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not
in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. No man is justified by the law
because if you are going to keep one, you have to keep all of
them. Perfectly, you cannot break one
of them. Now, let me ask you a question.
Have you ever broken one of the commandments in God's law? You
ever gotten mad at anybody? Have you ever lusted in your
heart? And that's two of thousands, thousands. You say, well, I try
to be a good person. I try to be a good neighbor.
I try to this and that. Here's the question. Have you
ever broken one law in the commandment of God? If so, the whole law
was broken and the law cannot save. We cannot commit one sin. Galatians 4 verse 21 says, tell
me, you that desire to be under the law, meaning saved through
obeying the law, do you not hear the law? Do you not hear how
strict it is? How just it is? How exact it
is? How unforgiving it is? Turn with me over to Romans 3.
It says in Romans 3 verse 23, all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. All. Including me, starting with
me, I put my name on the top of that list. All have sinned. What that means is in verse 28,
Romans 3 verse 28, it says, therefore we conclude that a man is justified
by faith without the deeds of the law." A man is justified
by faith without the deeds of the law. What does that mean?
A man is justified by faith. What does that mean? The answer
to that can be summed up in one word. Whom. Whom. Whom we preach. Faith, God-given faith, believes
everything that the Scripture says about Christ. Whom? We believe and we cling to, we
preach everything that the Scripture has to say about Christ. It's all about Christ. And when
we preach Christ, the Apostle Paul said in our text, three
things take place. When we preach Christ, three
things take place. Now, if you're turning with me,
let's go back to our text in Colossians 1. It says in verse
28, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in
all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. When Christ is preached, when
Christ is truly preached, a warning goes out to every man. And you don't hear much of the
warning anymore. But when Christ is truly preached, a warning
goes out to every man. Teaching is given to every man,
every woman. And a presentation is made to
and for every man and woman that is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 29 right here says, Whereunto
I also labor, striving according to his working, which worketh
in me mightily. Paul said, I labor to preach
Christ. I labor to preach Christ. But he said, my striving is according
to his working. He's the one performing his mighty
work through me and in his people. In other words, the glory goes
to him. That's what Paul was saying. We preach Christ, but
the glory goes to him. He said, it's hard work, but
all the glory goes to him. He is the one warning. His spirit
comes through the preaching of the word to the hearts of his
people. And he is the one warning. He is the one teaching and he
is the one presenting. Now let's, by God's grace, by
His doing, by His will, let's preach Christ in the way that
the scripture commands us to preach Christ. We just read it. All right, so let's preach Him
in this way. Here's the warning. This is where
it starts. Over in John chapter 3, it says
in John 3, 36, He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. That's pretty clear, isn't it?
That is pretty clear. Verse 18, right here in John
3, it says, He that believeth on him is not condemned. But
he that believeth not is condemned already because he hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 1 John 5 verse 12
simplifies this warning by saying, He that hath the Son hath life,
and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. It all
hinges on Him. It all hinges on Him. Whether
we eternally live or eternally die, that's in His hands. That's in His hands. It all hinges
on Him. In John 5, verse 22 says, For
the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto
the Son, that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor
the Father. He that honoreth not the Son
honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. Verse 26, it says,
for as the father hath life in himself, so hath he given to
the son to have life in himself, and hath given him authority
to execute judgment also, because he is the son of man. What does that mean? He is the
son of man. What does that mean? That means,
He is the one who came to this earth to be gracious to whom
he would be gracious. He is the one who humbled himself
and took upon him the likeness of sinful flesh and walked this
earth perfectly for his people because they could not walk perfectly
for themselves. He is the one who came to be
gracious. He is the one who came to show
mercy. He does whatever he's pleased
to do. That's what the scripture says. And this is what he said.
This is what he said he was pleased to do. He said, I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. He said, whom I will, I'll harden.
Everything is in the hand of His sovereign control and His
mighty power. Everything, all life, all breath,
all things are His to do with them, whatever He wants to do
with them. That's the warning. That's the
warning. Who is this man who came? Whom
we preach. Well, whom is this man who came? This is God. This is the judge
of the earth. This is the one who is sovereignly
in control of all things. And here's the warning. The scripture
says, kiss the son. Men bypass him in their hearts
and minds, usually thinking, well, he's just the one pointing
us the way to God. No, no, no. He is God. If we honor not Him, we're honoring
not the Father. He said, if you've seen me, you've
seen the Father. All judgment is in His hands. We must all
stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Kiss the Son, honor
the Son, worship the Son, bow down before the Son, lest He
be angry and you perish from the way when His wrath is kindled
but a little. That's the warning. Hebrews 10
31 says, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God. Who's the living God? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, the one who all
judgment has been committed to. The Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the warning. This is a holy God that we're
dealing with who must punish sin and sin is all that we are. Here's the warning. God is a
consuming fire. He will consume all sinners in
the day of His judgment. And sin is all that we are. Sin is what we're going to stand
for. Stand before Him in sin. Sin. That's the warning. Sin
is all we are. and he's going to judge sin.
That's the warning. All right now, here's the teaching. Whom
we preach. When we preach Christ, first
we preach the warning. Here's the teaching. There is
a remedy for our sin. Here's the warning. Sinners,
that's all we are. Sinners. Here's the teaching.
There is a remedy for our sin. Psalm 25 verse 8 says, Good and
upright is the Lord. Therefore will he teach sinners
in the way. There is a way. There is one
way. There is one truth. There is
one life. There is one remedy for sin. There is one way of escaping
this wrath, this judgment for sin. Only one way to be spared
the punishment of God. And that's the beauty and the
glory of the gospel. That's the heart of the gospel. John 6,
verse 45 says, all of God's people will be taught of God. all of
God's people, they will all be taught the glory and the beauty
of the gospel. They will all be taught one glorious
thing, the only thing that saved their soul. The only thing. What was that one glorious thing?
It wasn't a what. It was a who. It was a who. It was a who. Men are going around
going, well, what do I need to do? What do I need to do? What
do I need to do? The gospel comes and says, He
already did it. He already did it. A who. Isaiah 53 verse 10 says, Yet
it pleased the Lord to bruise him. This person. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief instead
of his people. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. What does that mean? Why would
it please the Lord to bruise him? Why did it please the father
to bruise his own son instead of his people? Here's the reason
why. The end of verse six right here
in Isaiah 53, it says, because the Lord laid on him the iniquity
of us all. all of His people, took our iniquity
off of us and laid it on Him. God the Father took the sin of
the souls that He chose to save. The Father took every one of
those acts of rebellion against Christ and against Christ's Word
and against Christ's Law. He gathered up all of our iniquity
and laid it on the very one we sinned against. He laid it all
on the person of His own Son. And then He bruised the person
of His own Son. He put Him to grief and He made
His soul an offering for sin. That's the gospel. That's the
gospel. Here is the glorious teaching
of the gospel. Here it is. In Christ, because
of what He has done for His people, it's not due. Men are asking,
what do I need to do? What do I need to do? Just tell
me what I need to do. Here's the message of the gospel. It's
not due, it's done. It's done. What do I need to
do? Here comes the gospel. It's done. It's done. Christ already did it. In Christ,
there's nothing left to do. in Christ, in that blood He shed,
to pay the debt of all of our unrighteousness against Him.
In Him and in His blood, we are washed. We are made clean. We are made perfect and pure.
We are as righteous as He is. in what He has done for us, in
His person, in His shed blood. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. In Him, there's no righteousness
left to earn. How can I make myself more perfect?
That's what man thinks. I need to be more perfect. In
Christ, we're as perfect as He is. He has given us, when He
took our sin, He gave us His righteousness. And it's earned. When God the Father now looks
upon His people in Christ, He says, well done. Well done, it's
earned. In the cleansing of His Spirit,
in the washing of regeneration, we're as holy as He is. We're
as spotless as He is. There's nothing to progress to.
People talk about progressive sanctification. If we're as clean
as Christ is, what are we going to progress to? There's nowhere
to go. Complete, complete in Him, whom
we preach. A few years ago, I was talking
with some dear brethren who'd just come out of the bondage
of false religion. There were some truths, a few
truths being told in the place they were attending, but the
lie of works was being added to those truths. It was being
added to God's grace. And when you do that, you ruin
the whole message. And I was talking to these brethren and
this message of works, works, works, that they'd been hounded
all their life. We were talking about the fact
that Christ has accomplished all the work. Christ has accomplished
all the purity. Christ has done it all. And one
of the young men, as we were talking about that, he looked
at me and he said, isn't that so relaxing? And I said, yes, it is. It sure
is. That's the most relaxing thing
I have ever heard. It's done. Does that not sound
so relaxing to you? Is that not such good news to
you? He is our sanctification. He's our perfection before God
the Father. In Him, as He is, so are we.
As holy as He is, so are we. As spotless as He is, so are
we. As accepted as He is, so are
we. Rest. That's the message of the
gospel. Rest. Rest. You have been presented
to God in Christ. Already presented. We warn, we
teach, we present. You're already presented. Rest. Rest. This presentation is not
an offer. It's a notification. It's a declaration. This is from God's Word and God's
Spirit to God's people. Rest. It's His command. Rest. He said, Come unto Me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, laboring, trying to fix
what you've sinned and done wrong in, heavy laden over all the
sin you can't get rid of. He said, Come to Me. I'll give
you rest." There is rest in the Lord Jesus Christ whom we preach,
warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that
we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. The law cannot
do it, but thank God Christ has already done it. He's put it
away by the sacrifice of himself. Rest. 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.