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
in your Bible with me, I will be speaking to you from Acts
chapter 20. Acts chapter 20, and I wanna
begin this message by reading a few of the verses here, starting
with verse 17. Acts chapter 20, verse 17, it
says, and from Miletus, he, speaking of the Apostle Paul, sent to
Ephesus and called the elders of the church. And when they
were come to him, he said unto them, you know from the first
day that I came into Asia after what manner I have been with
you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind
and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by the lying
in wait of the Jews and how I kept back nothing that was profitable
unto you. He said, I kept back nothing
that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have
taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying both
to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I go bound in
the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall
befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every
city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things
move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might
finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received
of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now behold, I know that you
all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see
my face no more. Wherefore, I take you to record
this day that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have
not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." The
Apostle Paul knew by the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit that he
would never see these dear believers ever again. He called them all
together. And he said some final words to them, these brethren
that he loved so much. He preached the gospel to them
and they loved each other so much, but he knew these were
his final words. And he said a few other things
to them. And then in verse 36, it says, when he had thus spoken,
he kneeled down and prayed with them all. and they all wept sore
and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for
the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more,
and they accompanied him unto the ship. Now, I got to thinking
about that, and the thought went through my mind that if this
was my last message to preach to any man or woman, What would
I want that man or woman to know? If this was my last time to speak
the truth of God's word, what would I want people to know?
Or if this was the last time a man or a woman heard the gospel
before they went to go stand before the judgment throne. We
are all gonna stand before the throne of God. And men and women
go every day, they go at every moment in time all over this
world. And if this was a man or a woman's last time to hear
the gospel before they go, what would I want them to hear? What
would they need to know? If this was my last message,
I would want men and women to know these three things concerning
natural man concerning the natural flesh, the mindset of humanity. Number one, this is what I would
want men and women to know. God is not who man thinks he
is. God is not who man thinks he
is. Man has an image and a way made up in his mind. and that's
not who God is, man's ways are not God's ways. God is not who
man thinks he is. Number two, man is not what he
thinks he is. Man thinks he's something when
he's nothing, he is not what he thinks he is. And number three,
salvation is not what the majority of religion thinks it is. It's not. It is most definitely
not what the majority of religion is declaring it to be. It's not
what men are standing up in pulpits declaring it to be. It's not.
It is just not. Masses of people are going to
go stand before God not knowing who God is, thinking they are
something when they're not. pleading a salvation that is
no salvation at all. And I don't want that to be us.
I really don't. I don't want that to be you.
I mean that. I don't want that to be me. I want us to know who
God is. Do you want to know who God is?
I do. I want us to truly know who God is. I want us to know
who we are. I want us to know that. We need
to know that. And I want us to know what salvation
is. What salvation truly is. Not what this one thinks it is
or that one thinks it is. I want to know what is it really.
What is salvation? Now some will say well what difference
does it make? We may not have it all right,
we may not believe every single thing that's in the Bible but
what difference does it make? Well, turn with me over to John
chapter eight. If you have your Bible, look
with me at some of these scriptures. John chapter eight, this is the
Lord Jesus Christ speaking, and in verse 23, he said unto them,
you are from beneath, I am from above, you are of this world,
I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you that
you shall die in your sins, For if you believe not that I am
He, you shall die in your sins."
Oh, if we only realized what He means in that. If men and
women only understood what He means by that. He said, if you
believe not that I am He, you'll die in your sins. And that's
what difference it makes. Over in John chapter 3 verse
36 says, 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. If men and women only understood
what that meant. if they only understood what
that meant. Men and women naturally do not
understand what our Lord is saying right there. And to not understand
what he's saying, to not see and truly believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, he said, if a man or woman does not do that, the
wrath of God will abide on that man or woman. The wrath of God. And that's what difference it
makes. In 2 Thessalonians 1, verse 7
says, to you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming
fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey
not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to know who God
is. And we need to know what the
gospel is. We truly do because God is holy. God is holy. That's what all of this is telling
us. God is holy. That is so far from what is being
told about him. That is so far from what is being
preached about him today. Men and women do not naturally
know that God is holy. Holy, holy, holy. He is not the man upstairs. And
he is not anybody's co-pilot. He's holy. He's holy. Now what does holy mean? We can
say that he's holy, but what does that mean? Here's what it
means. It means he must punish sin. He must punish sin. It means He is pure and right
and just and that's all that He is. That's all that He is. Therefore, He cannot and He will
not allow anything that is contrary to what is pure and right and
just to continue. He cannot. He will put an end
to it. HE WILL BY NO MEANS CLEAR THE
GUILTY. HE MUST DO WHAT'S RIGHT. HE MUST. HE'S HOLY. HE'S HOLY. LOOK WITH ME OVER AT HEBREWS
CHAPTER 10. IN HEBREWS 10, IT SAYS IN VERSE
30, FOR WE KNOW HIM THAT HATH SAID Vengeance belongeth unto
me. I will recompense, saith the
Lord. And if you're reading along with
me, you may notice that the word Lord is a capital L, lowercase
O-R-D. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
And again, he said the Lord, a capital L, lowercase O-R-D,
shall judge his people. We need to know this. We need
to know this. We will all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ, and it's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. We need to know this. Most people don't know who the
living God is. Who is the living God? Jesus
Christ, the Lord. Jesus Christ, the Lord. He said,
I will recompense, saith the Lord. He is holy. He is holy. His word is holy. Look at one of the last things
that he said to us. One of his last words to us over
in Revelation 22, verse 18, he said, for I testify unto every
man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, this
entire book that he has written for us. He said, if any man shall
add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that
are written in this book. And if any man shall take away
from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take
away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city. and from the things which are
written in the book. He which testifies these things
saith, surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so come quickly, Lord
Jesus. Man naturally does not know who
God is. He doesn't know who he's dealing
with. He does not know who he's dealing with, but man must know
that. Mankind, men and women must know
that, and here's the reason why. All are sinners. I'm a sinner,
you are a sinner. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God, and we must go stand before a holy God who
must punish sin. Now that's the truth, that is
the truth. People naturally do not understand
sin. Man naturally does not understand
how deep sin goes within him, how far it reaches into the things
that he does. Man knows that murder is sin,
he understands that. He knows that murder is sin,
but what he does not understand is that the pride that comes
from not committing murder is a greater sin in God's eyes than
the murder itself. Our Lord said this is the thing
he hates most of all, not murder, that's not what he said, pride.
Pride, that's the thing he hates most of all. The number one place
to find pride is in religion. Number one place to find it.
There is more sin in religion than in anywhere else on this
earth. And to clarify that, I'm going to say false religion.
False religion. There's more sin in religion,
false religion, than any other place on this earth. Man naturally
does not understand that. People will hear that and say,
what? What do you mean? Man is eaten up with sin everywhere,
in every way. He has no idea. The barstools
are eaten up with sin. The pews are eaten up with sin. Church pews are just eaten up
with sin. But man naturally doesn't understand
that. He does not see that. Our Lord
saw it. and he warned us of it. If you
look with me at Matthew chapter six, over in Matthew six, verse
one, our Lord said, take heed that you do not your alms before
men to be seen of them. Otherwise you have no reward
of your father, which is in heaven. Therefore, when thou doest thine
alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites
do in the synagogues. You see that? The hypocrites
do in the synagogues and in the streets that they may have glory
of men, verily I say unto you, they have their reward. He said,
they're hypocrites. That's amazing. That's an amazing
word. Verse five, he said, when thou
prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they
love to pray standing in the synagogues. and in the corners
of the streets that they may be seen of men, verily I say
unto you, they have their reward. Verse 16, he said, moreover,
when you fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance,
for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men
to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward. Who's he talking about in all
that? Who is he warning of in all of that? He's talking about
the religious. That's who he's talking about.
He's talking about tithing. He's talking about praying. He's
talking about fasting in the synagogues, churches. He said
sin is mixed with all of it. All of it. There is nowhere that
a man can go to get away from sin. Nowhere. There is nothing that a man can
do, including tithing and praying, that doesn't have sin attached
to it. When we're talking about man's
doings in his own flesh, sin is attached to all of it. In
the flesh, man will never get away from sin. And here's the
reason why. It's inside of him. It's inside
me. It's inside you. It's inside
us. Look at Matthew 7 verse 22. Many will say to me in that day,
our Lord is speaking. Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name
have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works.
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart
from me, ye that work iniquity." That means sin. He said, your
preaching was sin. Your casting out devils in my
name was sin. Your wonderful works were sin. In the flesh, I'm telling you,
in the flesh, man will never be able to get away from sin. And it's because it's inside
him. It's inside him. Here's the proof
of it. Here's the proof of it to every
man and woman. This will prove whether or not
a man or woman has sin inside him. Some will hear this and
say, no, don't speak for me. I don't have sin inside me. Here's
how we can tell. Here's the proof of it. Turn
with me, if you would, to Romans 5. In Romans 5, verse 12, it
says, wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and
death by sin. And so death passed upon all
men for that all have sinned. Sin entered the world and death
by sin. Death entered the world because
sin entered the world. The moment sin entered the world,
death came. Death is the result of sin. And death has passed upon all
men because all have sinned. If we want to know whether or
not sin is inside us, all we need to do is wait and see if
we die. That's all we need to do. We'll wait and see if we die.
If we die, then it means sin was inside us. Romans 6 verse
23 says, the wages of sin is death. That's what you get. That's what comes because of
sin. The wages of sin is death. Where sin is, death is. Where no sin is, No death is. It's the reason why there's not
going to be any death in glory in heaven. There's no sin there. Now all of us are going to experience
a physical death. All of us. And what that means
is all of us have sin in us and all of us are going to stand
before a holy God. If this holy God must punish
sin, and if sin is what we are, then what hope do we have? If
he must, and if that's what we are, then what hope do we have? What is the only hope that a
sinner has before a holy God? Is it, well, I need to give more. I need to give more money. No. No, our Lord told us in Matthew
6, sin is mixed with that. Is it, well, I need to pray more,
I just need to pray more, no. Our Lord told us in Matthew 6,
sin is mixed with that. Is it, well, I need to fast more,
I need to do more, I need to work more, I need to deny myself
more, no. Our Lord told us, sin is mixed
with that. He said in Matthew 7, many will
come to him and say, we've done all these wonderful works in
your name. And he's going to say, depart
from me. Depart from me, you that work
iniquity. It's all sin. So if there's nothing
we can do to bring salvation to ourselves, because sin is
mixed with everything we do, then what hope do we have of
being saved? Here it is right here. Romans 6 verse 23 says,
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Salvation is something
that God does. It's that plain and simple. Salvation
is something that God does. It is a gift that only He can
give. It is a work that only He can
do. And here's the reason why. Only
a sinless man can enter into heaven. Only a sinless man. And the only sinless man that
has ever walked the face of this earth is the Lord Jesus Christ. One sinless man, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore, He is the only man
worthy to walk through the gates of heaven. The only man. But this is what God chose to
do. God the Father chose to send
His Son His perfect spotless Son to be the substitute for
His people. He said, call His name Jesus
for He shall save His people from their sins. He did not come
to show His people how to get rid of their sin. They couldn't
do that. He came to take the sin of His
people off of them And He came to lay it on Himself and to press
it into Himself. He made Himself to be sin, their
sin, the sin of His chosen people. And when He did that, He wiped
the slate of all of those chosen people clean. When He took all
of the sin off of them, He completely wiped their slate clean. He got
their sin and they got His perfection, His cleanliness, His spotlessness. And then He brought Himself and
He brought all of His people, all the souls He did that for,
He brought all of them before God to stand before God and we
stood there with Him. We stood there in Him. He had
our sin on Him. And He gave us His perfection. We had His perfection on us. And with our sin on Him, God
gave to Him exactly what we deserved. Punishment, wrath, he's holy.
He's holy, he must punish sin. And he did, he poured it all
out on Christ who had all our sin on him, covered in our sin. And with his righteousness on
us, God gave to us exactly what Christ deserved. He had to. Honor, glory, acceptance. He had to, he's holy, he must
do what's right. In that very moment, God the
Father denied His Son and welcomed us in. And the whole transaction
was just, holy, and right. Here's the truth of the matter.
People ask the question and they wonder in their heart, have I
made my peace with God? That's irrelevant. That's irrelevant. Here's the truth. This is the
relevance. Has God made His peace with me? That's all I need to know. Has
God made His peace with me? That's the only hope that a sinner
has before God. Not what I have done, but what
He has done. If God ever makes peace for a
sinner, He will send His Spirit to that sinner and will say to
his heart, Christ did it all. And if a sinner ever becomes
convinced and settled in that, he took my place and did it all,
then salvation has come. I pray the Lord might teach us.
I pray the Lord might declare all the counsel of God to us
and cause us to not shun to speak it publicly. 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.