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. I will be speaking to you today
from the book of Colossians chapter 1, if you would like to follow
along with me. Colossians chapter 1, and in
verse 12, the Apostle Paul said, Timothy and I are giving thanks. Giving thanks unto the Father,
which hath made us meet. to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who all of this is about.
Christ the Lord. That's who Paul is writing about. Verse 14 says, in whom, in Christ,
we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of
sins. And may that verse really sink
in with us. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. There is only one way
for a sinner's sins to be forgiven. This is important. This is so
important. There is only one way for a sinner's
sins to be forgiven. That sinner must be washed in
the blood of the Lamb, who is Christ Jesus the Lord, God's
provided Lamb, God's sacrifice Lamb. The only way that we can
have redemption, think about that, redemption from our sin,
the only way is by God the Father, covering us in the blood of God
the Son. That's the only way. There is one way. Only one way. Now, I want to
speak very candidly with you right now. I feel so sorry for
people. There are so many people in religion
There are so many people who are trying to learn something
about God. They are interested in the things
of God and in the things of eternity, and they're seeking answers to
these things, who unknowingly walk into a house of lies, a
church building where the truth is not being preached, a building
where a man stands up in a pulpit and he preaches what he thinks
or he preaches his take on the word and not the word itself.
And ultimately if you're not preaching the truth of the word
then you're preaching lies. And I feel so sorry for people
who go into these places and they think well one church is
as good as another church and they go in and they sit down
and they listen to a false preacher who is preaching lies to them
and they believe him. They believe what he's saying.
They believe his lies. And he gets them emotionally
torn all to pieces. Men who preach lies, that's what
they have to go on is emotions. They get all worked up. It becomes
a big emotional thing, not a thing of teaching and a thing of learning.
It just becomes a big emotional movement and they convince these
poor people that if they will just do certain things like come
to the front of the church, a lot of people will slip in and sit
on the back row and they'll convince people that if you'll just come
down to the front as opposed to being in the back, you can
be saved. That's not true. That's just
not true. There is just as much sin in
the front of a building as there is in the back of a building.
Doesn't matter where you're standing. Or these men will stand in pulpits
and they convince people that if they will just accept Jesus
as their personal Savior, or if they'll give their heart
to him, they'll say, now, if you'll just give your heart to
him, or if they will make a decision for Christ, that's what they'll
say, you need to make a decision for Christ, then you'll be saved. Well, people do that having no
idea what any of that means. They'll say, do you accept Jesus
as your personal savior? And people say, yeah. Well, are
you gonna give your heart to him? Yeah. Do you make your decision for
Christ? Sure. Yeah. Let me ask you this. What does that even mean? What does that mean? What does it mean to accept him
as my personal savior? Either he's the savior or he's
not. What does it mean really to give
your heart to Him? What does that mean? This old
stony, dead, sinful heart who craves the things of the world
and craves the things of the flesh, what does that even mean? Men though, they stand up in
pulpits and they tell people, now you have to do this. You
have to do this. Or you're going to have to do
that. Or you're going to have to stop doing this or stop doing that.
And people say, okay. They don't know any different.
They don't know any different. And then they walk out of the
building that they came into more confused than when they
came in. They walk out more confused than
when they came in. And the worst part about it is
sometimes they walk out with a false sense of security. A
man will tell them some things and say, okay, you're saved.
And then they'll walk out with a false sense of security. They walk out with a hope that's
built on lies. I don't want a hope built on
lies, do you? And then they go out telling
everybody these three words, and I'm sure you've heard it.
They go out telling people, I got saved. That's what men and women
will go out Promoting. I got saved. Let's ask this question. How do you know? How do you know? Well, they told me I did. They
said I was. There is only one way based on
God's word, not based on the mouth of this preacher. not based
on the opinion of this sinner. There is only one way based on
the Word of God for a sinner against God to be saved. It has nothing to do with our
hands, meaning our works. It has nothing to do with our
decisions. You don't decide to be saved.
It has nothing to do with what we accept or what we reject or
what we give. Some men will say, if you send
this much money, you can be saved. It has nothing to do with what
we give or what we don't give. It has nothing to do with where
we stand. You come down here, go over there.
It has nothing to do with any of that. It only has to do with
one thing. Did God the Father cover us in
the blood of God the Son? That's it. That's it. Salvation is in the blood. Oh, may God burn that into our
hearts. Cause us to know it, cause us to believe it. Salvation,
we just read that in God's word. Salvation is in the blood. Life is in the blood. Now somebody's gonna hear this
and say, I don't understand that. You talk about what do all those
other things mean? What does that mean? What do
you mean salvation is in the blood? How do I play into that? What's my role in that? We don't have one. We don't have
one. Salvation is completely of the
Lord. That's what the scripture says.
Salvation is of the Lord. And we're gonna see that right
here in Colossians chapter one. Speaking of Christ, verse 15,
it says, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of every creature. And to say he's the firstborn
means he's the heir. That's how it always was. The
oldest, the firstborn male received everything that his father had.
He was the heir. That's what it means. He's the
heir of all things. And here's the reason why. Verse
16 says, four, because by him were all things created that
are in heaven and that are in earth. visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by Him and for Him. And He is before
all things. And by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body. The church, the body is the church,
his people. Who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. In everything that exists, everything
that exists, Christ has the preeminence. Christ has the preeminence. It
doesn't matter whether we're talking about heaven, earth,
things that can be seen, things that can't be seen, governments,
rulers, in everything that exists, Christ has the preeminence. Now, what does the word preeminence
mean? It's not a word we use that much
today. What does that word mean? Well, if you look at verse 18,
It says, he is the head. He's the head. Verse 17 said,
he is before. The end of verse 16, it says,
it's all by him and for him. Now, if we could ever get a hold
of this, we would have a right mind and a right view of God. And we would have a right mind
and a right view of man. And we would have a right mind
and a right view of salvation. False religion has men and women
absolutely convinced that the cart goes before the horse. They
say that everything's backwards from the way that the word of
God declares it to be. They tell men and women, THE
BALL IS IN YOUR COURT. DOES THAT SOUND FAMILIAR? MEN
STAND IN PULPITS AND SAY NOW THE BALL IS IN YOUR COURT NOW,
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO? THE BALL IS NOT IN OUR COURT.
LET ME GO AHEAD AND MAKE THAT CLEAR. THE BALL IS NOT IN OUR
COURT. THE BALL IS IN HIS COURT. He has all the preeminence. He
is the one who must make the first move in all things. He is the first. That's what preeminence means.
He's first. He's first. Scripture also says
He's last. He's all of it. But let's not
miss the fact that He is the first. He is the beginning. Over in John 1, verse 1 says,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. And that's Jesus Christ. Verse
14 tells us that. It says, The Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. That's
Christ. All right, so again, verse one, it says, in the beginning
was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. The same
was in the beginning with God. Now verse three says, all things
were made by Him. Who made it all? Jesus Christ. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. He was the first in existence.
He has the preeminence in existence. Over in John chapter eight, it
says in verse 58, Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I
say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. I am. What does he mean by that? What
does he mean before Abraham was, I am? Well, in Revelation one,
verse eight, he said, I am alpha. And I am Omega. I am the beginning
and the ending, saith the Lord, which is and which was and which
is to come, the Almighty. Now think about that. Who's he
talking about? Who is the Almighty? Who is that? Right here in Revelation
1, verse 1 says, this is the revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Almighty. And he said, I was not just in
the beginning. He said, I am the beginning.
I love that. The scripture refers to him in
both the Old Testament and the New Testament as the root, the
foundation, the cause, the giver, the source. That's what it means
to say he has the preeminence. He's the first in everything. He's the first cause of everything. He's the doer. He's the start
of everything. We know the story of Joseph.
He was thrown into a pit by his brothers. You've, I'm sure heard
the story of Joseph and he was sold to a bunch of gypsies and
ended up in prison. But when it was all said and
done, Joseph was made to be the keeper of the storehouse. And
he told his brethren, they had to come to him and beg from him
in the end of the story. And this is what he said, you
meant it for evil. but God meant it for good. That's
what he said to him. What he was saying was, God has
the preeminence in this. Everything you did, God was the
cause of it. God did this. He was the controller
of this whole thing. He gets the glory in all this.
There in Egypt, Pharaoh, ended up very cruelly treating God's
people with beatings. They were in bondage. Israel,
the Jews, they were in bondage to Pharaoh and Egypt, and he
murdered them, put them under hard bondage. After God delivered
them, this is what he said to Pharaoh. He said, this is the
whole reason I raised you up, that I might show my power in
you. God said, I did this. All of
that bondage, everything they went through for 430 years, I
did this. Isaiah 45, he said, I formed
the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things.
This is God we're talking about. Nothing happens outside of his
preeminence. Nothing. The scripture says a
sparrow cannot fall to the ground unless he says it's okay first.
That's what the scripture says. That's the truth. Over in Acts
chapter four, It says in Acts 4 verse 24, when they heard that,
they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said,
Lord, thou art God, which hath made heaven and earth and the
sea and all that in them is, who by the mouth of thy servant
David hath said, why did the heathen rage and the people imagine
vain things? They said, we're gonna do this
and we're gonna do that. God said, no, you're not. Verse 26,
the kings of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered
together against the Lord and against his Christ, for of a
truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed
both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people
of Israel were gathered together. Everybody was gathered together
against Christ when they put him on that cross. Now watch
what verse 28 says. for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel
determined before to be done. That's Acts 4 verse 28. That's all they did. When they
hung Christ on the cross of Calvary, all they did was what God had
already preeminenced to be done. That's it. Over in Acts 2 verse
22 says, you men of Israel hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth,
the man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and
signs, which God did by him in the midst of you as you yourselves
also know, him being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God, You have taken and by wicked hands have
crucified and slain." God did that. God did that. God the Father hung God the Son
on the cross. God did that. Pilate didn't do
it. He told Pilate, you could have no power over me at all
except it were first given you from above. We just read that
the Jews didn't do it. God the Father hung his son on
that cross. God made him an offering for
sin. God laid on him the iniquity
of all of his people. God made him to be the scapegoat. In every bit of that, he holds
the preeminence. He was the head. He was the cause. He was the first charge. He has
the preeminence in existence. and he has all the preeminence
in every circumstance that takes place. Specifically, all circumstance
in regard to our salvation in eternal life, all of it, all
of it. Over in Isaiah 42, I'm gonna
read a few scriptures here in our last few minutes. Isaiah
42, the father speaking of Christ says, behold my servant whom
I uphold, mine elect. in whom my soul delighteth, I've
put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. Christ has the preeminence in
election. God the Father chose him. There is no boasting in election. No one can be proud in election. God chose Christ. He chose Christ
and then He put us in Christ. Our election is only in Him. That's it. Only in Him. We were
chosen in Him. He has the preeminence. in election. He's the first cause in our election. Over in Hebrews 1, verse 1 says,
God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last
days spoken unto us by His Son. whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high. He has the preeminence in our
redemption. He has the preeminence in our
election. He has the preeminence in our
redemption. He by himself purged our sins. The payment that was made to
God, that price that was paid, our redemption is only in Him. It's only because of Him. It's
not because of me. It's not because of you. It's
not because of anything we've done. It's only because of Him.
only because of what he did. He's the chief. He's the head. He's the first cause of our redemption. Over in Revelation 13, it says
he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. You
ever heard that verse? The lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. He has the preeminence in death.
He was the lamb slain before this world was ever even made.
He has the preeminence in life. He's the first man raised never
to die again. All of the people who died before
him and were raised, they died again. First one to ever be raised
to eternal life. He has all the preeminence in
acceptance with the father. We are only accepted in the beloved,
in him. He is the first in sonship to
the father. He is the first among many brethren
IN ALL THINGS. HE'S FIRST. HE'S FIRST IN POWER. HE SAID ALL POWER OVER ALL FLESH
IS GIVEN UNTO ME. HE'S FIRST IN LOVE. ALL OF THE
LOVE OF GOD IS FOUND IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. ALL OF IT. HE'S
THE FIRST IN GLORY. HE HOLDS ALL PREEMINENCE IN GLORY. HE THAT GLORIETH LET HIM GLORY
IN THE LORD. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. He holds the preeminence
in judgment. All judgment has been committed
to the Son. All of it. The Father judges
no man but has committed all judgment to the Son. He holds
all preeminence in honor. All men should honor the Son
even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son
honoreth not the Father which sent him. all preeminence. And that's what our text means
back in Colossians 1 when it says, by Him were all things
created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible, invisible,
whether they be thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, all things
were created by Him and for Him. That includes me and you. That
includes me and you. And if God has had mercy on our
souls, it is only going to be because of the choice, only going
to be because of the will, only going to be because of the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He did it. He did it. Salvations of the Lord. Salvation
is preeminence unto the Lord. All the glory goes to Christ
for it. And all we can say in response
is, to God be the glory. Great things He's done. Thank
you, Lord. Thank you. 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.