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 in your Bible, the message today is going to come from the
book of 2 John, just before Revelation. Second John, it's a very small
book, it's only one chapter, there are 13 verses in it, and
let's begin by reading these 13 verses. Second John, verse
one, it says, the elder unto the elect lady and her children,
whom I love in the truth, and not I only, but also all they
that have known the truth. for the truth's sake, which dwelleth
in us and shall be with us forever. Grace be with you, mercy and
peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of the Father, in truth and love. I rejoiced greatly that
I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received
a commandment from the Father. And now I beseech thee lady not
as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee but that which we had
from the beginning that we love one another and this is love
that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment that
as you have heard from the beginning you should walk in it. For many
deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus
Christ has come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves that we lose
not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive
a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son. If there come any unto you and
bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither
bid him Godspeed. For he that biddeth him Godspeed
is partaker of his evil deeds. Having many things to write unto
you, I would not write with paper and ink, but I trust to come
unto you and speak face to face that our joy may be full. The
children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen. It appears that John is writing
to an actual lady because he said in verse 13, the children
of thy elect sister greet thee. It doesn't say who this lady
is, it doesn't give her name, but spiritually speaking, she
represents God's people. As we read the things that are
written in the word, we are looking for a spiritual representation
of salvation. We are looking for Christ, we
are looking for who he is and what he has done, and as we read
this, we can know that this lady represents God's people, God's
elect bride. But did you notice how many times
he said in the first four verses, the truth? Did you notice that
verse one says, the elder unto the elect lady and her children
whom I love in the truth. And not I only, but also all
they that have known the truth. for the truth's sake, which dwelleth
in us and shall be with us forever. Grace be with you, mercy and
peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of the Father, in truth and love. I rejoiced greatly that
I found of thy children walking in truth as we have received
a commandment from the Father. For this message, I want us to
look at the subject of the truth. The truth. This is a very important
subject. There are many men who stand
up in pulpits and do not preach the truth. I hate to say that. That is a sad thing to have to
say. But it's the truth. Many men just because a man stands
in a pulpit or calls himself a preacher that does not mean
he is preaching the truth and it is critical that if a man
preaches he preach the truth because it's critical that if
a man or a woman hears a word from God they must hear the truth. The truth. I want us to consider
and I want us to find the answer to three questions. Number one,
what is the truth? That's where it starts. What
is the truth? Number two, does it matter whether or not a person
knows the truth? Does it matter? Number three,
can a person know truths and not know the truth? Can a person
know truths, different truths, and not know the truth? This
is a very important subject. And these are three very critical
questions. And we're gonna get right into
them here. Question number one, what is the truth? What is the
truth? I'm gonna say it, and then I'm
gonna prove it by the word, okay? The truth is Christ, period. The truth is a person. The truth is not a what, the
truth is a person. Over in John chapter 1, it says
in John 1 verse 14, and we beheld his glory, the
glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth. John bare witness of him and
cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake. He that cometh
after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. And of his fullness have all
we received, and grace for grace, For the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The truth came by Christ,
by way of Christ. And the reason is because Christ
is the truth. When Christ came, the truth came. He is the truth. Over in John
14 verse 6, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth
and the life. No man cometh unto the father,
but by me. He plainly said, I am the truth. If we could ever get ahold of
that, I am the truth. Over in John 18, verse 37 says,
Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered,
Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for
this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto
the truth. Everyone that is of the truth
heareth my voice. So what is the truth? The truth
is not a what. The truth is a person. The truth
is a person. Christ is the truth. Everything he says is the truth. Everything he says. Everything
he says is the truth. Now, back in our text, back in
2 John, verse 1, It says, the elder unto the elect
lady and her children whom I love in, now what is the truth? Well, it's not a what, it's a
who, it's Christ. All right, let's read this and
substitute the word Christ. The elder unto the elect lady
and her children whom I love in Christ. And not only I, but
also all they that have known Christ. for Christ's sake, which
dwelleth in us and shall be with us forever, grace be with you,
mercy and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of the Father, in Christ and love, in truth
and love, in himself. Verse four, I rejoiced greatly
that I found of thy children walking in Christ, as we have
received a commandment from the Father. So that's what the truth
is. He is the truth. Paul said, oh, that I might know
him. and the power of his resurrection
and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his
death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead." I must know him. All right, now, that leads us
into the next question. Does it matter whether or not
a person knows Christ? Does that matter? Does it truly
matter whether or not a person knows the truth of Christ, the
truth about Christ, the truth concerning Christ and Christ
himself? Does it matter whether or not
a person has a spiritual union with him, a vital, vital union
with him and truly knows him? knows who he is and knows the
truth of who he is. Is everybody just going to end
up in heaven anyway? That's what we're getting at.
Does it matter? Is everybody just going to go to heaven anyway? No matter what they believe,
no matter what they know, or must a person know God's truth? Well, over in John again, and
I'm going to tell you that we're, we're turning to quite a few
scriptures. If you would like to read these with your own two
eyes, and you just want to jot some of these down, you can come
back and look at it, or you can turn with me, but we're going
to turn to a few. John chapter 17, the gospel of John 17. This
is what verse three says. It says, and this is life eternal,
that they might know thee. the only true God and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. This is life eternal. This is eternal life. Knowing Christ, knowing Christ
and knowing the truth concerning Christ, that's life eternal. That is life eternal. Eternal
life depends on it. Salvation hangs on it. Our salvation hangs on his accomplishment
and his shed blood, everything that he did. How can a sinner
know Christ? How can a sinner truly know Christ?
Christ must reveal himself to the sinner. He must. He must reveal everything that
he accomplished. He must reveal what his shed
blood truly did for the sinner. Over in John chapter 8, it says
in John 8 verse 31, Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed
on him, If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples
indeed? and you shall know the truth
and the truth shall make you free." Whoever knows Christ has
been made free. Whoever knows Christ has been
completely made free, completely redeemed, paid for, bought with
a price. Christ reveals that to the sinner. He reveals who he is. and he
reveals what he's done. And that revelation is the evidence
that a sinner has been made free. That's the evidence, that opening
of the understanding of who Christ is. But there's no freedom for
a soul that does not know Christ. No freedom. In John 3 it says,
in John 3 verse 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. Whoever God opens their eyes
and causes them to believe the accomplishment of Christ, who
he is and what he has done, whoever casts his all on Christ and believes
on Christ, hath life. Hath life. Salvation and eternal
life has come to that soul. And salvation and eternal life
are only found in Christ. Only in Christ. not truths about
Christ, Christ, the person knowing Christ. All right. That brings
us to the third question. Can a person know truths and
not know the truth? And this is important, can a
person know truths about Christ and not know Christ? There are some truths that everybody
ought to know. We all ought to know that the
Bible is the word of God, this is not a man's private interpretation. These apostles and the apostle
Paul and we're reading the apostle John and Peter, these men didn't
make this up, they didn't think this up. The Holy Spirit of God
impressed the Word on them and they wrote. They were moved by
the Spirit of God. The Bible is indeed the Word
of God Almighty. We ought to know that. That's
a truth we ought to know. Here's another one. Christ came
to save sinners. That's a truth we ought to know.
Christ came to save sinners. He came to die for sinners. We ought to know that. Here's
another one we ought to know based on the word. We ought to
know this. God is sovereign. The word Lord means sovereign. It means owner. It means controller. It means ruler. God is sovereign,
that means God is God. He is God, he is all powerful. Man goes around telling other
men, well, now you're going to have to do this for him. You're
going to have to let him do this. You're going to have to help
him do this. You take the first step and he'll take the second
and the two of you together. No, no, no. God is all powerful. He said, I will work and who
shall let me? Who give me permission to who
will help me? He is all controlling. God is
God. The absolute sovereign God, he
does what he will with whom he will. We ought to know that. We really should know that. Christ
died, Christ was buried, and Christ rose again. He rose again
from the grave. We ought to know that. These
are all truths that mankind should know and some of a mankind does
know but here's the question, is knowing truths knowing Christ? Is that the same thing? Can a
person know truths about Christ and not know Christ the truth? Turn with me over to James chapter
two. It says in James 2 verse 19,
thou believest that there is one God, thou doest well, the
devils also believe and tremble. He said, you believe there's
one God. Somebody will say, well, it has just one God. James said,
well that's good, you know that, you believe that, that's good.
He said, but the devils also believe that, they know there's
one God. And he said, they tremble. But here's the thing, they know
the truth about him, but they don't know him. They don't know him in that saving
way. They know truths, but they don't
know the truth himself. They know facts about him, but
they don't know him. They don't know him. Over in
Luke 4, it says, in the synagogue, there was a man which had a spirit
of an unclean devil And he cried out with a loud voice, saying,
let us alone, what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us?
I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. That's what
this unclean spirit said. He said, I know who you are. But he didn't know him. He did not know him. There's
a difference. I can know things about another
man. I can know things about the President
of the United States of America and not know the President of
the United States of America. There's a difference. There is
a difference. What is it to truly know Christ? What is it to truly know Christ? How can I know? If I truly possess
and know the truth, who is a person? Who is a person? God's truth. How can I know? We'll turn with
me over to 2 Thessalonians 2. 2 Thessalonians 2, it says in
verse 8, And then shall that wicked be
revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming,
even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all
powers and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish." Now this is the description
of those who are going to perish with the adversary. Verse 10,
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they
received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. They received not the love of
the truth. What is it to truly know the
truth? It's to love the truth. It's to love the truth about
Christ and the truth of his word. The scripture says Adam knew
Eve his wife, that's what it says. He didn't just have a mental
understanding of the fact that she existed and he understood
that he was married to her, that's not what it's saying. It's saying
he loved her and he was in a vital union with her. Vitally joined
together. What is it to truly know Christ? Here it is. It's to love Christ. It's to have a vital union with
Christ. Right here in 2 Thessalonians
2, verse 11 says, and for this cause, God shall send them strong
delusion that they should believe a lie. Love a lie. That they all might be damned
who believe not the truth. because they had pleasure in
unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Belief of the truth where
unto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ. What is it to truly know Christ? It's to believe Christ. It's
to believe on Christ. It's not just to know that God's
sovereign. It's to love the fact that God's
sovereign. I mean love the fact that he's
in absolute control. I honestly love the fact that
God is God, God is sovereign, this is in his hands and not
mine. I don't trust my hands, I don't have any confidence in
my hands and my ability, I'm a sinner saved by grace. I love
the fact that he loved me and saved me and called me and it's
done. Love his sovereignty. To know Christ is to love Christ. It's to love the fact that it's
his will and not mine. It's to love the fact that it's
his choice and not mine. It's to love the fact that it's
his work and not mine. It's to love the fact that he's
high even though I'm low. It's to love the fact that he
came down to do for me what I could not do for myself. It's to love
the fact that his spotless blood has covered all of my filth and
all of my sin. That's what it is to have the
truth, to know the truth, and to be in the truth. It's to have
and to know and to be in the Lord Jesus Christ. John said
back in our text in second John verse one, he said, the elder
unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth in Christ
and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth,
known Christ and his word. For the truth's sake, for Christ's
sake, which dwelleth in us and shall be with us forever, grace
be with you, mercy and peace from God the Father and from
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I rejoiced greatly that I found
of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment
from the Father. And now I beseech thee, lady,
not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we
had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this
is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment,
that as you've heard from the beginning, you should walk in
it." What's his commandments? Love Christ. bow the knee to
Christ, believe on Christ, come to Christ, follow Christ, Christ
is all. That's the commandment. He said,
that's the commandment I've given to you, you heard it from the
beginning, and we should walk in it. May God give us that ability
to walk in Christ, who he is, what he's done, and love him
for it. 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.