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, our message will come from 2 Thessalonians chapter
3. Second Thessalonians three, the
first line of verse three says, but the Lord is faithful. I love that line, but the Lord
is faithful. That's the gospel, isn't it?
That's the gospel. That is the good news, but God,
but the Lord is faithful. This word, the word of God declares
the terrible truth of mankind. It declares the horrible truth
about me and the horrible truth about you. And then the word
of God declares But the Lord is faithful. It spells everything
out about you and me, and then it spells everything out about
our Lord. But the Lord is faithful. This word says concerning us,
me included. I'm about to read or quote some
of the word, and it says you, you, this is me included, us.
It says you will not come to Christ that you might have life. And man won't. He wants to come
to God in his own way, not the way that God has declared through
the person of his son. It says you by wicked hands,
crucified and slayed the Lord of glory. So what do you mean
by that? Here's what he means by that.
It was our sin that hung him on that cross. If God, the father
gave us to Christ, I hung him there. My sin caused him to go
to that cross. The scripture says you despised
him. You rejected him. You hid your
face from him. It says you've done nothing but
sin and rebel against him all the days of your life. It says
but the Lord is still faithful. Is that not wonderful? Over in Deuteronomy chapter seven,
Deuteronomy seven verse nine, it says, no, therefore that the
Lord, thy God, he is God. No, that first start right there. Just like when Rahab the harlot
hid the spies in Jericho. I love what she said. She said,
we have heard of your God. And she said, the Lord, your
God, he is God. In heaven above and in earth
beneath. We cannot glory and we cannot
rejoice in anything concerning our God until we get a hold of
the fact that he is God. He is God because it means he
is able to do whatever he has purposed to do. If he's God,
he can do whatever he has said he is going to do. Whatever he has declared concerning
himself must be. It must be, it must come to pass
because he's God. Now entering into that, listening
to what the word has to say about God, what it declares him to
be in truth. Look right here at verse nine.
It says, no, therefore that the Lord that God, he is God, the
faithful God. The faithful God, which keepeth
covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments
to a thousand generations. The faithful God. The Lord is
faithful because he's the faithful God. That's why he is faithful
in all things. Starting with the punishment
of sin. Starting right there. He said
he is going to punish sin all sin. He said the wages of sin
is death and he is going to be faithful to his word. We need
to start right there. We need to understand something.
This is God. We're talking about the Holy
God. And he is going to be faithful
to his word. He said I'm going to punish sin.
Look at verse 10 right here. He said, he repayeth them that
hate him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack to
him that hateth him. He will repay him to his face. Vengeance is his. He will repay. That's a promise to every sinner
against him. He is going to be faithful to
his promise. He will be. Verse 11 says, Thou
shalt therefore keep the commandments and the statutes and the judgments,
which I command thee this day to do them. Now, can we honestly
say. Honestly. Can we say that we
have kept his commandments? No. No, not one. Not one, not to the perfection
he demands. Well, what's our hope then? If
we have not kept, you know, everything he says to us doesn't apply.
Indeed, only applies applies to the mind. It applies to the
heart. It applies to the whole man. And. If we have not kept one
of his commandments and he is going to punish all who break
his commandments, then what's the only hope we have? What is
our only hope of peace with God? Look at verse 6 Deuteronomy 7
verse 6 for thou art and holy people unto the Lord. Holy means
set apart. Thou art a holy people unto the
Lord thy God the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special
people unto himself above all people that are upon the face
of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you nor choose
you because you were more in number than any people. for you
were the fewest of all people. But because the Lord loved you
and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto
your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and
redeemed you out of the house of bondman from the hand of Pharaoh,
king of Egypt. That's our hope. That's our hope. Our hope is in the fact that
he is faithful to the promise of his word. Turn back a few
pages to numbers 14 in numbers 14 verse 18. It says the Lord
is long suffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and
transgression and by no means clearing the guilty. Did we understand
what that just said? How can he forgive iniquity and
transgressions? If he will, by no means clear
the guilty. He said. The Lord is long suffering of
great mercy. Forgiving iniquity and transgression
and by no means clearing the guilty. How did he forgive our iniquity
and our transgression? How did he do that? Here's how
he did it. He by no means cleared the guilty. That's how we did
it. he by no means cleared the guilty
the Lord our God the Lord our Savior Jesus Christ our God and
our Savior that's what Thomas said my Lord and my God he faithfully
took upon himself the sin and the sins of all of his people what they
were and what they had done the iniquity and the transgression
The cause and the effect. He took it all. From all of his
people. And he made himself to be guilty
when he bore our sin. He bore our guilt. It was a true
trading of places. He did not just die for our sin. He died in our sin. He died, died with our sin on
him. He made himself to be guilty. He literally actually took our
guilt and then he by no means cleared the guilty. He did not
do it. He punished that iniquity. He punished those transgressions
in his own body. He punished them all the way
to the grave. He gave them exactly what was owed to them. And with
that punishment being satisfied, every soul in Christ is now free
to go. Completely free to go. When he
made himself to be guilty, he made them to be innocent. Totally
innocent. When he bore their guilt, they
bore his innocence. And he said, you're free to go.
That's what he did in his faithfulness, faithfulness to his people. I
love how he said when he, when they brought him to Lazarus's
tomb and he said, roll the stone away. And they said he had been
dead for four days. He said, roll the stone away.
And when they did, he cried, Lazarus come forth. And it says,
he that was dead came forth bound hand and foot with grave clothes. And our Lord said, loose him
and let him go. Let him go. That's the hope that
he's given to us. All of his people, all of his
elect people in through and by his faithfulness. Thank God for
his faithfulness. Over in Numbers chapter 23, it
says in verse 19, God is not a man that he should lie. Neither
the son of man, that he should repent, he will not change his
mind. He hath said, and shall he not
do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall
he not make it good? Behold, I have received commandment
to bless, and he hath blessed. And I cannot reverse it. He hath
not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness
in Israel. The Lord his God is with him,
and the shout of a king is among them. God brought them out of
Egypt. He hath, as it were, the strength
of a unicorn. Surely there's no enchantment
against Jacob." What isn't Jacob? Doesn't his name mean sinner,
trickster, supplanter? Yes. Why is there nothing against
Jacob? Because Christ took it all from
him. Everything that was against Jacob was laid on Christ. Verse
23 says, Surely there's no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there
any divination against Israel. According to this time, it shall
be said of Jacob and of Israel, what hath God wrought? Would
you just look at what God has done? Behold his faithfulness. That's what's going to be said
about God's sinful people. He said he would do it and he
did it. Just look at him. He did it. Now let's read a few scriptures
on our way back to our text. This has always been one of my
favorites. Lamentations 3. Verse 21, it says this. I recall
to my mind. Therefore, have I hope. It is
of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. Because his
compassions fail not, they are new every morning. Great is that
faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. That's all we have to say about
our standing before him. The condition of our security
and our salvation. That's all we have to say. Great
is his faithfulness. Ask one of God's people, what
do you have to say about your own salvation? Here's the answer.
Great is his faithfulness. So faithful. Over in first Corinthians
chapter one, It says in verse one, Paul called to be an apostle
of Jesus Christ through the will of God and Sosthenes, our own
brother. That's who is speaking. Paul,
this is who he's speaking to. Verse two unto the church of
God, which is at Corinth to them that are sanctified in Christ
Jesus called to be saints with all that in every place call
upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours.
That's who he's writing to. And this is what he has to say
to him. Verse three, grace be to you and peace from God, our
father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always
on your behalf for the grace of God, which is given you by
Jesus Christ. that in everything you are enriched
by him in all utterance and in all knowledge, even as the testimony
of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come behind in no
gift waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall
also confirm you unto the end, that you may be blameless in
the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse nine, he said, God is faithful. By whom you were called unto
the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. That's the message to his people.
That's the message of God to his people through his word.
He is faithful to you. That's the gospel. He is faithful. If the father chose and the son
redeemed. Then let it be known. Let it
be declared. God is faithful to his people. Faithful to punish our sin. Thank
God. That's good news. He was faithful
to punish your sin. It has been punished. The judgment's
over. You've been judged. Isn't that
wonderful? The gospel does not say, now you're about to go into
the judgment. It says Christ has already accomplished the
judgment. It's over. He was faithful to
punish our sin. By His grace, He was faithful
to keep His covenant of mercy toward us. He is faithful to
call every one of His people to the fellowship of His Son,
that knowledge of who He is, knowledge of what He did, the
knowledge of why He did it, the knowledge of what that means
for us. The apostle John wrote that which
we have seen and heard declare we unto you that you also may
have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with
the father and with his son, Jesus Christ. And how glorious
that fellowship is. It is so glorious. How needful
that fellowship is. Our comfort, our safety, our
life is in that fellowship. That fellowship with Christ.
Over in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, it says in 1 Corinthians
10 verse 13, there hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common
to man, but God is faithful. God is faithful who will not
suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but will with
the temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able
to bear it. What is that way of escape? It's
him. He is the way. He is our escape. Do you need an escape? Do you
need an escape from everything that you are, everything that
you do, everything that you see around you, everything that this
life brings, everything that sin brings. He is our escape
in every trial, in every temptation that takes us, even though the
burden may be a heavy one to bear. We can always run to him. Always. Always. And he is faithful to receive
us. Always. He will in no wise cast
us out. No wise. So back in our text
in 2 Thessalonians 3 verse 3 says, but the Lord is faithful who
shall establish you and keep you from evil. He said, the Lord
is faithful to establish you. He will establish you. If God, the father gave you to
Christ, he will establish you. Establish you and establish me
in what, what will he establish us in? Well, he said in chapter
two, verse 16. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ himself
and God. Even our Father, which hath loved
us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through
grace, comfort your hearts and establish you. He will comfort
your hearts and he will establish you in every good word and work. Every good word and work. He
will establish you. He will establish me. He will
establish us in the word of Christ. If you belong to him, he'll establish
you in the word of Christ and in the work of Christ, not our
word and not our work. Our word means nothing. And neither
does our work. Our work means nothing. Man is
trying to establish his own good works, and I am not against good
works. As the Apostle Paul said, shall
we sin that grace may abound? God forbid. God forbid. He's called us unto good works.
Love your neighbor. Be kind. Be generous. But the
fact of the matter is, when it comes to our standing before
God, Our works mean nothing because all of our works are tainted
with sin. Somehow pride creeps into them. Self-righteousness
creeps into them. Everything we do has some kind
of an underlying motive in it. We usually can't just do a good
deed for somebody. We've got to make sure they know
so we can get a little bit of our glory. Our works will never
be good enough. to establish us in His kingdom.
Only the faithfulness of Christ can do that. Only the faithfulness
of His mercy in His covenant, in His blood, in His sacrifice,
that's the only thing that can establish us. So He will establish
us in every word that speaks of the work of Christ. That's
what all the scripture's about. The work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the promise, the covenant, the faithfulness of Christ to His
people. God's people are all established in Christ established
in him. He said in Romans 16 verse 25
now to him that is of power to establish you. According to the
Apostle Paul said my gospel the gospel that the Spirit of God
has given to me. The gospel that's recorded in
this word. Now to him that is of power to establish you, according
to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to
the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the
world began, but now is made manifest and by the scriptures
of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting
God made known to all nations for the obedience of faith, to
God only wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. He is and will always be faithful
to establish us in the truth of what he has done. He will
do that. And thanks, thank God. Our text
said he along with that is able and faithful to keep us from
all evil. He's faithful to do that. He's
faithful to keep us from the evil one. He will not give us
over to his evil ways. He will not give us over to this
evil world. And he will not give us over
to our own evil flesh, wicked, evil flesh. In John 17, our Lord
said to his father, he said, I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them
from the evil. He said, that's what I pray for,
that you will keep them from the evil. I pray that you'll
be faithful to keep them at all times, whether they realize it
or not. And if that's what Christ asked
for, then that's what he will receive. There's a story that
I love so much. It reveals the faithfulness of
God to us, the faithfulness of God to his people, even when
we have no idea that he's being faithful to us. Many years ago,
there was a preacher named George Whitfield, who was a very, very
mightily used preacher. And he was traveling one night
on horseback into another town to preach. He was scheduled to
preach, and it was a pretty long journey. And the weather was
terrible. It was pouring rain, just pouring
rain. And he was slow going. It wasn't
fast travel. And he was riding with his coat
and his hat on in the pouring rain, miserable. And he said
he just had a bad attitude about it. He said he was feeling sorry
for himself. And he was just kind of asking
the Lord, why all this rain? Why so much rain? Why is it just
pouring on me? And he thought, I'm going to
preach your gospel. I'm trying to be your servant,
Lord. Why so miserable? Why does it
have to be so miserable? And he said it wasn't too long.
And he rounded a corner and a robber jumped out with a flint pistol.
And that robber fired it at him. And it wouldn't go off because
the flint was so wet. And George Whitefield hightailed
it out on his horse crying, thank you for the rain. Thank you so
much for the rain. Our God is faithful to us even
when we have no idea he's being faithful to us. He is always
watching us, keeping us, protecting us, leading us into the exact
situation that is for the best outcome. Always He's faithful. We are kept by the power of God. Kept by the power of the faithful
God. So here's our final word. If
your hope is in Christ, and if my hope is in Christ, truly in
Christ, if it's in his word, if it's in his work, not mine
is. If our hope is only in his word
and his work, because we see our other, our utter lack in
his utter faithfulness. If that's our hope, Then find
some comfort and some rest in the fact that he will faithfully
accomplish and sustain and do everything that needs to be done
concerning you and concerning me. He'll do it. He will do it. Let me give you this last word.
There is a holy God that I cannot please. But Christ did. There is a holy law that I cannot
keep. But Christ did. There is a perfect
righteousness that I cannot earn. But Christ did. There is a convicting
record of record of sin that I cannot erase. But Christ did. There is a great judgment that
I cannot endure. But Christ did. And there is
an eternal death that I cannot rise from. But Christ did. And if God the Father has given
us to him, we're going to rise with him in his faithfulness. Till next week, may the Lord
bless this 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 10.45 a.m., and 6 o'clock
p.m., Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next week
for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.