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 turn with
me to the book of Revelation, chapter 22, Revelation chapter
22. I want to show you a glorious
line in the scripture. This is a truly glorious line
in the scripture. Revelation 22 verse three says,
and there shall be no more curse. That's wonderful. Isn't it? and
there shall be no more curse. What a glorious declaration.
What an ending to the book. And there shall be no more curse. We feel the curse, don't we?
We feel the curse, the curse that sin has brought on us. We feel that curse every day. I feel it and I'm sure you feel
it. I know you do. The curse that our father Adam
passed along to us, it has been passed along to every human being
born into the world. The curse. This flesh is under
the bondage. It is under the weight of the
curse. It bears the weight of the curse
every day. Sin has cursed us. Many people are not aware of
that, but it's so. Sin has cursed us. Because of sin, everything that
pertains to this flesh is weighted, is bound by a curse. These bodies are cursed. They get sick and they die. We get sick and we die. Every soul born into this world
will get sick at some point and eventually will die. And you
know why that is? The curse. It's because of the
curse. Our efforts are cursed. All of our efforts are cursed.
Outside of Christ, everything that we do in this flesh, the
scripture says, will come to naught. It'll come to nothing
in the end. All of these efforts that men
and women are putting into life on this earth, in the end, it'll
come to nothing. It'll be worthless. We build
these big bank accounts for ourselves. On the day that we die and leave
these, leave this earth, we have none of it. We can't take it
with us. It just comes to nothing. We
work and we labor and it comes to nothing. Our possessions are
cursed. The things that we acquire along
the way, everything that we have is either going to rot or it's going to break. It's
going to wear out. It's going to disintegrate. It's
going to get stolen. Either moths and rusts will corrupt
it or thieves will break through and steal it. That's what the
word has to say to us. Our earthly happiness is cursed. Don't you want to be happy? I
want to be happy. Everybody wants to be happy.
But the truth is, is our earthly happiness is cursed. It doesn't
last. We have these little fleeting
moments of happiness, but as soon as they come, they're ruined
and they're gone. Something will make you so happy
and then right around the corner, something just ruins your whole
day. Our lives are spent under the
bondage and the weight and the depression. Do you ever experience
depression? Our lives are under the bondage
and the weight and the depression, the depression of the curse. That's what it is. If you want
to know why is it like this? That's what it is. It's the curse. Look with me, if you would, at
Romans chapter eight. in Romans chapter eight, verse
20 says for the creature. And that word means it translates
creation. This whole creation for the creature
or the creation was made subject to vanity. It was made subject
to vanity. That word vanity means emptiness,
worthlessness. The creature was made subject
to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected
the same in hope." That means because of one man's sin, death
passed upon all men and all things. In Adam, all die. Because of
one sin, everything became cursed, everything. Somebody will say,
well, that's not fair. Well, that's the way it is. That's what happened. In Adam,
all die. Everything became curse. Verse
22 right here says, for we know that the whole creation groaneth
and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they,
but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit,
even God's people who have been saved, even saved people, the
quickened, the first fruits of the Spirit. It goes on to say,
even we ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting for the adoption
to wit or to know the redemption of our body. We're just waiting
for the redemption of our body. Everything is groaning and travailing
in pain because of the curse. Even the ground is cursed. Even
the ground is cursed. Look at three scriptures with
me. If you have your Bible, we're just going to quickly go to three
different scriptures. The first one is Galatians chapter
three. In Galatians 3 verse 10 says,
as many as are of the works of the law are under the cursed. Every soul who is trying to obey
the law for God to be happy with him and for God to accept him
into heaven. Every person who's trying to
do that is under the curse. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that continue with not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. All right, that's the first
one. The next scripture is Galatians
chapter one. If you turn back a page to Galatians
one, verse eight says, but though we or an angel from heaven preach
any other gospel unto you, then that which we have preached unto
you, let him be cursed. The apostle Paul, one of the
writers of scripture, says, if anyone comes preaching any other
thing than what is declared in the scripture, let him be cursed. All right, now the third one
is 1 Corinthians 16. In 1 Corinthians 16, verse 22 says, If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha. That means cursed
when the Lord returns. If any man does not love the
Lord Jesus Christ, whoever is of the works of the law is cursed. If anyone is saying, now you
better obey that law. If you want to go to heaven,
you better, you better obey what the law says. That's a cursed
person. Whoever's of the works of the
law is cursed. Whoever preaches another gospel, then the gospel
that God has declared in the person and work of Christ, his
son alone, his blood alone, he's cursed. And whoever does not
love the Lord Jesus Christ, that means cast his all on Christ
and believe on Christ. bow to his will and bow to his
word. He's cursed. Everything has been
cursed. And everyone suffers because
of the curse. Now, here's what the scripture
says. But God. That is the glorious declaration
of the gospel. But God, when it comes to man,
when it comes to creation, when it comes to everything, it's
cursed. That's all you can say about
it. But God. But God. Listen to how this is
worded. I believe you'll enjoy this.
Go with me over to Genesis chapter three. Genesis chapter three. Verse
one. It says, now the serpent was
more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God
had made. And he said unto the woman, yea,
hath God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the
trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in
the midst of the garden, God hath said, you shall not eat
of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. And the serpent
said unto the woman, you shall not surely die. For God doth
know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall
be opened, and you shall be as God's knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and
a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit
thereof and did eat and gave also unto her husband with her
and he did eat. Verse seven says, and the eyes
of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked. For the first time, they saw
themselves, they saw their sin, they saw what they had done.
Now watch verse 12. And the man said, the woman whom
thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did
eat. That right there, is the gospel. Would you like to know what the
gospel is? If you ever wondered really what the gospel is, that's
it. That right there is, but God,
but God. Now, why do I say that? Look
with me at first Timothy chapter two, first Timothy two, verse 13. It says for Adam, was first formed,
then Eve. And Adam was not deceived. But the woman being deceived
was in the transgression. Adam and Eve and that whole scenario
represents Christ and His bride. The Lord Jesus Christ and his
bride. She, the bride, God's people. I pray that's us. I pray that's
you and I pray that's me. His bride was deceived. Deceived into thinking that sin
against God would not plunge her head first into the curse. Deceived, but we were wrong. We were so wrong. We ignorantly,
foolishly. Sinfully. We're in the transgression. We brought it on ourselves. Eve
brought it on herself, and that's what all of God's people have
done. Willingly brought it on themselves. We brought the curse
on ourselves. But our bridegroom. That's who
the Lord Jesus Christ is called in the scripture. The bridegroom.
You know, he should have just left us alone. Adam, he was not
deceived. Adam could have just said, you
shouldn't have done that. You're on your own. You've sinned against
God. You brought the curse on yourself.
He should have left us, our bridegroom, Christ, He should have left us
to die in the curse of our sin. But He didn't do that. That's
the gospel. But He didn't do that. He joined
Himself to us in our sin. He put Himself under the same
condemnation, willingly. He was not deceived. He knew
exactly what he was doing. He saw what his bride had fallen
under. He saw what his bride had brought
on herself. He saw the curse. He saw the
death. He saw the sin. And he put himself
under the same condemnation. He saw, Christ saw how we had
fallen and He took the fall with us. That's the gospel. He took
the fall for us. Look at Galatians 3 one more
time. It says in Galatians 3 verse 13, Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law being made a curse for us, for it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. That's a husband.
That's a husband. That is a redeemer. He made himself
to be cursed for us. The gospel is not about how are
we going to get ourselves out of this mess. The gospel is about
how Christ made himself to be cursed for us. Cursed in our
place. When he hung on that tree, he
redeemed his entire bride from the curse. He took their place.
He became their substitute. Now go with me if you would back
to Revelation 22. Revelation 22, verse three says,
and there shall be no more curse Never again. Now this is something
to look forward to. In Christ, in His blood, in His
work, our bodies will never be cursed ever again. He is gonna
redeem His people, redeem all of His people. Not just the soul,
but the body. And our bodies will never be
cursed ever again. There'll be no more sickness.
When you look forward to that, no more death. In Christ, with
Christ, never again. Our minds will not be cursed. Our minds are so cursed, we can't
go seconds without thinking some type of a sinful thought. Our
minds will never be cursed ever again. Our hearts will never
be cursed ever again. We can't go any matter of seconds
without feeling anger, jealousy, depression, never again, never
again. Our efforts will never be cursed
ever again. Our Lord said in glory, my people
are gonna long enjoy the work of their hands. Our possessions,
a better way of saying that is our possession, which is Christ. What we have in him, it'll never
be cursed ever again. Our happiness, our happiness,
it will never be cursed ever again. Nothing will be able to
take our happiness from us. Our joy, our exceeding joy. Verse three says, and there shall
be no more curse, but instead of the curse, The throne of God
and of the Lamb shall be in it. God made an exchange for us. He took our curse and he gave
us in exchange for that the throne of the Lamb. Imagine that. The throne of the Lamb. Look
with me at Revelation chapter 5. It says in Revelation 5 verse
1, and I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne,
a book written within and on the backside sealed with seven
seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof. And no man in heaven or in earth,
neither under the earth was able to open the book, neither to
look thereon. And I wept much, because no man
was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to
look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto
me, Weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book,
and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo,
in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the
midst of the elders, stood a Lamb." Who's that? Jesus Christ. a lamb as it had been slain,
having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits
of God, sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the
book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and the four
and twenty elders fell down before the lamb, having every one of
them harps and golden vials full of odors which are the prayers
of saints and they sung a new song saying thou art worthy to
take the book and to open the seals thereof for thou was slain
and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred
and tongue and people and nation, and has made us unto our God
kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth." We shall
reign on the earth with Him. seated with Him. If you look
at Revelation 7 verse 9, it says, After this I beheld and lo a
great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations
and kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before
the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands,
and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God,
which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb. And all the
angels stood round about the throne and about the elders and
the four beasts and fell before the throne on their faces and
worshiped God saying, amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving
and honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever,
amen. Because there is no more curse,
we can now approach that throne with boldness. All of these people
who had sinned against him, they had all sinned against him. If
you look at verse 13, one of the elders answered, saying unto
me, what are these which are arrayed in white robes and whence
came they? And I said unto him, sir, thou
knowest. And he said to me, these are they which came out of great
tribulation. and have washed their robes and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Because there is
now in Christ and in His blood no more curse, all of His people
may approach that throne with boldness. If we belong to Him,
we may approach that throne with boldness, that we may find mercy
and grace to help in time of need. That's glorious. We have
a high priest. The scripture says that was touched
with the feeling of our curse. Touched with the feeling of our
infirmities. So that we could have access
to his throne. Accepted back in the beloved. Back to the throne
of God now in Revelation 22. Verse three says, and there shall
be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall
be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They're going to serve
Him. Do you know why His servants,
His redeemed, His elect, do you know why they're going to serve
Him? It's because that's what they are going to want to do
for all eternity. They will greatly desire that,
and they are going to be given the desires of their heart. They're
gonna be allowed to. That joy is life to them. That's what they desire, that's
what they hope for, that's heaven. Serving Him, that's heaven. He
made Himself to be the servant for us in order to give us eternity,
and we are gonna have all of eternity to serve Him in return,
saying thank you. We're gonna have all of eternity
to say thank you. Worshiping Him, bowing before
Him. Verse three, there shall be no
more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be
in it, and His servants shall serve Him, and they shall see
His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads. They're
gonna see His face, face to face. Oh, blissful moment. That's what
the song says. And I shall see him face to face. How glorious is that? And his
name is going to be in their foreheads. What that means is
they're going to know him. They're going to think on him.
They're going to dwell on him. They're going to ponder him.
They're going to have conversations about him. I love thinking of
these people in the scripture, in the Old Testament, in the
New Testament that God redeemed. And they're with him now. They
will be there when the rest of his people arrive, gathered in
these little groups, having conversations about Christ. And you walk up
and say, what are you all talking about? And I say, we're talking
about Christ. You want to come talk with us? I sure do. And
you can talk and talk and see him and talk to him and speak
of him all the days of your life. And somebody will say, well,
what time is it? What time does it get dark here? Well, it doesn't
get dark here. We can just keep on going and going. Verse five
says, and there shall be no night there. And they need no candle,
neither light of the sun. There's no night. That means
there's no sin. There's no secrets. There's no
blindness. And they need no candle, neither light of the sun. They'll
never have to produce anything on their own ever again. Never
have to provide anything on their own. They'll never be without
warmth and health and nourishment. Verse five says, for the Lord
God giveth them light. Where does it come from? Chapter
21 says, Christ is the light. He is the light. In the end of
chapter 22, verse five says, they shall reign with Christ
forever and ever with the curse removed With the bride redeemed,
she's gonna reign with him forever. If we belong to him, that's an
amazing statement. That is an awesome, full of awe
statement. Reign with him forever. And forever would be long enough.
Forever is long enough, but it keeps going. It says forever
and ever. And ever and ever, how far can
you go into eternity, a never ending eternity? It's amazing
thought, isn't it? And the thing that I haven't
quite gotten over just yet in all of God's people, the thing
that they'll never get over is, verse three says, there shall
be no more curse. For all of eternity, all of God's
people, it's just gonna be amazing to them. They're just gonna be
amazed by the fact that there's no more curse. He loved us and
he washed us from our sins in his own blood. And now there's
no more curse. Amen. 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.