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 read along
with me in your Bible, the message today is going to come from Ephesians
chapter 4, And while you're turning there, I want to give you the
title of this message. It's the question, why would
God forgive me? Why would God forgive me? Have
you ever asked yourself that question? Why would God forgive
me? Well, look with me at Ephesians
4 verse 32. It says, and be ye kind one to
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for
Christ's sake hath forgiven you. One man said many years ago that
three things ought to characterize our preaching. Every man who
stands up in a pulpit, three things ought to characterize
his preaching. Number one, knowledge, knowledge. A man ought to know who he is
preaching. A man ought to know what he is
preaching. He ought to know what He is preaching. I hear some stand up in pulpits
and it is clear that they have no idea who they are preaching
or what they are preaching. They have no idea what they believe.
They have no idea what this Word says. I'm not trying to be critical
of other men. I'm just warning you and warning
myself. Let's be very weary of who we
listen to. A man must know who and what
he's preaching. The Apostle Paul said, I know
whom I have believed. I know whom. John said that which
we have seen and heard, declare we unto you. We've seen, we've
heard. A man ought to know what this
word says. A man ought to know what this
word says. So knowledge, that's the first
thing. Sincerity is the second thing. Absolute sincerity, a
fearful, honest sincerity. Romans 1 verse 9 says, God is
my witness. Think about that. God is my witness. God is witnessing. God is witnessing what men are
declaring in his name. And he is going to hold those
who lie on him accountable. That's such a fearful thing to
me. I take that so seriously. He is going to hold those who
lie on him accountable. Every man who stands up in the
name of God is going to have to give an account. Every man. So our preaching must be with
knowledge and it must be with sincerity. Now, the third thing
that should characterize it is simplicity. Absolute simplicity. The Apostle Paul said, I fear,
lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety,
so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ Jesus. When a man stands on God's behalf,
declaring what God has written in his word, The most simple
mind listening ought to be able to understand what he's saying.
The most simple mind listening. Our Lord Himself said, I thank
thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast
hid these things from the wise and prudent and has revealed
them unto babes. babes he said even so father
for so it seemed good in thy sight he hid these things from
the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes so those three
things ought to stand out when a man stands up to preach knowledge
sincerity and simplicity now again the title of this message
is Why would God forgive me? Why would God forgive me? Three words in the verse that
we just read answer that question. They answer it with all knowledge.
They answer it with all sincerity and all simplicity. The end of
verse 32 says, for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake, those three
words are the foundation of the entire gospel. For Christ's sake,
that's it. That is it. For Christ's sake,
it is the beginning, it is the middle, and it is the end of
the gospel message. For Christ's sake, even as God,
for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. It's the only reason for
all of our forgiveness. It's the only reason for Christ's
sake. Also, those three words are the
reason that we have the ability to approach God in prayer. It's the reason our words are
not stopped at the ceiling. Men and women pray to God, and
the only reason those words make it past the ceiling is because
of Christ. He will hear us when we cry unto
him for Christ's sake. We ask our father, our heavenly
father, he said, when you pray, you say, our father, which art
in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be
done. Give us this day our daily bread,
forgive us our debts. He said, you ask all of those
things for Christ's sake. For his sake in his name, that's
how we end our prayer. We pray these things and we pray
for Christ's sake. In Jesus name, I pray. For his
sake, those three words. They are the key to understanding
all the scriptures. It's the key to understanding
why every story in this book was written. Every word of every
story. Why was that written? Why was
that put in this book? for Christ's sake. That's the
reason why. It's the key to understanding
what the common thread is. Through the whole book, it's
all for Christ's sake. Acts chapter 10, verse 43 says,
to him give all the prophets witness. To him give all the
prophets witness. In Luke 24, he expounded to those
two on the road to Emmaus, in all the scriptures, the things
concerning himself. That's what it says. All the
scriptures. The things concerning himself.
It's all about him. All about him. This is a hymn
book. That's what this is. All about
him. Those three words, for Christ's sake, They are the key to understanding
how a child of God can be totally free from the bondage of every
law and commandment in this book. And yet, I mean be totally free
from every law, every commandment, and yet have a heart to fulfill
every word. Desire to fulfill every word,
even though he can't perfectly. Even though he knows that he
cannot fulfill any word, he has a heart to. Why does he have
a heart to for Christ's sake? That's the reason why for Christ's
sake, because he loves Christ. It's because of what Christ has
done for him. It's because of his thanks. It's
because of his adoration. For Christ's sake. Those three
words. They are the only plea that a
sinner has before the throne of God. That's the truth. That's
the truth. Those three words are the only
plea that a sinner has before the throne of God. If we hear
anything today, let's hear this. If any of us are taken from this
world today or tonight, Every soul has a day. It is appointed
unto man once to die. Our days are numbered. I have
an appointed day, you have an appointed day, and if any of
us, whenever our appointed time is, if that time comes and we
find ourselves standing before the throne of God, If the question
is asked to us, if this question is asked to you, why should I
allow you, a sinful rebel against God, to enter into my kingdom? Why should I allow you to come
into my presence? Give me one reason why I should
not cast you out into outer darkness right now. If that question is
asked to you, plead this answer, for Christ's sake, Three words,
for Christ's sake, don't say, if that question comes, why should
I let a sinner like you enter into this place? Don't say, oh,
I'm not a sinner. No, no, you're mistaken. I'm
not a sinner at all. Don't say that. His response
will be, so you're calling me a liar? Are you calling me a
liar? I want you to look at something
with me in 1st John chapter 1. It says in 1st John 1 verse 10. If we say that we have not sinned. We make him a liar and his word
is not in us. Pleading I am not a sinner. That
is a straight ticket to destruction. And that's the honest truth.
It is a straight ticket to destruction, so don't plead that. If we find
ourselves having to answer the question, what right do you have
to enter into my eternity? Let's not plead our works. Don't
plead, I'm not a sinner and don't plead our works. Don't plead
anything that we've done. Let me show you something in
Matthew 7. If you turn with me over to Matthew chapter 7, It
says in verse 21, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth
the will of my father, which is in heaven. What is the will
of his father? Here it is. Plead Christ. plead Christ, believe on Christ,
cast your all on Christ, he that hath the son hath life. This
is my beloved son, the father said, hear him, that's what he
said. The Lord Jesus Christ said, this
is the will of him that sent me, this is the will of my father,
that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but
should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will
of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth
on him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the
last day." So he said right here in Matthew 7, not everyone that
says to me, I'm ready to come in, is going to be allowed to
come in. Just because a person says that,
just because a person's ready for that, that doesn't mean he's
going to be accepted in. Verse 22 right here says, 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." I want to let you in on this. Being a preacher
will do nothing for a man. He gets no brownie points for
that, none. None. You do not get a ticket
in just because you're a preacher. You do not. It would shock all
of us. It would shock you and me both.
It would shock all of us to know how many preachers are turned
away and cast into outer darkness. It would shock you. I know that's
shocking to hear. Believe me, I know. But our Lord
said right here, that's exactly what he's going to do. They said,
but we prophesied in your name. We preached in your name. And
he said, I'm going to tell them I never knew you depart from
me. If a man's plea is. Wait a minute, but I'm a preacher.
It's a straight ticket to destruction. That is a straight ticket to
destruction. You see these guys on TV healing
people. They're on TV healing people.
They're, you know, hitting people and people are laying out and
all these crazy things are happening. That will do nothing for them
eternally. That does nothing for them if
their plea is. But didn't you see all these
wonderful, miraculous works that I did in your name? Didn't you
see all these miracles that we performed in your name? If that's
their plea, then that is a straight ticket to destruction. If our plea is, well, no, I'm
not perfect. No, I know I'm not perfect. I've
sinned a little. And no, I didn't do any great
works for God and I didn't do any great works for the sick
and I didn't really do any great works for those in need. But
somehow there's just an inner goodness in me. I just believe
that there's something good in here. I never gave anybody any
trouble and I tried to just be a peaceful, law-abiding citizen. I just tried to live my life
that way. If that's our plea, that is a straight ticket to
destruction. If that is going to be our plea,
it is destruction. Isaiah said all of our righteousnesses,
all of our good deeds, all of our good works, everything in
us that we believe is good, all of our righteousnesses are filthy
rags in God's eyes. The only plea, and I'm going
to say it again, if we hear anything today, hear this. The only plea
that we have before the throne of God is for Christ's sake. That's all we have. That's all
we have. When that question comes, give
me one good reason why I should not destroy you right now. Here's
the answer. For Christ's sake. For Christ's
sake, Lord, please don't destroy me. For Christ's sake. That publican in the temple,
he smote upon his breast, crying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Be merciful to me. What he was
pleading was for Christ's sake. Mercy for Christ's sake, and
he found mercy. He did. God granted him mercy. God grants mercy to every sinner
that pleads for Christ's sake. That's the truth. God grants
mercy to every sinner that pleads for Christ's sake. Now, let me see if I can explain
what that means. Explain why God will show mercy
for Christ's sake. Number one, God will show mercy
to a sinner. When a sinner pleads for Christ's
sake because of the glory and the honor and the majesty of
the person of Christ. He'll do it because of the glory
of the person of Christ. God will show mercy for Christ's
sake because of who he is. Who he is. Isaiah said unto us
a child is born. But this is God manifest in the
flesh. That's what he said. This is
the everlasting God, the mighty God, the everlasting Father.
Who this person is, Hebrews 1 says, Christ is the brightness of God's
glory, the express image of God's person, the one who upholds all
things by the word of his power, who was seated on the right hand
of the majesty on high. And the right hand does not mean
that he's seated on a throne next to his father. The right
hand means the place of honor. He is seated in the place of
honor. Five verses after that in Hebrews
1, it says, God the father said to God the son, thy throne, oh
God, it's your throne. Who is he? He's the king. He's
the king. Peter said, we were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. God will have mercy because of
who he is, the glory of his person. I knew a man years ago, many,
many years ago, and he was in the military. He was a decorated
soldier. He was special forces. and there
was an occasion where he was at a dinner where where the president
and first lady were there and he had his picture taken with
the first lady and then sometime after that he was on a mission
and he became his whole team became captured they became hostages
and the ones who captured them were trying to negotiate with
America to get some things that they wanted and they were one
by one killing the hostages. And it came to his turn to be
killed and he convinced them to grab his phone because he
had a picture on his phone of him and the First Lady. And I
don't know what they were thinking. I don't know if they thought
that he was extra special to the president and maybe they
could get more out of him, but they did not kill him. They spared
his life. And it was because of who he
pleaded. He did not say, now, wait a minute,
you can't do this. I'm a decorated soldier. I've
completed so many missions. He didn't plead that. He did
not plead. You can't do this. I'm a good
person. I'm a kind person. He didn't plead that. He pled
a person. It was who he pled. And that's
how it is when we plead Christ. We plead the glory of his office. God will show mercy because of
who he is. He will show mercy for Christ's
sake, for His beloved's sake. The sweetest name the Father
knows, His beloved. God will show mercy to us for
Christ's sake because of who He is, our relationship to Him
and His relationship to the Father. And God will show mercy to us
for Christ's sake because of what He has done for His people. Who He is and what He has done. If you look with me at John chapter
17, it says in John 17 verse 4, I have glorified thee on the
earth. This is Christ speaking to his
father. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. I
finished the work. What was the work? What was the
work the father gave him to do? over in Philippians chapter two.
It says in verse five, let this mind be in you, which was also
in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven
and things in earth and things under the earth and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. He poured out his soul unto death. That's what he did. Why would
he do that? Why would he do that? He did
it because his father laid on him all the iniquity of his people. He bore our griefs, carried our
sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions. Our chastisement was laid on
him. Like a lamb done before his shearer,
he opened on his mouth. He fulfilled all righteousness
for us and He purged all sin from us in the shedding of His
blood. He did that because the Father
laid the work on Him. He did that because the Father
said, you must accomplish what they cannot do for themselves.
God the Father says to every soul that is covered in the blood
of His Son, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. I will not
destroy you for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake, I will not
destroy you because I destroyed him for you. That's why. Now, the sincere word that I
would like to leave us with is back in our text. If you look
one more time at Ephesians four. It says in verse 31, let all
bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking
be put away from you with all malice and be ye kind one to
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for
Christ's sake hath forgiven you. May God give us that same heart
of forgiveness and kindness and tenderness toward each other
that Christ had for us. May God put that same spirit
in us. And may God give us a heart to
say, I forgive you because he forgave me. All because of Christ. I did not deserve it. I was not
owed it. But Christ gave himself for my
sin. And in His blood, through His
work, by His death, I'm forgiven. I'm forgiven in the blood of
the Lamb. For that reason, may God put that same forgiveness
in us for each other. For Christ's sake, as God, for
Christ's sake, hath forgiven us. Until 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 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.