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 have a message that I would
like to bring to you today from Ephesians chapter 4. We are going
to be looking at verses 17 to 21. And I want to begin by reading
the last line in verse 21. It says the truth. Is in Jesus. The truth is in Christ. The truth is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what I'd like for us to
get ahold of today. The truth is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, I want to declare something
that I hope will be very eye opening. To anyone who's never
seen this before, anyone who has never had this revealed to
them. I hope and pray this will be
very eye opening. The truth. The gospel. Is not about you and me. The gospel is not about us. I'm going to let that just sink
in for a minute. I'm going to give us a minute
to dwell on that and think about that for just a minute. The gospel
is not about us. The gospel is not about you. The gospel is not about me. The
gospel is about Christ. And that that is going to be
an eye opening thing if. If a person has never realized
that before. The gospel is completely about
Christ. The gospel is not about man.
Not at all. Not at all. The gospel is about
God. And what he has done for man. In the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what the gospel is all
about. The truth is in Christ. Now the gospel. Involves us,
I'm going to say something here that's that may be a little hard
to gather at first, so listen to what I'm saying here. The
gospel involves us. But the gospel did not involve
us. The gospel of salvation. It is
something that we are allowed to take part in. But the gospel
is not something that we took part in. Salvation comes to centers. Through
the will and through the work of God, the father, God, the
son and God, the spirit. It involved them. Salvation involved them. It was
their work. Only the three of them, they
accomplished it. They did it. Redemption was their
collective work through, by, and in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The scripture says all the fullness
of the Godhead is found in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The truth is in Christ. All right, it's all in Christ.
Now the line that I read there, it says the truth is in Jesus,
and I just want to point this out. You will hear me as I go
through this message refer to this line by saying the truth
is in Christ, or the truth is in the Lord Jesus, or the truth
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the reason is because I personally
have a hard time referring to him by his name of humanity. His first name, if you will. Lord is his name of deity. It means God. It means Jehovah. Lord. Jesus is his name of humanity. He became an actual man. Christ
is his office. He is the God man. That's who he is. He is the only
mediator between God and man because he is both God and man. He is the union of God and man,
the anointed, the Messiah. Because of what he accomplished
as a man for his people. Because of that, God the Father,
the scripture says, has given him a name which is above every
name. Lord, Lord, Jesus of Nazareth,
because of what he accomplished, God has made him Lord. He has
earned the office of Christ, the only mediator between God
and man. He mediated between God and sinful
man. And he has earned the office
of Christ and he's worthy to be called by that name. He deserves
it. So to me, it just feels a little
disrespectful to only refer to him by his name of humanity,
by the first name that he has. Well, facts have been recorded
In the scripture by the apostles, they wrote Jesus did this and
Jesus did that, meaning the man did this and the man did that.
But they personally never referred to him solely by the name of
Jesus. Never did they ever walk up to
him and say, hey, Jesus. Never. Never. Too disrespectful. Too disrespectful. In John 13,
he told his disciples, you call me master and Lord, and you say,
well, for so I am. I'm your master, I'm your Lord.
He said, you are calling me, Lord, you're calling me the Christ,
and that's what you need to do because that's who I am. So that's
why when it comes to his, his precious name, his entire name,
but especially his name of humanity, I just don't feel comfortable
referring to him in that way. You'll hear me refer to him as
Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus Christ, the Christ,
he's earned that and he's owed that. All right, now, with that
being said, concerning the truth, concerning the gospel, Good news
of salvation. It is all in Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ. This right here, what we're about
to read in this passage, this is where all of us either were
or are. OK, this describes us. We either
were here or we are here. Every soul begins in this condition. This is where God finds all of
his people. Verse 17 here in Ephesians chapter
four, it says, this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that
you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of
their mind. Having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart, who
being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness,
to work all uncleanness with greediness." That's not a good
description, is it? But that describes me, and that
describes you, as we are in our flesh. that describes all of
mankind by nature. Man walks in the vanity of his
mind. He walks through this earth in
the vanity of his mind. Vanity means self. Vanity is
all about self. Man naturally thinks it's all
about me. And we know that so don't we?
I know that so and you do too. Men and women all believe that
life is all about me. It's all about me. They love to go listen to preachers
stand up and tell them that it's all about them. This life is
all about you. You go do what you want to and
live like you want to. God is God's happy with you no
matter what. He just wants you to be happy.
That's what a lot of people say. God just wants you to be happy.
Man naturally thinks religion is all about me. I'm here to hear they listen
to a man, tell them how wonderful they are, how worthy they are,
how much God needs them, us. Man naturally thinks salvation
is all about me. This thing is in my hands. This
is my decision. It's my work. Man naturally thinks
eternity is all about me. All about me. I want to make
sure I get a good spot. Everybody. You know, wants to
have the best spot up there. Make sure you build my mansion
next to his. It's all about me. That is the vanity of man's mind. Verse 18 says his understanding
is darkened. He does not see the light. He
does not see the truth. He does not see the the light
and truth of his own self. He doesn't see what he is. Darkness. He does not see the light and
truth of salvation the way it truly is. He thinks that he has
some understanding of God and he thinks that he has an understanding
of God's dealings with him. But it's not so. He's in darkness. Man naturally is in darkness.
Verse 18 says his understanding is darkened and he has no idea
that he is alienated from the life of God. He has no idea.
And it's because of the ignorance that is in him. It's because
of the blindness of his heart. Verse 18 says, having the understanding
darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them because of the blindness of their heart. Which
I have a center margin in my Bible. And it says that the word
blindness translates hardness. The hardness. He is darkened. There is blindness, but he's
also hardened. That's the flesh of man. Hardened. Now, how blind are
we talking? How hard truly are we talking? Well, in verse 17, he said, this
I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord that ye, you, he's
talking to you and I'm included in you. And if you look back at chapter
2 verse 1, this is what he has to say to you, me and you. Chapter 2, Ephesians 2 verse
1, he said, and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sins. How blind? Does man just need
a stronger prescription? Is that all he needs, just a
stronger prescription in his glasses? No, he's dead blind. I mean dead, no light. No light at all. How hard is
man's heart, really? How hard are we talking? Does
he just need to fix his bad attitude? He is dead hard. dead, no life at all, no life
at all. That is you and that's me in
the flesh and had God left us there, we would still be in that
condition right now. Spiritually dead. We would be
walking the course of this world in our spiritual blindness and
spiritual ignorance and deadness, spiritual deadness. Chapter two,
verse four says, but God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ. By grace, you are saved. Quickened means he gave us life. We lost it, we ruined it, we
died. In Adam, all died. Because of
sin, death reigned. And he gave us life again. He quickened us to Christ. He quickened us with Christ. And with that quickening, spiritual
light comes. Spiritual sight comes. Spiritual life comes. The truth is revealed. And the
more God's people see of it, the less they walk in the vanity
and the blindness and the hardness of their own mind and heart.
The more they see of the true light of Christ and the true
life of Christ, the less they walk in their blindness, the
less they walk in their deadness. And this is what happens for
each one of God's people. If you look with me at John six,
John chapter 6 verse 44, it says, no man can come to me except
the Father which sent me draw him, and I will raise him up
at the last day. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that
hath heard and hath learned of the father cometh unto me. The father draws the center to
Christ. That's what happens through that
revelation of light. The father draws the center to
Christ. And when the center comes to
Christ, God opens that center's ear to hear the gospel. The gospel of the word of Christ
and that center learns the truth. All of a sudden, the scripture
comes alive. Things that he never understood before, all of a sudden,
he sees Christ in them. He sees how they describe the
finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything that he's
done. Everything that he is. Each one of God's people, individually,
they are all taught of God. And that's wonderful. In our flesh, we're nothing but
ignorance. But through God's kindness and through His mercy,
He teaches us. He teaches us. All of His people
are taught, number one, what they truly are by nature. You
know, we walk through this life in blindness, vanity and ignorance
to what we really are. Just how wicked this old sinful
heart and this sinful soul really is. And God teaches us, he turns
the light on to the truth concerning ourselves. All of God's people
are taught their insufficiency and their inability. Man thinks
that he is sufficient to stand before God. Man thinks he is
able to earn heaven until God turns the light on. But once
he turns the light on, man sees the truth. All of God's people
are taught just how unworthy they are to stand in his presence. So unworthy. They're all taught
that not only. Are they not the central focus
of heaven? They're not even allowed to come
in. Not as they are in their flesh, not as they are in their
natural condition. Here's the point. God humbles
his people. He humbles them. He brings them
down by giving them right thoughts about God and right thoughts
about themselves and right thoughts about the only way of salvation. The only way. Look with me back
at Ephesians four. says in Ephesians 4 verse 17,
this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you henceforth
walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind having
the understanding darkened being alienated from the life of God
through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness
of their heart who being past feeling. Past feeling, because
they were spiritually dead. Dead. Past feeling have given
themselves over unto lasciviousness, which means filthiness, wickedness. Given themselves over unto lasciviousness
to work all uncleanness, filthiness, with greediness. It's all about
me. All about me, verse 20 says,
but. Chapter two, we just read it,
but God, Ephesians 2, four says, but God, but chapter four, verse
20, but you have not so learned Christ. That verse literally
translates when you look up the exact translation of that verse,
it reads, but you not so have learned Christ. But you
are not so. That's what it's saying. It's
not so with you. You have learned Christ. God has graciously taught you
Christ, not taught the law. So many people are trying to
learn about God through the law. They want to study that law and
learn that law. What do I have to do? What does
the law say? He didn't say the law. He didn't
say Hebrew and Greek. Men and women want to try to
understand God by learning this language, Hebrew, and this language,
Greek. He didn't say morality. People
want to earn heaven and earn the presence of God through morality. Now, I love morality. I do, I love morality, but salvation
is not in morality. Not at all. Salvation is in Christ. It is completely in Christ. It is in who he is, what he did,
why he did it, where he is now, and the fact that he is coming
back. He's coming back. The truth,
the gospel, the good news is in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is in the declaration and
in the understanding and in the belief of who he is, the person
of his deity. What's the truth concerning him?
What is the truth concerning who he is? Who is he? Who is
the Lord Jesus Christ? He's God. He's God. He's not just a good man, a fine
man who walked this earth, who just so happens to know God.
who just so happens to be allowed into heaven. He's not the one
who can put in a good word for us to God. He's God. He is the almighty God. Salvation
is in His deity. The only man who can approach
God is Christ, and the reason is because He is God. He is God. How good does a man have to be
to approach God? As good as God. He is God. Salvation is in his deity. But
salvation is also in his humanity. Thank God he made himself to
be a man. Thank God. So our salvation is
because God made himself to be a man, he joined himself with
man. That's our salvation. What he
accomplished as a man, his work. The glory of the cross. That's
our salvation. What was his glory truly in the
cross? We talk about the glory of the
cross. What was the glory truly? Here it is. He said, I will have
mercy. Moses said, show me your glory.
He said, okay, I'll show it to you. I will have mercy. God made himself to be a man
that he might redeem man from his sinful vanity, all of his
ruin, all of his dark understanding, all of his blind deadness, his
lost state. He redeemed us back to God. And
then he himself went up to take his seat on the throne, seated
on the throne of victory. Our salvation is in his deity.
Our salvation is in his humanity. Our salvation is in his victory.
It's in his power. It's in his sovereignty. It's
in his lordship. All of the truth of the gospel.
All of the truth of salvation, every bit of it is in Christ. Christ is all. Christ is absolutely
all. Over in Philippians chapter three,
it says in verse three, for we are the circumcision, that means
we are God's people, which worship God in the spirit and rejoice
in Christ Jesus. and have no confidence in the
flesh. We are God's people. We are God's
people who worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ
Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. God's people are
all taught, not unto us, O Lord. not unto us, but unto thy name
give glory." All the glory. All the glory. We worship God
by rejoicing in Christ Jesus, by glorying in Christ Jesus. We love Him. We praise Him. We exalt Him. We magnify Him. We worship Him. We believe Him. We trust Him. We honor Him. We honor Him. Christ is all. Christ is all. He's all. The truth is in Christ. Would
you like to honestly know the truth? It's in Christ. It's in Christ. What do I have
to do for God to be happy with me? Be in Christ. Trust Christ. Christ accomplished
everything that God required to be happy with his people.
Christ accomplished everything that God required to be satisfied
with his people. Satisfied with the punishment
they deserve. Christ accomplished it all. It's
in Christ. There's nothing for you to do.
You can't do it. If you tried to do anything to
please God, he would not accept it. The only thing he will accept
is the perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ. So bow before him,
trust in him, because he's all. The truth of the gospel is completely
in the Lord Jesus Christ. 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 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.