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 am going to be speaking to
you today from Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13, we have
a very important and very needful verse to look at today. Very,
very critical. Not only is this wise counsel,
this is critical information. I feel very deeply burdened to
tell you this. This is the difference in seeing
or missing Christ. This is the difference in inheriting
eternal life or missing eternal life, being denied eternal life. So it's very critical. And I
pray that the Lord will open our eyes to it, cause us to see
this, this great difference here. Hebrews 13 verse 9 says, be not
carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is good, it is a good
thing that the heart be established with grace, not with meats which
have not profited them that have been occupied therein. Be not carried about with divers
in strange doctrines, for it is a good thing that the heart
be established with grace. What he's saying is don't be
taken up with doctrines. That's what he's saying. Don't
be taken up with doctrines. Be established with grace. be established with grace, not
carried away with doctrines. Now, what does that mean? What
is it to be carried away? He said, carried about with doctrines,
these different doctrines. And what is it to be established
with grace? What does he mean? The word doctrine
means teaching. That's what it means. Words,
instruction. When people talk about doctrine,
that's the definition of the word, teaching, instruction,
words. And there is only one doctrine
in the word of God. I want to repeat that. I want
to emphasize that that is not up for debate. That is the concrete
truth. There is only one doctrine in
the word of God. There's only one doctrine. Let
me show it to you. In 2 John, just before Revelation,
it's just a few pages over, 2 John, there's only one chapter in the
book of 2 John. 2 John 9 says, whosoever transgresseth,
that means whosoever sins, Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not
in the doctrine of Christ, whoever sins against God and does not
live in, abide in, be firmly built on the doctrine of Christ,
hath not God. That's what it says. He that
abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son. Now watch this right here, verse
10. If there come any unto you and
bring not this doctrine, do you see how it's saying there's only
one? There is one, there's one doctrine, verse 10. If there
come any unto you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not
into your house, neither bid him Godspeed. There is only one. All of the teaching in God's
word, this teaching, this instruction, all of the instruction in the
Holy Scripture, speaks of one thing. It's all speaking of one
thing. Christ crucified. Jesus Christ crucified. The Bible, the scripture is the
doctrine of Christ, the teaching of Christ, the instruction of
Christ. The scripture tells sinners about
Christ. It's all about Christ. This is
the doctrine of Christ. Now in Titus chapter two, verse
nine, that verse calls it the doctrine of God, our savior,
the doctrine of God, our savior, who is our savior? Who's our
savior? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. How did he save us? It's the
doctrine of our Savior. How did he save us? He was crucified. He gave himself. He gave his
life. He gave his body. He shed his
blood. He was crucified. Christ crucified. 1 Timothy 1 verse 3 says, teach
no other doctrine. This ought to be proof to us
that there are not lots of doctrines in the Bible and you can just
grab the one you want and go with that. There's one doctrine. First Timothy one verse three
says, teach no other doctrine. Don't teach any other. If a man's
going to stand up, he better not teach any other doctrine
than the doctrine of Christ. Acts chapter two, verse 42 calls
it. The apostles' doctrine. They had one doctrine. All of
the apostles had one doctrine. They all preached one thing. Our Lord called it in John 7,
verse 16, My doctrine. That's what He referred to it
as, My doctrine. Every time the word doctrines
plural with an S on the end, every time the word doctrines
is used in the scripture, it refers to false teaching. Every time false teaching, our
text said divers and strange doctrines. Look with me at Matthew 15. Over
in Matthew chapter 15, verse nine, our Lord said, but in vain,
they do worship me. In vain, it won't come to anything,
it's empty. They worship me in a vain way,
in a vanity way. In vain, they do worship me,
teaching for doctrines. the commandments of men. That's
what our Lord said. He said, they're worshiping me
in vain. There are a lot of people who are going through the motions
of worshiping God. It appears as though that they're
worshiping God. They go to a building and they
go through all the motions that appear to be worshiping God,
but God said, they're not. It's all in vain. And the reason
is because they are teaching and hearing and believing For
doctrines, the commandments of men. That's all they are. Our
Lord said that. They're just man-made commandments. And you and I need to hear this
because I'm concerned for our soul. I'm concerned for our eternal
soul. I'm concerned about the eternity
that we're gonna go into. I don't want us to be deceived.
I don't want us to hear the wrong teaching. I do not want to hear
the doctrines of men. I don't believe you do either.
You don't want to hear a man stand up and just give his own
opinion. Well, I think that won't do me any good and it won't do
you any good. Man made commandments. That's
mostly what is being preached in pulpits today. Do you know
that man-made instruction? It is man-made teaching. Men stand up and they teach whatever
they believe is the truth instead of what God says is the truth.
There is eternal danger in that. There is eternal danger. Now,
in regard to the truth, there is a phrase that is used in reference
to the truth of God's word. And that phrase is the doctrines
of grace. People say the doctrines of grace. Man made up that phrase. Man,
that phrase is not in the scripture. Man made that up. And the reason
is because there are five. That's why they say doctrines
There are five individual truths that are clearly seen in the
Word concerning salvation. Five basic principles, I guess
we could say. Five facts that the Word declares
to us concerning salvation. And it's not that there's really
anything wrong with that phrase. Man talks about the doctrines
of grace. It's not that there's something
in particularly wrong with that phrase, but this is what true
believers come to understand. When God reveals the truth of
the word and he points them to Christ crucified and he gives
them faith to see and a heart to believe and this is what they
come to understand. God's people They do not believe
on the doctrines of grace. Some people do. I believe I believe
the doctrines of grace. Some people do. They do not believe
on. They are not casting their all
on the doctrines of grace. They believe on Christ. And I
know it sounds like we're splitting hairs here, but they need to
be split. They cast their all on Christ,
a person. They do not trust in the doctrines
of grace. They trust in Christ. They trust Him. They trust the
word they read because it's coming from Him. They trust Him. They do not come to the doctrines
of grace. I've had many people tell me
that. They'll tell me their history and tell me their story and they'll
say, that's the moment I came to the doctrines of grace. Well,
God's people don't come to the doctrines of grace. They come
to Christ. They come to Christ. Now when a sinner comes to Christ,
when God draws him, no man can come to Christ except the Father,
which sent Christ, draw that sinner to Christ. But when God
draws him, When a sinner comes to Christ, will that sinner know
and understand and agree with what men call the doctrines of
grace, what is seen in the scripture that, there's five of them, that
all men are totally depraved? It's called TULIP, T-U-L-I-P,
total depravity. Will they believe that men are
just completely sinners, all have sinned and come short of
the glory of God? And will they believe that God, the father
unconditionally on the part of the center, God, the father elected
particular centers to save. It was an unconditional election
because everybody was totally depraved. And will they believe
that the Lord Jesus Christ did not die for everybody? Some people
believe that He just shed His blood just for anybody and everybody
and some of His blood's gonna be wasted and some of His blood
is gonna be used. That's not so. Will they believe
that Christ died for His elect? Christ died for His people? Christ
died for all the souls that the Father chose and gave to Him? It was a successful redemption? Will they believe that God's
Spirit is going to call every chosen, redeemed sinner to a
knowledge of Christ and the salvation that he accomplished for them?
And will a child of God believe that he or she is going to be
kept all the way to glory with no possibility of being lost,
total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement,
only for the ones that the Father gave to Christ, irresistible
grace, and perseverance of the saints. Will a child of God understand
that and agree with that? Absolutely. Absolutely. He'll see it in the Word. I'm
a sinner. I'm a sinner. And God said, I will not come
to him that I might have life. I'm dead in my trespasses and
sins. I can't come because I'm dead
and I won't come because my heart is at enmity against him. I'm
the, I'm the natural enemy of the things of God. So he had
to unconditionally choose me because I wouldn't choose him.
And Jesus Christ. When he cried, it is finished,
that means all of his particular people were redeemed. The successful savior. If he's
not the successful savior, I don't have any hope. If he started
the work, but it's left up to me to finish it, I don't have
any hope. Charles Spurgeon made a wonderful statement one time,
an old preacher from the 1800s. He said, if I was standing at
the very threshold of heaven, the very threshold of the gates
of eternity, and the last step was up to me, I'd never make
it in. If I just had to step over, he
said, I'd never make it in. And God's call has come to me. And in spite of my selfish will,
He has overruled me and put faith in me to believe on Christ and
love Him. Love the fact that He's God. And I know He's gonna keep me
because He's God. He's gonna keep me all the way
to the end. In Christ, I'm already kept. Will God's people believe
that? Absolutely. But here's the critical
thing to know. If any of those individual details,
if a believer starts to become carried away, hung up on any of those individual details
and starts to become carried away from the simplicity of the
person and the work and the focus of Christ him self. If I get so hung up on one of
those points that I just completely lose sight of the man himself. The moment that we lose sight
of the man. We have become carried away from
the man. By doctrine. By doctrines. The moment that our mind and
our heart and our focal point, the moment we become focused
on something other than the person, the moment we become stuck on
some thing, we've lost sight of the man. And we have become
carried about by a wind of doctrine, whatever doctrine it is. There is a difference in knowing
doctrines and knowing Christ. There are some who cannot believe
what he said because they're just so hung up on a particular
doctrine. There are some who can't trust
him because they're so hung up on trusting this format that
they've conceived in their mind around this doctrine. There is a difference in worshiping
doctrines and worshiping Christ. There's a difference. And that
difference is life and death. It's not just so close. Well,
either way, it's life and death. It is life and death. Doctrines
have never saved anybody. Doctrines have never saved anybody.
Salvation is of the Lord. This is important. Doctrines
do not lead men to Christ. Christ leads men to doctrine. That thief on the cross, he He
couldn't give you a theological dissertation on the things of
the word of God. He just cried, Lord, would you
remember me? I'm a sinner, that's what he
was saying, I'm a sinner. He told that other thief, we
indeed justly, we're getting what we deserve, we're sinners. But this man hath done nothing
amiss. This man is perfect, this man
is sinless, this man is God. And he said, don't you fear God? Salvation is in his hands. This is his choice. It's his
election. And he could see he's hanging
on a cross, dying for his people. And then he asked the Lord, I
see this is by your grace. Would you shed your grace on
me? Would you remember me? And the Lord said to him, today,
you're gonna be with me in paradise. You're going to be there. You
see the difference? That man didn't realize it, but
he was confessing all five facts declared in the word of God,
but it was all around the person of a man. Salvation is of the
Lord. He is the issue. He is the only
issue. Every other issue is just divers
and strange doctrines. That's all it is. Let me show
you a couple of them. Different things that men instruct
that are not taught in the Word of God. Over in Colossians 2,
if you look with me at Colossians 2, verse 16, it says, let no
man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of
an holy day or of the new moon or of the Sabbath days. All these
different things, they're just things that people believe are
doctrines that'll save their soul. All these things he just
listed. The Jews believe that if they
don't eat pork, it will save their soul. Many people believe
that if alcohol never touches their lips, it'll save their
soul. Some believe that as long as I go to church on Easter and
Mother's Day and Christmas and these holy days, it'll save my
soul. Some people believe that if they
make themselves absolutely miserable on Sunday, just miserable, you
just have to walk around with a straight face. You just can't
smile. You can't let your children play. We have to observe the
Sabbath now. Some people believe that if they
do that, it will save their soul. It's not so. It's not so. People believe that somehow things,
divers and strange doctrines concerning things will be the
things that save their soul, but it's not so. Let's not be
carried about with these things. Verse 16, let no man therefore
judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of a holy day or
of the new moon or of the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things
to come, but the body is of Christ. All those things are pointing
to Christ. This is what it is to be established
with grace. Down in verse 20, he said, wherefore,
if you be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why,
as though living in the world, are you subject to ordinances?
Touch not, taste not, handle not. And that's what men stand
up and tell people. You've probably heard a man stand
in a pulpit and say, now touch not, taste not, handle not. He
said, why are they telling people that? Verse 20, wherefore, if
you be dead with Christ, if he died to put away your sins. If
you're dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why,
as though living in the world, are you subject to ordinances,
touch not, taste not, handle not, which all are to perish
with the using after the commandments and doctrines of men, which things
have indeed a show of wisdom in will, worship, and humility,
and neglecting the body, not in honoring to the satisfying
of the flesh, though it's There's some wisdom in touching not and
tasting not and handling not certain things, but it's not
going to save ourselves. Things will never save anybody.
Do's and don'ts don't save people. Do's and don'ts do not save people. Christ does. Christ does. So he said back in our text in
Hebrews 13 verse 9, be not carried about with divers and strange
doctrines for it is a good thing that the heart be established
with grace. Grace means gift. Christ is the
gift. The work he accomplished The
death he died, that's the only thing that will save a sinner's
soul. What he did and freely gave. It is a good thing that
a sinner's heart be established with Christ. Christ. If a sinner's heart is established
with Christ, the next time that that sinner hears, now you better
not eat that or you better not drink that, you'll lose your
salvation. If a sinner's heart is established with Christ, he
will say, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. He's my meat. He's my drink. He said, this is my body broken
for you. Take, eat. He said, this is the
new Testament of my blood. My salvation is not dependent
on physical food and drink. It's on him. When somebody says,
now you better watch your holiness, are you being as holy as you
can possibly be? If a sinner is established with Christ and
grace, he'll say, in Christ I am. Outside of Christ, there's nothing
holy about me, but he is my holiness. And in him, he said, as he is,
so am I. Well, are you resting on the
Sabbath? A heart that's established with grace will say, in Christ
I am. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday, Saturday. because my Sabbath is not a day.
It's a person. It's a person. This is not according
to our works in any way, shape or form. It's according to his
grace. May our hearts be established
with grace. Grace alone. I believe those
old Puritan preachers, I believe they had it right. This is what
they said. Let's not be carried about with
divers and strange doctrines. It's scriptures alone, faith
alone, grace alone, Christ alone, the glory of God alone. That's
it. May God establish our heart with
that. Till next week, the Lord bless His word. 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.