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 would like to speak to you
today from 1 Peter chapter 1. If you would like to look with
me at 1 Peter chapter 1, our text will be the last two verses
of this chapter. And verse 24 begins with the
word for. That's the first word of verse
24. For, F-O-R, for. That word means because. Because. Now, hold on to that
for just a second, okay? Because, that word for means
because. Everything that the apostle Peter
has written in this chapter in first Peter chapter one, every
word of it is wonderful news. It's all wonderful news because
four verse 24 goes on to say all flesh is as grass and all
the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord
endureth forever, and this is the word which by the gospel
is preached unto you." In verse two, Peter said, that God's people are elect according
to the foreknowledge of God, the father. He declared the election
of all the people of God, all the chosen people of God through
sanctification of the spirit unto obedience in the sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ. The father chose a people The
spirit set them apart and Christ shed his blood on every single
one of them. And that's wonderful news to
hear that God would choose a people and that the spirit would do
this and the blood would redeem them. That's wonderful news because
verse 24 says all flesh is grass. That's all it is. It's all grass
and all the glory of man is as the flower of grass. The grass
withereth, the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of
the Lord endures forever. This is the gospel which is preached
unto you and unto me. In verse three, Peter declared
God's abundant mercy and our lively hope. He said, blessed
be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again, given life to us again unto a
lively hope or a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. In verse four, he told us about
an incorruptible inheritance, completely incorruptible. He
said, it's reserved in heaven for all those verse five says
who are kept by the power of God. Every soul that God keeps
by his power has this incorruptible inheritance. In verse 18, he
told us of our redemption. He told us who redeemed us. and what he redeemed us with.
Verse 18 says, for as much as you know that you were not redeemed
with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation
received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious
blood of Christ, that's what we were redeemed with. The precious
blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He told us that in spite of the
fact that we died in sin, man fell, fell into sin and that
sin brought death. But in spite of that, he said
in verse 23, we've been born again, not of corruptible seed,
but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever. And all of that is wonderful
news. Everything he said throughout
this chapter is wonderful news because because verse 24 says,
all flesh is as grass. This is glorious, glorious news
because all flesh is as grass and the glory of man as the flower
of grass, the grass withereth and the flower thereof falleth
away. but the word of the Lord endureth
forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. This is the word which by the
gospel preached unto you and preached unto me. You know, the message of God's
sovereignty. That means he's in control. That
means God is God. The message of God, the father
choosing a people to save because he's God, the sovereign God,
the message of God, the son redeeming those particular people, redeeming
a particular people on purpose. And the message of God, the spirit,
irresistibly calling those people, not giving them a choice on whether
or not they want to be saved. If God, the father chose them.
And if Christ shed his blood, they're going to be saved. They
are saved. And the spirit is going to call
them to God. That message, that sovereign
message is the sweetest. Most loving, most kind, most
welcoming, including message that has ever been told. The message of God choosing a
people to save Christ dying for those particular people. That
is the exact opposite of an excluding message. God choosing whom he
will. That is the exact opposite. It's the exact opposite of God
being hard and denying salvation, excluding men and women from
salvation. Not only is it the most including
message that has ever been told, It's the only including message
that has ever been told. It's the only one. The message that puts the sovereignty
in man's hands, meaning the message that puts the power, the message
that puts the decision in man's hands, the message of man having
the final say. Man earning his own salvation. That message actually produces
no acceptance at all. There's no acceptance at all
in that message. No one is included in God's favor. When man brings his own works
to God, when man brings his own decision to God, no one is included
in God's love. No one is included in God's kindness
through the things that man does. through any work that man produces.
And this is the reason why this is the reason we know that that
is so verse 24 and first Peter chapter one says, all flesh is
as grass. All flesh is as grass and all
the glory of man, all of the goodness of man, all everything
that man thinks he has to offer to God. is as the flower of grass. What happens to the flower of
grass? It springs up and it withers. The grass withereth, the flower
thereof falleth away, it dies. But the word of the Lord endureth
forever. Man cannot do anything. Mankind,
man, woman, cannot do anything other than wither and fall away. That's all he can do. But God,
in his tender mercy, chose to save some of that grass. He chose
to have mercy on some of that grass, grass that should have
been cut down, grass that should have been burned, cast into the
oven. God in his including mercy, he
chose to preserve some of that grass. He didn't have to. He didn't have to do that. They
didn't deserve it. They did nothing to deserve it, but the father
purposed to choose them. He purposed to include them. Christ purposed to die for them. The spirit purposed to call them. In verse 25 says the word of
the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. Whatever he said he will do,
he will do. His word endures forever. This is the good news. This is
the wonderful news. In spite of what we are, what
are we? Grass. Nothing more than grass. What is grass worth? Really,
what is the value of grass clippings? But in spite of what we are,
in spite of the fact that we offer nothing to him. who God is and what he has done.
That's the good news that is preached in the gospel. Now,
those two verses of scripture, they're quoting Isaiah chapter
40, and I'd like for us to spend the rest of our time in that
chapter. If you'd like to turn with me to Isaiah 40, we'll see
what he has to say here in some greater detail. Isaiah 40 verse
1 says, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins. The voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked
shall be made straight, and the rough places plain, and the glory
of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry,
and he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the
goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass
withereth, the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord
bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. The
grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall
stand forever. O Zion that bringest good tidings,
get thee up into the high mountain. O Jerusalem that bringest good
tidings, lift up thy voice with strength. Lift it up, be not
afraid. Say unto the cities of Judah,
behold your God. Behold the Lord God will come
with strong hand, his arm shall rule for him. Behold, his reward
is with him and his work before him. He shall feed his flock
like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those
that are with young. Now I have five things that I'd
like for us to see in those 11 verses. Five points that I'd
like for us to declare in this. And I want to go ahead and tell
you what they are. Number one, there is a God. Number two, he
has a people. Number three, who are his people? Number four, what has he commanded
concerning his people? He said, cry to them. And number
five, what shall I cry? All right, verse one says, comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Point number one, there
is a God. There is a God. It scares me
to know that many, many people do not believe that there is
a God. Many people do not believe that
they either don't believe that there's a God or they believe
that there is a God. They just don't truly believe
that he's God, that he actually is God. They're not one bit afraid
to go stand before him. They're not afraid of the God
with whom they have to do. They take no thought of His judgment
concerning them. But they will. All men and women
will because there is a God. And not just a God, there is
the God. There is one true and living
God and all of us are going to have to stand before Him. All
of us. And this is what's going to happen
when we do. Verse three says the voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. Prepare ye the way of the
Lord, Jehovah God, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital
D, the almighty. That's who we're dealing with.
The one who is seated on the throne, reigning and ruling over
all things, doing as he pleases among the armies of heaven and
the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or
saying to him, what do is that? None. Verse three, the voice of him
that crieth in the wilderness, prepare you the way of the Lord.
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. The God is our God. He is the God over us, and our
God is coming quickly. He's coming very quickly. Make
straight in the desert a highway because he is coming quickly. And when we meet him, verse four
says, every valley shall be exalted. Everything that man believes
is hidden down in the low spots, everything down in the secret
places, down in the shadows, secret sins, sins that man believes are hidden. Man believes no one else can
say hidden, even from God sins in the mind, sins in the
heart. God says, every one of them are
going to be brought up. all of them brought out into
the open for all to see. Our God said in the book of Revelation,
the books are going to be opened. Everything will be recorded.
All the secret sins of our mind, our heart, everything is going
to be opened up for all to see. Verse four says in every mountain
and hill shall be made low all pride, the pride that sin brings,
all the arrogance, all the self righteousness, all of the self
worthiness, everything and everyone that is puffed up before God
is going to be cut down. That's what's going to happen
when we stand before the great judge. Verse four says in the
crooked shall be made straight. Some of you are woodworkers,
I'm sure, and you take a board and you run it down a table saw
or you run it through a joiner. What are you doing? Cutting off all the crooked.
You're making the crooked straight. Spiritually speaking, what does
God say is crooked? Anything that's not in line with
his word. It's all going to be cut off.
Verse four says the rough places plain. Again, you run a piece
of wood through a planer, you run it through a sander. What
are we doing? We're cutting off all the rough places, making
it smooth. Spiritually speaking, what does
God say is rough? Anything that goes against the
grain of his word. He said, make straight a highway,
get ready, get ready because the God is coming. He's coming. And verse four says, every valley
shall be exalted. Every mountain and hill shall
be made low. The crooked shall be made straight.
The rough place is plain and the glory of the Lord shall be
revealed and all flesh shall see it together for the mouth
of the Lord has spoken it. There is a God, there is a God,
but listen to this. He has a people. This is such
good news. He has a people again. Verse one says comfort ye comfort
ye my people. Comfort my people. If you're looking at this with
me, if you have your Bible open, do you see how it says at the
end of verse seven? Surely the people is grass. The people. And my people. Two different people. The Lord
has put a difference. He's made a difference. He said
in 2 Corinthians 6, verse 17, come out from among them and
be separate. He said in John 17, my people
are not of this world. He said, I pray for them. I pray
not for the world. Over in Exodus chapter 11, that's
where he said, I'm going to bring my people out of Egypt. I'm going
to bring Israel out of Egypt. And when they come out, a dog
is not even going to bark at them. Nothing is going to move
their tongue at my people that all of Egypt may know how I've
put a difference. I've put a difference. There
is a God. He has a people. Now, who are
his people? Well, in verse two, there are
six words in this verse that tell us who his people are. Her
warfare, it says. Her iniquity, it says. Her sins, listen to it. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished. that her iniquity
is pardoned for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins. His people are a people who struggle
with and they are fighting a warfare of iniquity and sin just laden
with iniquity and sin. That's his people. Is that you? Is that me? Burdened with iniquity
and sin. This is so important. Let me
show you something in Luke chapter five. Luke five, verse 27. It says, after these things,
he went forth and saw a publican named Levi sitting at the receipt
of custom. And he said unto him, follow
me. And he left all, rose up and followed him. And Levi made
him a great feast in his own house. And there was a great
company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. But
their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples saying,
why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus
answering said unto them, they that are whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. I did not come to call the righteous. The righteous are those who see
themselves to be right before God. That's who the righteous
are, the self-righteous. Those who assume that they're
saved because of what they see in themselves and what they see
themselves do before God. That's a lot of people. A lot
of people see themselves in that light. Pharisees are those who
assume that they're righteous in God's eyes because of their
own doing. But that's not what God's people
assume. Not at all. God's people hear his voice when
he said, I came to seek and to save that which was lost. And
they cry, I'm lost. I'm a sinner. You came to save
sinners and I'm a sinner. And that's our evidence of being
one of his people. If he ever makes us truly lost,
lost. If he ever reveals the, the warfare,
we endure over iniquity and sin. This man receives centers. There's a God. He has a people
who are his people, true centers. What has God commanded concerning
his people? He said, cry to him, cry to him. He said in verse nine, Zion,
that bring us good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain.
Jerusalem, that brings good tidings, lift up your voice with strength. Be not afraid. Cry to them. Declare the word of the Lord.
It's going to stand forever. Preach the word to them. Thus
saith the Lord. Behold your God. Behold, the
Lord God will come. He will come. Verse 10 says,
Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand. and his arm
shall rule for him, his reward is with him, his work is before
him. He shall save his people from
their sins. He shall come and he will accomplish
everything he purposed to accomplish. He will shed his blood, he will
give his life, he will redeem them back to God. In verse two,
it says, speak comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that
her warfare is accomplished. Her iniquity is pardoned for
she's received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Now, what is our response to
that? Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Oh, Lord. Shed your blood on me. That's
the response of every child of God. That is good news. And I
need for you to shed your blood on this sinner right here. May
God cause every single one of us to cry out to him for mercy.
Till next week, 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.