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 invite your attention
to the book of Psalms. I love the book of Psalms and
am so comforted by this particular book that David and many other
men took part in writing, in penning. I want to invite you
to Psalm 106. One particular verse will be
our text, but I'd like to begin by just skimming through a few
of the verses. Let me just read a few of these
verses to you. Psalm 106, verse one. It says, praise ye the Lord. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Who can utter
the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can show forth all his praise? Blessed are they that keep judgment,
and he that doeth righteousness at all times. Remember me, O
Lord, with the favor that Thou bearest unto Thy people. O, visit
me with Thy salvation, that I may see the good of Thy chosen, that
I may rejoice in the gladness of Thy nation, that I may glory
with Thine inheritance. We have sinned with our fathers. We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly. Our fathers understood not thy
wonders in Egypt. They remembered not the multitude
of thy mercies, but provoked Him at the sea, even at the Red
Sea. Nevertheless, He saved them for
His namesake, that He might make His mighty power to be known.
He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up. So He led
them through the depths as through the wilderness, and He saved
them from the hand of Him that hated them, and redeemed them
from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their
enemies. There was not one of them left.
Then believed they his words. They sang his praise. Now listen to verse 13. They
soon forgot his works. Verse 12, they believed. They
believed his words. They sang his praise. Verse 13,
they soon forgot his works. They waited not for his counsel.
That's amazing, isn't it? But that's the way of man. God's
wonder in being so good and merciful and kind to man and he just soon
forgets, does not regard God at all. Verse 14 says, not only
did he forget, it says, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness
and tempted God in the desert. Verse 16 says, they envied Moses
also in the camp and Aaron, the saint of the Lord. Verse 19 says,
they made a calf in Horeb and worshiped the molten image. God
did all of this for them. They melted all their gold down
and made a calf and worshiped an idol. Verse 20, thus they
changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth
grass. They forgot God, their Savior,
which had done great things in Egypt. Verse 24 says, yea, they
despised the pleasant land. They believed not his word. God
was sending them to a promised land. They despised it, didn't
believe his word. Verse 25 says, but murmured in
their tents and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord. Verse
28, it says, They joined themselves also to Bealpior, and ate the
sacrifices of the dead. Thus they provoked him to anger
with their inventions, and the plague break in upon them. This is a sad people, isn't it?
You know who they represent? Me and you. In verse 32 it says,
They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it
went ill with Moses for their sakes, because they provoked
his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips. They
did not destroy the nations concerning whom the Lord commanded them,
but were mingled among the heathen and learned their works. and
they served their idols, which were a snare unto them. Yea,
they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,
and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of
their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan. And
the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their
own works, and went a-whoring with their own inventions. Therefore
was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people in so much
that he abhorred his own inheritance." Now, how terrible is that? How
terrible is that? All right, now I want us to read
verse eight one more time. Nevertheless, he saved them. For his name's sake, that he
might make his mighty power to be known. Sometimes you read a verse of
scripture and it just grabs you. It just gets your attention.
And that was the case for that one verse of scripture entering
in to everything that this chapter has to say about God's people.
how they provoked him, how they angered him, how they sinned
against him, rebelled against him, rejected him. It says, nevertheless,
and that's the beauty of the gospel. That's the good news
and the joy of the gospel. Nevertheless, in spite of them,
he saved them for his name's sake that he might make his mighty
power to be known. Now, I would like for us to see
four points in that verse of scripture. The outline of this
message is going to be a four-point outline. We're going to follow
each point. I want to tell you what they
are, and then we'll get right into them. The first point is
the Savior. I'd like for us to see the Savior.
The second point is the saved. who he saved. The third point
is the reason for the salvation. Why did God save him? And the
fourth point is the summary of it all in one word, the summary
of the whole thing in one word. All right, let's get right into
it. Point number one, verse eight says, nevertheless, he saved
them. He saved them. Who is He? Who is He? Well, clearly this
chapter is telling us the story of Moses leading the children
of Israel out of Egypt and all of the time that they spent wandering
in the wilderness. But Moses is not the one who
saved them. Moses did not save them. Aaron
was the high priest Aaron did not save them. All through this word, all through
the Old Testament, all of the prophets, the prophets never
saved anyone. This is very critical for us
to understand. The prophets, Moses never saved
anyone. Aaron never saved anyone. The
prophets never saved one person. The apostles all through the
New Testament, the apostles never saved one person. The apostles never saved anyone.
Matthew chapter one, verse 21 says, call his name Jesus or
He shall save His people from their sins. He is Christ Jesus,
our Lord. He is the one who saved them. He is the one who saves every
single time. Somebody will say, well, wait
a minute, we're reading Psalm 106. Jesus Christ wasn't even
born yet. God is the one who saved them. To that, I say, amen. That's exactly right. God is
the one who saved them. Jesus Christ himself said, before
Abraham was, I am. He told Moses, you tell him,
I am. I sent you. I am. Always, I am. Before Abraham
ever existed, I am. He said, I am the door, one door,
not a door. He said, by me, if any man enter
in, he shall be saved. He said, I am the way, one way,
not a way, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No
man cometh to the Father, but by me. He said, I am the good
shepherd, and the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. I lay down my life, and I do
that to save them. Look with me if you would at
Hebrews chapter nine. Over in Hebrews nine, it says
in verse 11, but Christ being come and high priest of good
things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle. The
tabernacle in the Old Testament was a picture of Jesus Christ,
the one who would come to make intercession on behalf of his
people unto God. And it says, by a greater and
more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say,
not of this building, Neither by the blood of goats and calves,
but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption. for us eternal redemption. Right here in Hebrews 9 verse
25 says, nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high
priest entereth into the holy place every year with the blood
of others. That high priest who was a picture
of Christ offering the blood of bulls and goats, which was
a picture of the blood of Christ. He had to go in every year. As
a matter of fact, we're about to read those high priests never
stopped making sacrifices because the people kept sinning and sacrifice
had to be made. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission. But it was not the blood of bulls
and goats that saved anybody. All of those priests throughout
the Old Testament, they never saved anybody. They pointed us
to Christ. They pointed us to Him alone.
And Christ did not have to go in often and offer Himself because
Men and women kept sinning and kept sinning. One offering was
all it took. One perfect, spotless offering. Verse 26 right here says, For
then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world,
but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself, And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ
was once offered to bear the sins of many, not all, but thank
God, many. And unto them that look for Him
shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation. It's appointed unto men once
to die. And every soul that God the Father gave to God the Son
Every soul who died in Him when He died on that cross, every
soul who died with Him, that's where they died. It's appointed
once to die. Now, we will lay this body of
flesh down, but all of God's people died in Him. In chapter
10, verse 10, it says, by the witch will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all,
once for all of His people. And every priest standeth daily,
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can
never take away sins. But this man, Jesus Christ, He,
this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down on the right hand of God. There is a fountain filled
with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, God's own veins, God with
us. And sinners plunged beneath that
flood lose all their guilty stains. Who is the Savior? Christ Jesus
the Lord. He is the Savior. But this is what He Himself said.
These are His own words. This is so holy to me. I speak
this to you. I repeat this and declare this
reverently, fearfully to you. This is so holy. He said, I can
of mine own self do nothing. As I hear, I judge. And my judgment
is just because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the
Father which hath sent me. He said in John 10, I and my
Father are one. He said, I can do nothing of
my own self because I and my Father are one. He said in John
14, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. To say
that God the Son is the Savior is to say that God the Father
is the Savior. Because when He looked at us,
when the Father looked at us in His Son, and that's how God
the Father has always looked at His people, in His Son, as
they stand in His Son. When He looked at us in His Son,
our time was a time of love. God the Father so loved the world
He gave His only begotten Son. It was the Father who chose us
in Christ. It was the Father who laid our
sins on Christ. And it's the Father who welcomes
every prodigal back home, every prodigal son back home. So to
say the Son is the Savior is to say the Father is the Savior.
They're one, their work is one. Now look with me if you would
at Ephesians chapter one. In Ephesians chapter one, it
says in verse 13, in whom you also trusted, after that you
heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in
whom also after that you believed, You were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise. God's Holy Spirit is the one
who puts the seal on the sinner. To say that He saved them is
to say Father, Son, and Spirit. These three are one. The Spirit will not seal without
the blood of Jesus Christ. God's Holy Spirit will not seal
without that blood. And Christ will not pour one
drop of blood, one drop of His precious blood without the loving
election of the Father. So the Godhead, all three, God,
He saved them. All right, now go with me back
to our text. In Psalm 106, point number two, Psalm 106 verse eight,
it says, nevertheless, he saved them. He saved them. Who are them? Who are the saved? Well, it's
not naturally who you would think it would be. It's not who the flesh would
assume it would be by any means. He tells us who it is right here
in verse six. Right here in this chapter, verse
six, it says, we have sinned with our fathers. Our fathers
did sin. Yes, they most certainly did.
Our first father, Adam, he sinned and every father since him has
sinned and so have we. We have sinned with our fathers.
We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly. That's who God saved. That's
who God chose to have mercy on. Verse seven says, our fathers
understood not thy wonders in Egypt. They were completely ignorant
of thy wonders. All the wonders that you did
in Egypt, completely ignorant. The saved are a sinful people. The saved are an ignorant people.
That describes me in my flesh. A people who naturally understand
not. Verse seven says, they remembered
not the multitude of thy mercies. They are an ungrateful people. So ungrateful. Verse seven goes
on to say, but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea. They are a rebellious people.
A sinful, ignorant, ungrateful, rebellious people. That's who
God chose to save. Not who you'd naturally think,
but that's who God chose to save. That ought to be the greatest
news we've ever heard. You and I both, because that's
what we are. That's what I am. That's what
you are in our flesh. There is salvation for the sinful. That's the good news of the gospel.
There is salvation for the sinful. There is redemption for the ignorant. There is forgiveness for the
ungrateful. And there's mercy for the rebellious. There's a poem that I read and
I love this. A man wrote, Are not His mercies
rich and free? Then say, my soul, why not for
thee? Our Lord died upon the tree. Then why, my soul, why not for
thee? Is God rich in mercy? Then why
not mercy for me? If there's mercy to be had, why
not for me? He said He had a remnant. He
says he has an elect people. He said it's according to grace.
Free gift. I'm a sinner who needs grace.
Are you a sinner who needs grace? And why not you and me? Why not
us? So who did the saving? He did. Who did he save? Sinners. Point
number three, the reason for his salvation. Why would this
three times Holy God, Father, Son, and Spirit, why would He
save sinners like us? What could possibly be the reason
that He would do that for us? Verse eight says, He saved them
for His name's sake. That's why. For His name's sake. There was no other reason than
that. There was nothing in us. There was nothing about us that
made us worthy. Or made us attractive to him
in any way, shape or form. Nothing drew us to him. Nothing
drew him to us. It was only for his name's sake. Call His name Jesus because that's
who He is. He is the Savior. That's who He is. That's what
He has done. God revealed His nature to us. God revealed His character to
us. He revealed the desire of His
own heart in saving us. God is love. He is. The choice of the Father, the
blood of the Son, the seal of the Spirit, every bit of that
comes from the love of God. God is love. Now, if we don't
have those three, the choice of the Father, the blood of the
Son, the seal of the Spirit, then we don't have God's love. But in those three things, God
is love, God is grace, God is kindness. He is a gracious God,
slow to wrath, plenteous in mercy. He saved sinners because His
name declares Him to be the only mediator between God and sinners. If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. That's who He
is. Verse eight says, he saved them for his name's sake, that
he might make his mighty power to be known. He saved them for
his eternal glory's sake. His name is his glory. Moses
said, show me your glory. And he said, okay, this is what
it is. I'll save. I'll have mercy. I'll have mercy. All to the praise of his glory.
Go with me one more time to Ephesians one, It says in verse four, according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love, he
chose us. having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to
the good pleasure of His will. Verse six says, to the praise
of His glory. It was all to the praise of His
glory. Ephesians chapter two, verse
four says, God who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith
He loved us when we were dead in sins, He quickened us together
with Christ. By grace are you saved? He raised
us up. Why did He do that? Verse seven,
that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches
of His grace in His kindness toward us. It's for His glory,
the glory of His name. All right, now, He is the Savior. Christ is the Savior. Who did
He save? Sinners. Why did He do it? For His namesake, to reveal who
He is and reveal His glory. Now here's number four, the summary
of it all in one word. Back in our text, Psalm 106 verse
8 says, nevertheless. That's the summary of it all
in one word. That's the glory of the gospel
in one word. They were so sinful and so ignorant. Nevertheless, they were so ungrateful
and so rebellious. Nevertheless, they did not deserve
his love and his affection and his favor. Nevertheless, They
were so weak in the flesh. They were so taken and consumed
by this world. Nevertheless, they added nothing
to Him. No glory to Him. They couldn't
even glory in Him. Nevertheless, they're gonna keep
coming back and begging for more because they're in such great
need. There's such centers in need. Nevertheless, He saved
them for his name's sake that he might make his mighty power
to be known. That's glorious news. That is
glorious news. If you're a sinner like me, that's
wonderful news. Nevertheless, 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.