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 this morning from Ephesians chapter 3. If you would like
to take your Bible and turn with me there, We're going to look
at a few verses in this passage of Scripture, but let's begin
with verse 11, Ephesians 3 verse 11. It says, according to the
eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now, if we would like a key to
this whole thing. A key that unlocks the mystery
of this whole thing, the mystery of God, the mystery of salvation. If we would like a key, it's
in this word right here, purpose. It's in that word, purpose, purpose. If we ever come to know something
of God's purpose, If God ever reveals to us something of His
purpose, not His plan, not His hope, His purpose, if we ever
come to know something of that, we'll come to know something
of the true and living God. And we'll come to know something
of His gospel, what His gospel actually is. The message of the
gospel is not And this is so important. It is so important
that you and I both understand this. The message of the gospel
is not a how-to. The message is not how-to. The true message of God's gospel,
the message of this word is not how to be saved. That's not the
message. That is not God's gospel. The aim of the gospel message
is not to get us to do anything. That's not the aim of this message
right now, as it's coming to you right now. That is not the
point of this message. It's not to get us to do something
or not do something. It's not to get us to start doing
things or stop doing things, which that's what most people
believe the message is. Not what it is. Not at all. Every human being on this earth
knows what he or she ought to do and ought not to do. It's
written on the tables of the heart. It's written on the conscience
of the mind. Every human being knows. Let's
just ask a couple of questions. Should you and I Cuss or not
cuss? Should filthy language come out
of our mouth or not? Well, we know the answer to that.
You and I both know the answer to that. What about this one? Should we steal or not steal? If there's something that does
not belong to us, we didn't pay for it, it's not ours, should
we take it or not? We know the answer to that. What about this one? Should we
bow the knee to God or not bow the knee to God? Which one should
it be? Well, we know the answer. We
know the answer to that. The message of the gospel has
nothing to do with what man ought to do. I'm gonna repeat that
because this is so critical. I have much to say in this message,
but this is so critical. I want to make this so clear.
The message of the gospel has nothing to do with what man ought
to do. The message of the gospel is
a declaration of what Christ has already done. Now, that's
the truth. That's the truth. The gospel
declares what is already finished. This right now, this right here,
is an announcement. It's not a plea to sinners to
do anything. This is an announcement. This
is a declaration sent straight from the king. The gospel is
a declaration of what is already finished. The gospel announces
the unchangeable. It doesn't say, well, God will
do this. If you'll do that, it's all dependent
on how we cooperate here. That's not the gospel. It's a
notification of the absolute unchangeable. Unchangeable. Now, the reason it's called the
gospel is because this unchangeable announcement of what Christ has
already finished is good news. That's what gospel means. Good
news, wonderful news, glad tidings. It is happy, happy news. Look
with me right here in Ephesians 3 at verse 1. It says, for this
cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
if you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is
given me to you, or this message that God has given me to declare
to you, he's saying. Verse 3, how that by revelation
he made known unto me the mystery. as I wrote afore in few words,
whereby when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the
mystery of Christ." He's saying, God revealed some things to me
concerning this mystery of the gospel, this mystery of salvation
in Christ, and He's commanded me to declare it to you. Verse
five, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons
of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets
by the Spirit, And here's what it is, that the Gentiles, which
is every person who is not a Jew, those in the Scripture who were
considered heathens and outcasts, the Gentiles, those who did not
deserve it, those who were not promised it, were not owed it,
that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and
partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel. whereof I was
made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God
given unto me by the effectual working of His power. He called
me to declare this. Unto me, who am less than the
least of all saints, is this grace given that I should preach
among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. and to make
all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the
beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things
by Jesus Christ, to the intent that now unto the principalities
and powers and heavenly places he might be known by the church
the manifold wisdom of God. He said every bit of that, verse
11, is according to the eternal purpose, which He purposed in
Christ Jesus our Lord. That's the eternal purpose. God's eternal purpose. Everything that God has done,
every single thing that God has done, He has done according to
His eternal purpose. Everything that he will ever
do, he will do it according to his eternal purpose. Everything. There are no accidents
with God. We say, well, that was an accident.
There are no accidents with God. None. There are no surprises
with God. God never tries anything and
the devil messes it up on him and now he has to go back and
fix it. No way. There are no accidents, there
are no surprises, there are no changes. Not with God. He said, I'm the Lord, I change
not. That's why you sons of Jacob are not consumed. There is only
His eternal purpose. It's all there is with God, His
eternal purpose. Now, everything that is, is in
and according to His eternal purpose. Everything that is.
Everything that is. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes
chapter three, to everything there is a season. and a time
to every purpose under heaven. There's a time to be born. There's
a time to die. All of our days are numbered.
Your days are numbered. My days are numbered. We cannot
pass. Men are always talking about,
well, let's do this and let's do that so we can lengthen our
lifespan. That's not a possibility. Our
days are numbered. Job said, man's days are determined. The number of his months are
with thee. Thou hast appointed his bounds. He cannot pass. It's all purposed. Solomon also said in Ecclesiastes
3, there's a time to weep and there's a time to laugh. Those
times have been purposed. The things that take place in
our lives that cause us to weep, they make us so sad. And the
things that take place in our lives that cause us to laugh,
they bring such joy to us. Those things come to us exactly
according to God's purpose. Everything, everything. Solomon said, there's a time
of war, there's a time of peace. Everything that's taking place
out in the world, it's following God's direct purpose. Everything,
everything is according to His eternal purpose, all of it. Look
with me if you would at Matthew chapter 10. If you have a Bible,
I encourage you to flip with me over to Matthew 10 and see
some of these things for yourself. It says in Matthew 10 verse 29,
are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall
not fall on the ground without your father. A sparrow cannot
fall on the ground. This word is true. God never
lies, God never exaggerates. A sparrow cannot die and fall
on the ground. This says a sparrow cannot fall
on the ground. Not outside of God's eternal
purpose for that sparrow. Verse 30 says, but the very hairs
of your head are all numbered. We cannot grow a hair. We cannot lose a hair outside
of God's purpose concerning our hair. That sounds so trivial,
doesn't it? It's so. That's absolutely so. This shows us how absolute How
sovereign, how detailed our God is in every way, every way. This is the Almighty we're talking
about. This is God, the all-controlling
God. Everything is ordered and controlled
according to His purpose. In Isaiah chapter 14, it says
in Isaiah 14 verse 24, The Lord of hosts hath sworn,
saying, Surely, as I have thought, so shall it come to pass. He
said, As I have thought, so shall it come to pass. And as I have
purposed, so shall it stand. that I will break the Assyrian
in my land, and upon my mountains tread him underfoot. Then shall
his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off
their shoulders. This is the purpose that is purposed
upon the whole earth. And this is the hand that is
stretched out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed,
and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out
and who shall turn it back? Who's gonna be able to stop me?
That's what he's saying. Nothing can happen outside of
his purpose, nothing. Nothing that he has purposed
shall fail, nothing. Everything is set, ordered and
sure forever, every bit of it. In Isaiah 46, God said in verse
5, to whom will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare
me that we may be like? They lavish gold out of the bag,
and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith, and he
maketh it a god. They fall down, yea, they worship.
They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him and set him in
his place, and he standeth. From his place shall he not remove,
yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer nor save
him out of his trouble." You see what he's saying? They take
some gold or some silver and they melt it down and form a
little god, and the god can't move. They have to pick that
god up and set him up, and they cry to him, but he can't do anything.
He said, to whom will you liken me? Man makes all these little
gods. Verse eight, remember this and
show yourselves men, bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors,
remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is
none else. I am God and there is none like
me. Declaring the end from the beginning. He said, I declare everything
that's gonna happen in the end from the beginning. I foretell
everything that's going to take place. Acts 15 verse 18 says,
known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
He knew everything he was going to do from the beginning of the
world. He purposed every single thing,
no matter how great the thing was or how small the thing was. It was all ordered and sure from
the beginning. Verse 10 says, declaring the
end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that
are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand and I will
do all my pleasure. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country,
yea, I have spoken it. I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it. I will also do it. He said, I
purposed it, I will also do it. Everything he purposed, he purposed
before the foundation of the world. Some have already come
to pass some things. Some are coming to pass and some
will come to pass. But not one of them will ever
fail. Not one of them. None are left up to chance. Not one of his purposes are left
up to chance. None are dependent on someone
or something else. None of His purposes. Everything
bows, whether it realizes it or not. Everything bows to His
eternal purpose, which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now,
when it comes to the good news of the gospel, I want to show
you a few things that God has purposed in Himself to do and
did. Our text said back in Ephesians
3 verse 9 that He created all things by Jesus Christ and He
did that according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in
Jesus Christ. Before the foundation of the
world, before time, God purposed to create man knowing that man
would fall, knowing that he would fall into sin, knowing that he
would rebel against him. Over in Genesis chapter 2, it
says in Genesis 2 verse 17, but of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day
that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. In the day,
he did not say, if you eat of it, he said, in the day that
you eat of it. In the day that you disobey me. He knew they were going to. He
knew that man would fall. He created man knowing he would
fall. Well, how can we be so sure of that? How can we know
for a fact that that is so? How can we know that God, in
His eternal purpose, knew man would fall? Here's how we can
know. He slew a lamb. He slew a lamb. Peter said, We
were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, but
with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb, without blemish
and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation
of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.
The death of Christ on the cross was not an afterthought. It was not an afterthought. It
was not a fix to a situation that had gone horribly wrong.
God created all of these things and man just ruined it and the
devil ruined it and so he came up with a fix to make it right
again. That's not so, that's not the case. It was the eternal
purpose of God, every bit of it. Turn with me over to Revelation
chapter 13. In Revelation 13, verse 8 says,
and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, and that's
talking about the adversary, the devil, whose names are not
written in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. From eternity, God purposed to
create a people in spite of their sinfulness. And from eternity,
God purposed to slay His own Son to put away their sin. All from eternity. Now, did He
do that for every soul that sinned? Every single soul? Did Christ
die for everybody? Did God shed the blood of His
own precious Son, empty the blood out of His own precious Son to
just generally offer it to whoever's willing to take it? No, sir. Absolutely not. Back in eternity,
God purposed to write the names of every person that the Lamb
would be slain for. Every single one of them, particularly. Individually, they're all written
in a book and he calls it the book of life. Of the lamb slain, every soul
that the lamb would be effectually, purposefully, on purpose, slain
for, not generally slain, purposefully slain. These are particular people
that God purposed to choose in Christ Jesus our Lamb. He put
them in Christ. They were slain in Him. Every name that is written in
that book is going to be saved. Every one of them going to be
saved. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. They're going
to be kept in that blood, saved in the blood. Revelation 20 verse
12 says, And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before
God. And the books were opened, and another book was opened,
which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books according to their
works." The books, plural, that's everything they did in their
life according to their works. But the book, singular. Verse
14 says, death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This
is the second death and whosoever was not found written in the
book of life was cast into the lake of fire. I want to be in
that book. Don't you? I want to be in that
book. I don't want to be judged according
to my works. Not at all. There's no hope in
that. Man thinks, well, you better
fix your works. There's no hope in that. Let's all straighten
up and fly right. That's a good thing to do, but
there's no hope in that, not eternally. We must be written
in the book that the lamb was slain for. We must have the blood
of that lamb. How can I know if I'm in that
book? How can you know if you're in that book? Turn with me over
to 2 Timothy 1. It says in 2 Timothy 1 verse
9, Who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, free
gift, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Every soul that He has saved,
He will call. He saved us and He called us. He will call every one of them
to Himself. He will cause them to hear His
voice, the true God of Scripture, not the one that we made up in
our minds. Well, I think God is like this. This is how God
says He is in reality. Every child will be called to
hear the voice of God and believe His Word. Every one of them. God's people do not know that
their names are written in that book because they've seen the
book. God's people know their names are in that book because
they believe His Word. He saved us and He called us. God's purpose before the world
began was to create man in spite of his sin. God purposed to slay
His own Son to pay for that sin. God purposed to write the name
of every soul that He would do this for in the book of life. And God purposed to call each
one of them to Himself, every single one of them. And God has
purposed for all eternity to be their God and dwell with them
forever. Go over about two pages to Titus
chapter one. Look with me right here in Titus
chapter one, verse two. It says, in hope of eternal life,
which God that cannot lie promised before the world began." Eternal
life that He promised before the world began. That was His
eternal purpose, which He purposed in Christ Jesus before the world
began. That in Him, in Him, everything
that we lost in the fall, would be reinstated. Life would
be reinstated. Acceptance with God would be
reinstated. All the spiritual blessings in
heavenly places, re-given. That's God's gospel. That is
the good news. That's not asking me and you
to do anything. That's a notification of what God has already done
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul called it in our text,
unsearchable riches. The glory of unsearchable riches.
Every good purpose of God towards sinners, every one of them, can
only be found in Christ. All of God's good purpose, that
He purposed, is in the Lord Jesus Christ. All of it, all of this
is in Him. If we're in Him, we're in God's
eternal purpose. Oh, may God put us in Christ.
Till next week, may the Lord bless this 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.