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. Our message today is going to
come from 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians chapter two,
Paul is writing to the Thessalonians, speaking to them from his heart,
speaking to them in love and affection for the persecution
that they're having to endure for the truth's sake. When the
gospel came to Thessalonica, much persecution came to that
city. The people of that city did not
want to hear the truth of the Word of God and riots broke out. It was much affliction, much
tribulation. So he's writing to them to check
on them and tell them that he's praying for them and thinking
of them. He told them in verse eight, 1 Thessalonians 2 verse
eight, he said, we're affectionately desirous of you. So being affectionately
desirous, of you, we desire you, you're in our heart. And he says
in verse nine, and this is gonna be the verse that we're gonna
look at for today. Verse nine, he said, for you
remember brethren, our labor and travail, for laboring night
and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you,
we preached unto you the gospel of God. because we would not
be chargeable. He said, because we loved you. We labored. We labored for your
rest. Because we loved you, we told
you the truth. And we labored in telling the truth and telling
the truth and telling the truth. We labored for your rest. By
preaching unto you, he said, the gospel of God. the gospel
of God. Now that's what I want us to
look at for just a minute. What is the gospel of God? What is the gospel? Many people think they know what
the gospel is. But you know, it doesn't really
matter what we think the gospel is. All that matters is What
has God said the gospel is? And that's what I want us to
see. What does God say in His Word that the gospel is? In His own words, what does God
say the gospel is? I have five descriptions from
the Word that I'd like for us to see, five descriptions of
the gospel. Before we look at them though,
I want to acknowledge this about the gospel. If you're turning
with me, go to Galatians chapter one. It says in Galatians one
verse six, the apostle Paul wrote, I marvel that you are so soon
removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ
unto another gospel, which is not another. There is not another,
there's only one. This gospel of God, there's only
one. It is the gospel of God, the
gospel. For different denominations,
and this will be something that you'll be very familiar with.
You've heard this many times, I'm sure. But different denominations
acknowledge that their gospels are slightly different. And you'll
hear people say, you know, I know we're not exactly on the same
page. We differ on some things, you
know, but that's okay. We can all just embrace each
other and we'll all end up in the same place anyway. This is
shocking. I know it's shocking, but I must
tell you that's not so. That's not so. For us to say,
well, we all have these little differences. We're all different
in our own way, but it's okay. That's not so. That's not so. There is only one gospel that
saves because I truly care about the eternal state of our souls. I must tell you, there's only
one gospel that saves. only one. It is the gospel of
God, not my gospel, his gospel, her gospel, the gospel of God. That's the only one, the gospel
that God has declared in his word. Every other message is
a damning message. If a man stands up in a pulpit
and preaches a message that is not in complete agreement with
the message of this book, it is a damning message. It's not
a message that has some good in it and some bad in it and
you pick the good and throw away the bad. No, sir, it's a damning
message. There's only one message that
saves, the message God has declared. All right, so there's only one. That's the first thing I want
us to see about it. There's only one. All right, now turn with
me to Revelation 14. Revelation chapter 14, verse 6, it says,
And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel. to preach unto them that dwell
on the earth and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people. The one and only gospel is the
everlasting gospel. We will have this gospel forever. We'll have this message. We're
going to gather around, all of God's people for all of eternity
are going to gather around the preaching of the true message. And all of God's people will
enjoy and rejoice in the preaching of the true message forever. We'll hear the preaching from
the preacher forever. I'll tell you that if a person
really does not enjoy hearing the gospel down here on earth,
that person is not going to enjoy heaven too much. Heaven is gonna
be full of the Word of God, the preaching of the Word of God. It is gonna completely revolve
around worship, worship, the gospel of God. Okay, now what
is the gospel of God? Only one. It's everlasting. What is it? Let's see, five things. that our God has declared in
His Word that will describe and will define what God's gospel
is. The first thing we're gonna look
at is in Mark 1. Turn with me over to Mark 1,
verse 1. It says, the beginning of the
gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The word gospel means
glad tidings. That's what it means, glad tidings. God's gospel is the glad tidings,
the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The gospel is
about Him. Simply put, the gospel is about
Him. It's all about Him. Now hold
your place right here in Mark chapter one and look with me
at Romans chapter one. In Romans one verse nine, the
apostle Paul said, for God is my witness whom I serve with
my spirit in the gospel of His Son. The gospel is completely about
His Son. It's all about Him. It's not
about my involvement with His Son. That's not what the gospel
is. It's not about my cooperation with His Son. It's not about
my acceptance of His Son. The gospel is the declaration
of His Son, the declaration of who He is and what He has done
and where He is now. That's the gospel. It's all about
Him. Right here in Romans 1, verse
16 says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation, to the
Jew first, to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to
the Greek. The gospel is a person. The gospel's a person. The Lord
Jesus Christ, who He is, what He has done. Now, what has He
done? What has the Lord Jesus Christ
done? Well, let's look at the second thing, the second description
of the gospel. Go back to Mark 1. It says in
Mark 1 verse 14, now after that John was put in prison, Jesus
came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. Our Lord came preaching the good
news of the fact that God has a kingdom. That's the message. God has a kingdom. God has a
people. God has chosen a people to himself. Good news, great news. God has chosen a people for himself,
a kingdom. God has reconciled some sinners
to Himself and received them into His kingdom. We just read
in the book of Revelation, out of every nation, kindred, and
tongue all over this world, God has chosen a people from the
entire world, Jew and Gentile. Spiritual Israel, He calls them. Look with me if you would at
Jeremiah 24. Here in Jeremiah 24, an illustration
is given, a story is given of two baskets of figs. One basket has good figs in it,
newly ripe, perfect for eating. And the other basket has, it's
described as evil figs, ruined figs, figs that cannot be eaten. And in Jeremiah 24, verse four,
it says, again, the word of the Lord came unto me saying, thus
saith the Lord, the God of Israel, like these good figs, so will
I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah. whom I
have set out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for
their good. For I will set mine eyes upon
them for good, and I will bring them again to this land, and
I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them
and not pluck them up. and I will give them in heart
to know me, that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people,
and I will be their God, for they shall return unto me with
their whole heart." Did you notice how many times he said I in those
verses? How many times he said I, I,
I before he said they? He said, I will do this. I will do this. And that's the
gospel. That's the gospel. He said, I
am going to take out their old heart. I'm going to put in a
new heart. I'm going to draw them to myself. He said, a remnant is going to
be saved. They're going to be my people.
I'm going to be their God. That sounds like good news to
me. That's wonderful news. Me trying to save myself? Me doing all that I can do to
try to save myself and me having to convince this wicked heart
to choose him when this heart just loves the world and feeds
on the world? That's terrible news. The bondage
of now you have to, you better, you better, that's terrible news.
But thank God that's not the gospel. When a man declares that,
he's not declaring the gospel. The gospel is he accomplished
the work. He did the choosing. He did the
drawing. He established his kingdom. He
did it. And of his kingdom, the scripture
says there'll be no end. There'll be no end. That's the
good news. All right, number three, turn with me over to Acts
chapter 20. This is the third description
that our Lord has given. Acts chapter 20 verse 22 says,
And now behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not
knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the
Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions
abide me, but none of these things move me, neither count I my life
dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and
the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify
the gospel of the grace of God." The gospel of God is the declaration
of God's grace. That's the gospel. Grace means
unmerited favor. It means free gift. Free gift, it means freely bestowed. None of you, I'm sure, work for
companies that freely bestow paychecks. None of you. you receive your paycheck from
merited favor. Merited favor. What that means
is you earned it. What you get from them, you earned
it. It's merited, not freely bestowed. It's merited. Now that's not
how it works with the gospel of God. The way it works with
our paycheck, is the exact opposite of how it works with the gospel
of God. This is the absolute truth based on the word of God.
If you try to earn it, you can't have it. That's the truth. If you try to earn it, you cannot
have it. The glad tidings of God is everything
that he has given to sinners is absolutely free. Everything
from God to sinners is absolutely free. Free to the sinner. It came at a great price, but
it's free to the sinner. Now somebody's gonna say, well,
that worries me. To hear that, that absolutely worries me. And
the reason is because I don't deserve it. If he doesn't give
it to everybody, he only gives it to some and it's absolutely
free What worries me about that is I don't deserve it. I know
I don't deserve it. If I don't do anything to earn
it, I can't see one good reason why God would give it to me. I'm unworthy. I'm the worst. I don't deserve His freely bestowed
favor. All right, there's our comfort.
If that's what we're saying within our hearts, then there's our
comfort. If we deserved it, it would no
longer be grace. If we deserved it, it would no
longer be mercy. No longer be. The gospel of God
is the gospel of the grace of God. The freely bestowed gift,
the unmerited favor. The fact that he gives this gift
to those who don't deserve it. That's who receives the free
gift, those who don't deserve it. A man said years ago his
son was standing in a courtroom about to be sentenced to prison
and the father of this young man was standing in the courtroom
and he asked if he could asked the judge a question before he
gave his sentence. And the judge said, yes, you're
free to ask the question. And he said, your honor, is there
any room for mercy? And the judge said, based on
what your son has done, he doesn't deserve mercy. And he said, I
know that, your honor, but if he deserved it, it wouldn't be
mercy. That's who God bestows His gift
to, the undeserving, the undeserving, that's grace. All right, here's
the fourth thing. Turn with me to Romans chapter
10. Romans chapter 10 says in verse
13, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. How then shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace. and bring glad tidings of good
things. The gospel of God is the gospel
of peace. Peace with God. Peace with God. How can a sinner have peace with
God? Where can a sinner find peace
with God? in the gospel of His Son. The
gospel is entirely a person. The gospel of Christ. The gospel
of the kingdom is the gospel of Christ. Every soul in this
kingdom is in Christ. The gospel of grace is the gospel
of Christ. He is the gift. He is the gift. For God so loved the world, He
gave. He freely gave to His kingdom. HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON. CHRIST
IS THE GIFT. IN CHRIST JESUS YE WHO SOMETIMES
WERE FAR OFF ARE MADE NIGH BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST FOR HE IS
OUR PEACE. OUR PEACE IS A PERSON. Our peace
is a person. He is our peace who hath made
both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us, having abolished in His flesh on the cross everything
He accomplished on the cross, having abolished in His flesh
the enmity. That means enemies. Those who
are at enmity against God, they're the enemies of God. in the flesh
by nature, and He abolished that. He abolished in His flesh the
enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances for to
make in Himself of twain one new man. God united us with Him,
quickened us together with Him, so making peace. That's Ephesians
2, 13. The gospel is not, this is not
the gospel. This is not the gospel. Now you've
angered God. You've angered God. You better
make it right or else. That's not the gospel. This is
the gospel. We all have angered God in our
sin. God is angry with the wicked.
He hates sin. He punishes sin. But God was
in Christ reconciling the world to himself. God made it right. God made it right. Peace on earth. Isn't that what the angels announced
when he came? Glory to God in the highest.
Peace on earth. Goodwill toward men. The song
says, peace on earth and mercy mild. God and sinners are reconciled. Reconciled in the death of Christ.
Peace be unto you. That's the gospel. Peace in Him. Last one, number five. Turn with
me over to Ephesians chapter 1. In Ephesians 1 verse 12 says
that we should be to the praise of His glory who first trusted
in Christ in whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation." The gospel of your
salvation. The gospel of God is not a generic
gospel. This is critical information. The gospel of God is not a generic
gospel. The gospel of God is not a general
gospel. It is not a universal gospel. It is a particular gospel. It's
a very particular gospel. It's to a particular people. It's a personal gospel. Personal. God's message truly becomes the
gospel. when it becomes my gospel. A sinner hears the gospel, he
hears the truth, he hears what Christ has done for sinners,
and through God's Spirit, he convinces the heart of that sinner,
Christ did this for me. I'm one of his. This is not just
the gospel, this is my gospel. That's the moment it becomes
good news. It's not enough for me to just
know that Christ came to save sinners. I need to know that
Christ came to save me. I need to know that. I need to
know that He came to save the chief of sinners, me. Well, that's what the gospel
of God cries. In Ephesians 2 verse 1, He said,
and you, and you hath He quickened, you, me. That message will come
to a sinner, and if that sinner belongs to God, that sinner will
believe it. He'll believe it. The Apostle
Paul said many times in his letters, this is my gospel. This is my
gospel. Why? Why do you say that, Paul?
Because Christ came to save the ungodly. That's what he wrote. It's because Christ came to save
the ungodly and that's what I am. That's all that I am. In my flesh,
by nature, as I stand before him, and everything I've committed
in my life, everything that I've done, all I can say is I'm an
ungodly sinner. The one and only gospel of God
is the gospel of Christ. The gospel of the kingdom. God
has a people. The gospel of his grace. Salvation
has come to each one of those people freely. It's a freely
bestowed gift. The gospel of peace, that gift,
which is Christ Himself, that gift made peace. That gift reconciled
all of God's people back to Him. And it's the gospel of our salvation. This applies to me. This applies
to, I pray this applies to both of us. I pray God will convince
us through His Spirit, by His Word. Christ came to save sinners
and I'm one of them. I'm one of them. May that be
our gospel, may this gospel, the gospel of God, be our gospel. Till 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.