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 one verse of scripture in 1 Peter chapter 3. If you
would like to be turning there with me in your Bible, to 1 Peter
3, I have something that I pray will be a blessing to you and
a help. I pray this will be a true help,
a practical help regarding the subject of witnessing the truth
to people. That is something that I believe
can be a difficult thing to do. and it can be hard to find the
right words. And so I pray the Lord might
use this to be a blessing and a help in that regard. Now, our text is 1 Peter 3, verse
15. It says, but sanctify the Lord
God in your hearts and be ye ready always to give an answer
to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is
in you with meekness and fear. He said, sanctify the Lord God
in your heart and be ready to give an answer to every man that
asks you of the reason of the hope that's
in you. He said, do it with meekness and do it with the fear of the
Lord. Now, every God-called sinner, all men and women are sinners,
but God calls some to himself. And every God-called sinner is
what he is by the grace of God. Grace means free gift. The free, loving favor, loving
kindness, tender mercy of God. We are what we are by the grace
of God. God, in His time, comes to each one of His people. It
may be a different time for each person, for to some He comes
early in life, to some He comes later in life, but He comes to
all of His people. He comes by His Spirit to every
child of his, and he quickens that child from death to life. Turns the light on. He opens
the eyes. They're quickened to spiritual
life in Christ. They see his truth. They're quickened
to the word. He turns the light on. And when he does that, even though
they all see, as the scripture says, through a glass darkly.
Meaning. Even though our fleshly eyes
cannot see and understand the things of God. In their fullness. The things of eternity in the
fullness that God has declared it in even so. This is what happens. when God convinces his people
that they do see the truth. They become convinced that I
have seen something of God's truth in the word, and it is
the truth indeed. Every soul is convinced this
is the truth indeed. They are convinced God has revealed
absolute truth to me before I believed a lie. I was following a lie.
This is the truth. So in excitement, whenever that
happens to a center. In excitement and in thankfulness.
That man or that woman in love and concern for other men and
women for the souls of. Those that they know and love,
in excitement and in thankfulness, they run out. As soon as they
see these things, God opens their eyes and then they run out and
they try to tell everybody they can, I found the truth. This
is the truth. I've had the truth revealed to
me by God Almighty. The only problem for them is
this. They cannot quite figure out how to put it into words.
How do I put the glory of the truth that God has revealed into
words? They want to tell everybody.
They want to tell everybody that they can. They just don't know
how to say it. Quite a while back, there was
a man who asked another man a question. He didn't ask me. I was there,
but he wasn't speaking to me. He asked another man a question.
And this is what he said. This is a man who had seen some
things of the truth and the word. And this was his question. He
said, I'm telling people what I'm saying. And they're asking
me to to explain it more deeply, they're asking me what exactly
is it that I believe and have seen, and he said, I'm trying
to answer him. But I just don't know what to
say, I don't know how to. Find the brief words. I don't
know how to find the right words. He said, he asked this other
man, he said, can you help me summarize it? We have just a brief moment to
tell somebody the truth that we've seen in the word. And he
said, can you help me find some words to put it into that brief
explanation? What do I say? What do I say? How do I best describe what God
has revealed to me in his word? How do I do that? Well, I was
thinking as I listened to that man ask this other man the question,
I was thinking, what would I respond? If he was talking to me right
now, how would I respond? What would I say? What would
I tell him to answer? This is what we preach, this
is what we believe, this is what the truth, of the word says simply
directly put. What would I say? Because the
scripture says be ready to give an answer. If somebody asked
me that, and if somebody asked you that. What would you say? What would we say? This morning? I have two answers to give you. Two answers to give you. Now. There is only one answer. There
is only one truth. But from a real point of view,
from a practical point of view, when somebody asks you to give
that answer, the question is, how do I put that answer into
my own words? What do I say? So in a sense,
we all have our own answer to give. There's only one answer.
There's only one truth. What is the truth? One truth.
How do I say it in my own words? I want to tell you, first, the
answer that some believing men gave who lived in a period of
time called the Reformation. They gave a good, clear, to the
point answer. And then, after much thought
on this subject and much prayer on this subject, I have an answer
in my own words that I believe is to the point. And I pray,
this is my prayer in this, that maybe the Lord will help you
when the time comes to give your answer. And as you search your
own heart, what do I believe? What has God revealed to me?
What does this word say? Now, I don't know who specifically
was the man who said this, but men like Martin Luther and John
Calvin and. Those men gave an answer. To
the truth of the word that they held to and in every believing
child of God gives this same answer. This was the summary
they gave. Scriptures alone. Faith alone, grace alone, Christ
alone, the glory of God alone. That's a good answer. What do
we preach and what do we believe and what does this word declare? What has God said in this word?
Scripture's alone. Faith alone. Grace alone. Christ alone. The glory of God alone. Alone. All right? Scriptures alone. You may have heard of the Bereans.
In the book of Acts, it talks about the Bereans. It says they
were more noble than the Thessalonians. because they searched the scriptures
daily to see whether these things were so. And I want to deeply
urge you to do the same thing. Get your Bible with me. Let's
open these things together. Let's search these things to
see whether or not they're so. Am I telling you the truth? If
not, you better not listen to me. But if I am, if I am repeating
God's truth, then it must be Scriptures alone. This is our
only hope. Don't ever just take a man's
word for the things of religion. Search the Scripture. Search
the Scriptures. When it comes to the authority
for what we believe and the source for what we believe, the answer
is Scriptures alone. Well, so-and-so wrote a book
on, that doesn't matter. Doesn't matter who wrote the
book, it's scriptures alone. If it's in agreement with this
word, okay. But if it's not, it's scriptures
alone. Where every man and woman goes
wrong, who ends up falling into the error of false religion,
there's false religion everywhere. And where men and women go wrong
is And our Lord is the one who said this. He said, they do err
not knowing the scriptures. That's where men and women go
wrong. Not knowing the scriptures. They follow what a man says instead
of what God says. The Apostle Paul said, this I
confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy,
division, so worship I the God of my fathers, Believing all
things which are written in the law and the prophets. He said,
that's how I worship God. Believing all things written
in the scriptures. Not some of the things. All things. Not part of the scriptures, all
of the scriptures, all of it, scriptures alone. If the word
says it, then that's what we believe. We believe it. All right? Faith alone. Faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. The question is asked, what must
I do to be saved? What must I do to be saved? Here's the answer. Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's faith. Faith alone. What do we believe? We believe
Him. We believe him. Whatever he has
said, we believe him. We believe every word that has
proceeded out of his mouth. We believe his promises. This
is he made promises to us. We believe him. We believe that
he came and he lived and he died to put away our sin. We believe that he is able to
keep every promise and keep us. All the way to the end. We believe. That faith. The faith that believes. We believe that faith. Is all
that God requires of his children. And we believe that that faith
is the evidence of God calling that child to himself. Nothing
added to faith. Faith in Christ alone. Faith in Christ alone. That's
it. Grace alone. Grace alone. All right, this is grace alone.
We believe that faith, going back to the faith we just described,
we believe that even that faith is not of ourselves, It is the
gift of God. We don't produce that faith,
God gives it to us as grace, free gift. It's all the gift
of God. Salvation is by God's free gift
alone, apart from any work. No work on our behalf. His grace
alone. All of false religion, every
false religion that there is, which is every religion other
than the truth. There's only one truth. There's only one gospel. That's what Paul told the Galatians.
There's not another. There's only one. But all false
religion is built on a person's own works. All false, all error
is built on a person's own works. If a person believes that he
or she has to earn salvation, then that person believes a lie.
that person believes a lie. Salvation is not earned. Salvation
is by grace alone. Salvation is the free gift of
Christ alone. That's the next summary they
gave. Christ alone, scriptures alone, faith alone, grace alone,
Christ alone. Christ is all. Christ is all. When it comes to our salvation,
Christ is always the answer. Christ is the only answer. Who were we chosen in to be saved? We were chosen to be saved. Well,
who were we chosen in? Christ alone. What was the deciding
factor in our election? What made God choose us? Christ
alone. He put us in Christ. Who is the
one who dealt with and suffered from and put away all of the
sins of all of God's people? Who did that? Christ alone. By
himself purged our sins, not with our help. Christ alone. Who satisfied the wrath of God?
Who appeased God? Christ alone. Who redeemed us back and made
us acceptable again? Christ alone. We are accepted
in the Beloved, Christ alone. Therefore, all the glory goes
to Him alone. We do not share the glory with
Him. We take no credit of any kind for our own salvation.
None whatsoever, if any man glory, let him glory in the Lord. So that's the answer that those
men gave, and that's a wonderful answer. That is a wonderful answer
to what we believe and what this truth declares. And more importantly
than we believe it is, God says it. Some people have quoted that
statement, God said it, I believe it, that settles it. Whether
I believe it or not, God said it, that settles it. But we do
believe it because that's what God said. Scriptures alone, faith
alone, grace alone, Christ alone, the glory of God alone. Now I
told you I have two answers. Two answers. I want to give you
that same answer. I want to give you the same answer.
My answer is no different than what we just declared. It's no
different. There's only one truth. There's only one gospel. But
I want to give you that same answer in my own words, simplified
down to three statements. Just three statements. Because
I am a pastor, I'm a preacher of the gospel. I believe the
subject probably comes up for me more often than for most people.
When it comes to well, what do we believe and what do we preach
and? What is the truth? What is the truth? When that
subject comes up? Usually I start right here. We preach. And we believe. That God is actually God. God is actually God. That's what we preach, that's
what we believe. Why? That's what the Word says.
That's what God has declared in His Word. Verse 15 in our
text right here, it says, but sanctify the Lord God. The Lord God. Over in Joshua
chapter 2, This is where Rahab is receiving the spies into Jericho. And in Joshua 2 verse 9, she
said unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land,
and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants
of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the
Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you. And when you
came out of Egypt and what you did unto the two kings of the
Amorites that were on the other side, Jordan, Sion, and Og, whom
you utterly destroyed, she said, and as soon as we had heard these
things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any
more courage in any man because of you, for the Lord your God,
He is God. in heaven above and in earth
beneath. That's what this entire book
says about him. The message of truth simply declares
that God is God in everything that that means. Everything,
the absolute, almighty, all controlling God is God. I mean He is God, apart from
any action, any reaction, from anyone or anything, He is God. In Isaiah 43, it says in verse
11, He said, I, even I am the Lord, and beside me there is
no Savior. I have declared and have saved,
and I have showed when there was no strange God among you,
Therefore you are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God. Yea, before the day was, I am
he, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. I will
work, and who shall let it? Nothing or no one has to let
him be God. Nothing or no one can stop him
from being God. He said over in Deuteronomy chapter
32, verse 39, see now that I, even I am he and there is no
God with me. I kill, I make alive, I wound,
I heal. Neither is there any that can
deliver out of my hand. If he wants to kill, he kills.
If he wants to make alive, he makes alive. He's God. Daniel
4 verse 35 says, he does whatever he purposes to do in the armies
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? He's God. He's the
potter. Everything else is the clay,
including you and me. He's God. That's something that
I want people to know. I want people to know this when
I'm giving it the opportunity to very briefly tell somebody
what the Lord has revealed to me through his word. That's the
first thing I want to know. God is God. God is God. Here's my second brief statement. Salvation is finished. God is God. Salvation is finished. It was by grace alone. through faith alone, accomplished
by Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. And that's where
we leave it. That's where we leave it. Salvation
is finished. The gospel is not an invitation. The gospel is not an invitation. It is a notification. It is a
declaration. over in Titus chapter 3. Titus chapter 3 verse 5 says,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy, He saved us by the washing of regeneration and
renewing of the Holy Ghost. He saved us. That's past tense. He saved. If it was not finished,
if Christ did not finish it, then there would be something
left for us to do. If he did not finish the work,
there'd be something for us to do. But verse five says, not
by works of righteousness, which we have done. There is nothing
left to be done. Salvation is finished. It's finished. Believing is an evidence that
God has given faith. Coming to Christ is an evidence
that God the Father has drawn. Baptism is a confession of what
Christ finished when He said, it is finished. To say that salvation, the salvation
of God's people, to say that it is not finished is to steal
the glory from Christ. That's what it is, it's to steal
His glory and is to deny the entire reason that he came. Galatians
2.21 says, I do not frustrate the grace of God. If Christ,
if salvation comes by the works of the law, then Christ died
in vain. He died in vain, and he did not
die in vain. He died to accomplish a finished
salvation. So God is the sovereign God.
He's the ruling, reigning, all controlling God. Salvation is
finished. Christ accomplished what he set
out to do. He's the successful Savior. And
here's the last thing I want people to know. Christ came to
save sinners. He came to save sinners. I mean
real, actual sinners. Most people believe and preach
that Christ came to save those who are not sinners. Most people
believe that's what the truth of the word says. Christ came
to save those who are not sinners. That's not so. It's not what
the word says. 1 Timothy 1 verse 15 says, this
is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. The apostle Paul
said, of whom I am chief. What do I believe? I believe
I'm just a beggar who can tell another beggar where he found
bread. I'm just a sinner who can tell
another sinner Christ came to save sinners. God is God. Salvation is finished. Christ
came to save sinners. May the Lord bless His Word to
our hearts. 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.