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. If you would like to turn with
me in your Bible to Psalm chapter 27, Our message this morning
is going to come from Psalm 27. And while you're turning there,
I want to remind you of the story in Mark chapter five of a Gadarene
man, a man who was possessed with devils. He was, he had a
legion of evil spirits in him. This was a man that was known
by everyone to be a lunatic man. He never wore any clothes. He
cut himself. He couldn't be bound by chains. They tried to restrain him and
they couldn't restrain him, just a lunatic of a man. But the Lord
came to him. And the Lord cast that legion
of demons out of him into a herd of swine that was nearby. And the Lord sat that man down
and he clothed him and put him in his right mind. And then after that man came
to know the truth, after he heard the gospel directly from the
mouth of the gospel himself, When it was time for the Lord
to go, that man wanted to follow Him. He wanted to go with Him. He
wanted to be with the Lord where the Lord was. But the Lord said
to him, He said, no, I want you to go home. I want you to go to your house.
I want you to go to your family, go to your neighbors, go to your
friends. You go to everybody that you can and you tell them
how great things the Lord has done for you. You just go tell
them personally how great things the Lord has
done for you. And that's what I want to do
right now. That's what I personally want to do right now. I want
to tell you my hope. I want to be candid with you.
I want to be honest in telling you what my own personal hope
is. Now, our hope is very important
to us. The hope that a man or a woman
has is very important. As sinners, we cannot see our
salvation. If God has given us to his son
and saved us by his grace, we have his word on what he's done
for us. But as sinners, when we look
to ourselves, all we see is sin. We're just sinners. And we cannot
always get a hold of the reality of what Christ has done for us.
We can't always enter into the promises of the Word that we
have in Christ. God has given us some wonderful
promises in Christ. Outside of Christ, there are
no promises given. Outside of Christ, there's no
good news. But in Christ, we are promised
salvation. We're promised redemption, being
saved from all of this cesspool of sin that we're living in.
But sometimes it's just hard to see it. Sometimes it is hard
to see it. Sometimes we just don't feel
saved. And some of you may, may enter
into what I'm talking about. Some of you may know what I'm
talking about. Sometimes we don't look saved. Sometimes we don't
act saved. And that's where our hope comes
in. That's where our hope comes in.
Now, if you look with me at Psalm 27, verse one says, the Lord
is the light. The Lord is my light and my salvation. The Lord is my light and my salvation. I told you I wanted to tell you
my own personal experience, and here it is. When I look at myself,
when I look right here at myself, I do not see what I need to see
in order to have a hope of salvation. If the question comes to my mind,
am I going to be saved? Has God saved me? Well, when
I look down at myself, when I look within, I do not see what I need
to see in order to have a hope of salvation. But thankfully, my hope is not
in myself. When I look at myself, I don't
have any hope. But thankfully, my hope is not
in myself. My hope is in Christ. All of my hope is in Christ.
And every time I see Him, when that question comes to my mind,
am I going to be saved? Every time I see Him, I see my
salvation. I see my hope. I see the light
of my salvation. And that gives me hope every
single time. Verse one says, the Lord is my
light and my salvation, of whom shall I fear? The Lord is the
strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked
even my enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh, they
stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp
against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise
against me, in this will I be confident. He said, my enemies
and my foes have come up against me, and I'll tell you what mine
are. They are my sins. They're my sins. I may have enemies
out there, but they're nothing like the enemies that I have
right here. my sins, the host that usually encamps against
me are all of the sorrows and all of the doubts and all of
the fears and all of the anxieties and all of the depression. The reality of just how weak
I am in my flesh, the flesh is so weak. And that host can be so powerful,
it can be so defeating. And I usually end up crushed,
just absolutely crushed after the assault is over, the assault
of all those foes come upon me. But this is my hope. This is
my hope. Verse one says, the Lord is my
light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the strength of my life. The Lord is the strength of my
life. When I look at myself, I see
no strength at all. None. But my hope is not in my
strength. My hope is not in my strength.
My hope is in Christ. Every time I see Him, I see my
strength. Every time I see my defense,
I see victory. Every time I see Him. Verse four
says, one thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek
after that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days
of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in
His temple. My desire, my own personal desire
can be very fickle, very fickle. It seems like I can strongly
desire something one day and then have no desire for it at
all the next day. It's wishy-washy. If where I end up, if my eternal
end, if it is left up to my own desire, I honestly have no idea where
I would end up being. I have no idea. I don't think
I can count on my desire to get me into tomorrow, much less into
glory. My own personal desire. I don't
believe that any of us, I don't believe that you or me, I don't
believe any of us are just given lip service when we sing the
song. You may know that song. that
the lion says, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Do you know
that song, Come Thou Fount? Prone to wander, Lord, I feel
it. Let's just be honest. I want
to be honest. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel
it. What is this flesh prone to?
Is it prone to the things of God and prone to the Word of
God? Is that what it naturally desires
and craves and wants to give itself to? No. Prone to the world,
prone to things that please and glorify the flesh, prone to wander. Lord, I feel
it. That's the natural desire of the flesh, to run from the
things of God. prone to not care, prone to desire everything this
world has to offer us for just a short span of time, just a
temporary, oh, just we're only on this earth for a few years
compared to eternity, never ending eternity. The pleasures of sin
for just a small season compared to never ending eternity. What are we prone to? the desire
of the flesh. If my desire is left up to my
desire, then I'm going to end up destroyed. I'm going to end
up in an eternal destruction. But thank the God of heaven.
My hope is not in my desire. My hope is in Christ. and His desire. My hope is in
His desire. I'm counting on His will being
done, not mine. That's what I'm counting on. This is what He said His will
was. If you want to look with me at John 17, in John 17 verse
19, He said, for their sakes, I sanctify
myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also, which shall
believe on me through their word. He said, I'm praying for all
my people. That they all may be one as thou, Father, art in
me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. that the world
may believe that Thou hast sent me. And the glory which Thou
gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one even as
we are one. I in them, and Thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that
Thou hast sent me and has loved them as Thou hast loved me."
He said, Father, I will. that they also, whom thou hast
given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory,
which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation
of the world. He said, that's my desire. That
is my desire. I want them to be with me where
I am. I want them to be one in us. Now, because he said that, because
Christ recorded that for us to read in his word, because he
said that, because that was his desire, and because my hope is
in his desire, I believe with all my heart that all of His
people, every soul the Father gave to Him, will dwell in the
house of the Lord all the days of their life, all throughout
eternity, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in
His temple. My hope is in His desire. My hope is in everything that
He desires. for His people. Now, if you want
to look back at Psalm 27, verse 5 says, For in the time of trouble
he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret place of his tabernacle
shall he hide me, he shall set me up upon a rock. I honestly don't see one reason
why he should hide me. I don't see one reason why he
should hide me. I don't deserve to be hid. I
have not done anything to earn being hid. When that time of
destruction comes, when God's judgment and God's
wrath on my sin comes through, I've done nothing to deserve
shelter from it. Nothing. Most people have themselves
absolutely fooled into believing that God owes it to them. Well,
He'll save me because He owes it to me. He saves everybody.
They honestly believe that when the judgment of God's law comes
down on their sin to judge them for everything they've done,
they believe that the works of their flesh, which the scripture
calls filthy rags, filthy works, They believe that they're going
to be found worthy for them to be hidden from this great destruction. My hope is not, not in that at
all. My hope is not in my worthiness
to be here. There is no doubt in my mind.
that not only are my sinful works not worthy for me to be hid from
the wrath, from the judgment of God, my sinful works, not
only do I not trust that they're worthy for me to be hid, I trust
that they're worthy for me to be thrust out into the middle
of the wrath. That's what I have earned and that's what I deserve.
But thank God I'm not looking to my worthiness. If I was looking
to my own worthiness, I would have no hope. But I am not looking
to my worthiness. I'm looking to Christ and I'm
looking to his worthiness. Thou art worthy. I'm not. He is because of everything he
has done, all of his works because of his works. I'm hidden. He hid me, and that's my hope. That's my hope. Verse six, it
says, and now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies
round about me. Therefore will I offer in his
tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I will sing, yea, I will sing
praises unto the Lord. We have so many things. in this
life that steal our joy from us. So many things rob our happiness. They just take it from us. Sometimes
it brings us so low. It just brings us so far down. We can't praise. We can't praise
His works. There's nothing left in us to
praise Him with. We're just too far down, just
too low. There's no melody in the heart. But in those times, do you know
what my hope is? In those times, here's my hope.
It's that Christ, my head, is even in those times going to
be lifted up above my enemies. All my sin, all my sorrow, Christ
is gonna be lifted up above everything that's against me. Even though my joy is stolen
in these moments, even though I can't find joy, everything
is gone. This is my hope. It's that all
of these things are in the hands of my God. He is ordering. He is controlling. He is ruling. and He is doing all things well. Everything that He does is for
the good of His people and for His glory. Everything He does,
and because the end of everything He does is so perfect, because
it is so good and so right and so perfect, He is taking great
joy in it. No matter what it is, he in this
moment is taking great joy in it. My hope is not in my joy. My hope is in Christ and his
joy. My hope, all of my hope is in
his joy and his promise that even though weeping endures for
the night, He said, joy is coming in the morning. He's coming.
He endured the cross for the joy set before him. His joy. Verse seven says, hear, O Lord,
when I cry with my voice and have mercy also upon me and answer
me. Now I keep saying throughout
this message, my hope, my hope, this is my hope. The reason is
because I'm trying to be honest. and speak personally to you.
But in this, I mean our hope, our hope. Our hope is in the
bending ear of the Lord. It's in the mercy of the Lord. It's in the fact that he will
hear his people for his mercy sake, and he'll answer them. He'll answer them through his
word, speak to their heart. through his word. Look at Psalm
51 with me. In Psalm 51, this is our cry. This is a believer's cry. This is a sinner's cry that God
has caused him to see his need. Psalm 51, verse one says, have
mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness. According
to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. This is our cry. Wash me throughly
from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge
my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against thee,
thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear
when thou judgest." Everything you do is right. You're justified
in judging me. I acknowledge my sin. I'm begging
for mercy. Verse five, behold, I was shapen
in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. And then
in verse six, this is his mercy. Behold, thou desirest truth in
the inward parts, and in the hidden part thou shalt make me
to know wisdom. Who is wisdom? Christ. Wisdom is not a what, wisdom
is a person. He said, you're gonna make me
to know Christ. Verse seven, he said, purge me with hyssop
and I shall be clean. Wash me and I'll be whiter than
snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness
that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy
face from my sins and blot out all mine iniquities. That's his
mercy. that He would blot out our sin and iniquity in His own
blood. And then here's the promise of
His Word. Verse 10, create in me a clean heart, O God, and
renew a right spirit within me. Redeem me back to You. Cast me
not away from Thy presence and take not Thy Holy Spirit from
me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation and uphold me with
Thy free spirit. Our hope is in His mercy, in
His blood and His redemption. That's all of our hope. That's
the only hope a sinner has. Well, back in Psalm 27, verse
8 says, When thou saidst, Seek ye my face, my heart said unto
thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. When you said, That's when I
responded. The scripture says, seek the
Lord while he may be found. That's the commandment of the
word. Seek the Lord while he may be found. He said, if you
seek, you'll find. It says, you shall seek me and
find me when you search for me with all your heart, all of your
heart. Here's my problem though. I know
this heart. I know this wicked, sinful heart,
and the honest truth is this heart will not ever seek the
Lord, not on its own. If in order for me to find him,
this heart has to go seeking him, I'll never find him. I'll never find him, but thank
God my hope is not in this heart. My hope is in Christ. And it's
in the fact that he said he's going to take out this stony
heart, and he's going to put in a new heart, a heart of flesh. And then he's going to say to
that new heart, behold me, seek me. And if he will do that, then
I'm going to find him. If he will say, seek me, come
to me, then I will say, thy face, Lord, will I see. Lord Jesus,
I come. Verse nine, he said, hide not
thy face far from me, put not thy servant away in anger, for
thou has been my help. Leave me not, neither forsake
me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother
forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. If he leaves us,
we'll fall. If he forsakes us, we will be
God forsaken. But he said to every soul that
his father gave to him, this is what he said, I will never
leave you. I will never forsake you. I am
with you always, even unto the end of the world. He said in
verse 11, teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path because
of my enemies. Teach me, Lord, lead me, help
me because of all of these enemies of my own sin. Verse 12, he said,
deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies, for false
witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. Teach me, lead me, deliver me. Deliver me, because I don't feel
like I'm going to be able to make it. Verse 13, he said, I
had fainted. unless I had believed to see
the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. All of this
load of sin, I would have never made it. But he said in verse
14, wait on the Lord, be of good courage and he shall strengthen
thy heart. Wait, I say on the Lord. If I had to wait on my own courage, then I'd be waiting a long time.
I would be waiting a long time, but my hope is not in my courage. My hope is in Christ. It is in Christ, and it's in
the fact that he will strengthen the heart of every soul that
he causes to wait on him. Every one of them, he will strengthen
that heart. So by his grace, that's what
we'll do. We'll wait. We'll wait on Him, we'll look
to Him, we'll trust in Him, we will hope in Him. And He'll strengthen our hearts.
Till next week, may the Lord bless this word to all of 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.