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 open your
Bible with me, I'm going to be reading 1 Peter 3, verse 15. 1 Peter 3, verse 15 says, but
sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to
give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope
that is in you. with meekness and in fear. He
said, be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh
you a reason of the hope that is in you. And he said to do
it with meekness and do it with fear. I have a hope in me. And I know that you do, too.
I know that you have a hope in you. Hope means Expected anticipation. That's the definition of the
word hope. It does not mean, well, you know,
we're hoping that something will turn out. We would like for it
to go this way or we'd like for it to go that way. And our hope
is maybe it will turn out. That's not what this means. Hope
is expected anticipation. It means that we expect to see
something happen. And I have a hope in me. This is what I am anticipating. When it's time for my life on
this earth to be over, every man has an appointed time. There's
an appointed day. The scripture says it's appointed
unto man once to die. And when my time is over, I expect
to lay this body down. I do not expect for my soul to
lay down. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. I expect for this body to lay
down. I expect to immediately be in
glory. I expect to see my Lord face
to face. I expect to see his people. I
expect to see his kingdom. I expect to see his throne. I expect to gather with a number
that no man can number and bow down and worship him at that
throne. I expect to have no more sorrow,
no more pain, no more tears, no more end. I expect to live
in a perfect union. with the Lord Jesus Christ. That
is my expected anticipation. Now, my guess is that is also
your expected anticipation. And the reason I believe it is
your expected anticipation is because that's everybody's expected
anticipation. Everybody expects the same thing. If I could walk into any church
in this area, any denomination, any Christian church and ask
anybody in that church, what is your expected anticipation? What is your hope? I strongly
believe any and all of them would say the same thing that I just
said right now. I expect to lay this body down.
I expect to see the Lord. I expect to see his people. I
expect to see his kingdom. I expect to live forever with
him. No more sorrow, no more tears,
no more pain. Everybody can agree. Everybody
can agree on the fact that we are all expecting the same end. But just because a person expects
a certain end, that does not necessarily mean that that person
will receive that end. Just because we expect it, it
doesn't necessarily mean we'll receive it. Whether or not our
hope turns out to be a true reality, It all depends on one key word
in this verse, the verse of scripture we just read. Whether that hope
turns out to be reality is completely dependent on one key word. I want us to single it out. I want us to focus on it because
this is the difference. and whether hope turns into reality
or hope turns into disappointment and destruction. The word is. Reason. Verse 15 first Peter
3 verse 15 says, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and
be 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. Everybody expects the same end. Everybody. What makes the difference
in whether or not a person will receive that expected end, that
hope is the reason for the hope. It all comes down to the reason
for the hope. Now, if you ask men and women,
the reason for their hope, they'll tell you all kinds of things.
People have all kinds of reasons. And I'm not going to go into
anybody else's reason this morning. I just want to tell you mine.
That's all I want to do. I want to do what the apostle
told us to do. I want to give you an answer. for my reason, my personal reason,
why I expect what I do. I'm going to show you my reason
through the scripture. And I have a lot of scriptures
that I've written down for this message, and I'm going to give
them to you. We're going to go through these
until we run out of time. I would love to make it through
all of them. But you can turn with me if you want to, or you
can get a pen and paper and write these down and go back and look
at them later. We're going to move fairly quickly through them. But the scripture declares my
reason. My reason is 100% based on, built on the Word of
God, the Scripture of God. Now, the first one that I'd like
for us to look at is Genesis chapter 6. If you want to turn
with me over to Genesis chapter 6, this is where the Lord said
in verse one that it came to pass when men began to multiply
on the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them
that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were
fair. And they took them wives of all which they chose. And
the Lord said, my spirit shall not always strive with man for
that he also is flesh. Yet his days shall be 120 years.
He cut his time down to 120 years. And he goes on to say in verse
four, God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth.
And it is still that way today. The wickedness of man is great
in the earth. And God saw that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually. And it's still that way today.
Every person. Pride self. It's still that way
today. And it says in verse six, it
repented the Lord that he'd made man on the earth and it grieved
him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy
man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man
and beast and the creeping thing and the fowls of the air for
it repented me that I have made them and God destroyed it with
a flood. And he's going to destroy it
again this time with fire. But verse 8 says, Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah found grace. The scripture says God is a God
of grace. He's a God of grace. He will
be gracious. And that's the reason for the
hope that's in me. It's because he is a gracious
God and he is a merciful God. He said in Exodus 33 verse 18,
Moses said to him, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And
God said to Moses, I will make all my goodness pass before thee. And I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before thee. And I will be gracious. To whom
I will be gracious. And he said, I will show mercy
on whom I will show mercy. God said he is a gracious God. And he said he is a merciful
God. And that's the reason for the
hope that is in me. Grace means getting what we don't
deserve. God gave us what we didn't deserve.
We're about to see what it is. Mercy means not getting what
we do deserve. We deserve wrath and punishment
for our sin. And God said, I'm going to show
mercy. And again, we're about to see right now how he showed
mercy and where that mercy is found. But none of that depended
on anything Noah did. He just found grace. And God
just said, I'm going to show mercy, the willingness of his
heart. That's the reason for hope. Second
Samuel 23. These are David's last words.
We love David so much, and these are David's last words. And he
said in verse five, although my house be not so with God,
yet he hath made with me and everlasting covenant. ordered in all things and sure
for this is all my salvation and all my desire. Although he
make it not to grow. He said, although it be not so
with my house, my physical family, my home, David had so much trouble
in his home. And he was saying, although it
be not so with my house that my soul lives in this body, I've
ruined it. David said in Psalm 51, I acknowledge
my sin. I know I'm a sinner, Lord. I've
ruined everything. But he said, although it be not
so with my house, God has made an everlasting covenant with
me. He's saying, that's my hope.
God made a covenant. He said he's a God of grace.
He said he's a God of mercy. And he made a covenant. And where
is that covenant found in the blood of his own son? Where is
that grace found in the blood of his own son? For God so loved
the world, he gave his son. For one reason to shed his blood,
where is that mercy found? It's in the blood of his son.
It's in God pouring out what we deserved on him. and us not
getting what we deserved because he bore it on the cross. That's
his grace, his mercy, his covenant. He said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. Not when I see you turn over
a new leaf. Not when I see you start to straighten
up and fly right. When I see all your good deeds,
he said, when I see the blood, when I see the blood. Man is
only evil continually. Man cannot do anything that is
pleasing to God. And this is the only hope there
is. He said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. Psalm 27, if you want to look
at Psalm 27, David said in verse four, 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. He said, that's my
hope. That's my expected anticipation is to dwell in his house and
inquire of him and behold his beauty. He said, this is the
reason. Verse five, for in the time of
trouble, he shall hide me. In his pavilion, in the secret
of his tabernacle, shall he hide me. He shall set me up on a rock. His reason does not include anything
that he's done. David didn't give one reason
based on anything that he's done, any decision he's made. It's
only because of what Christ did. He said, when judgment comes,
he's going to hide me in the secret of his own body. The secret
of his tabernacle. He said, that's the reason for
my hope. That's the reason for my hope. He's going to hide me. That's why I believe that when
his judgment comes on this world, I'm going to safely make it through
to the other side. It's because he said that every
soul who comes to him by way of the father drawing that soul,
no man can come to him except the father which sent him draw
that center. But he said, whoever comes to
me in the heart. crying and begging and pleading
for mercy, is being drawn by the Father. And whoever comes
that way, he said, I'll hide them in the secret of my tabernacle. Just like when God put Noah in
that ark, God's judgment was spewed out on Noah. God poured
out his wrath on Noah. He was just hiding in the ark.
He was hiding in the secret of God's provided way of deliverance. And that's the reason for hope.
The only reason for hope there is. Isaiah 42 says in verse one,
behold, my servant, God, the father's talking about God, the
son. And he said, behold, my servant,
mine elect. He's the one I choose. in whom
my soul delighteth, I've put my spirit upon him. He shall
bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He
shall bring forth judgment unto truth. Now listen to this. He
said, he shall not fail. nor be discouraged. He won't
even be discouraged. Till he have set judgment in
the earth and the aisles shall wait for his law. That's the
reason for the hope that's in me. That is the reason God the
Father sent his son into this world to accomplish the salvation
of the people. And God the Father said, the
God who cannot lie said, he shall not fail. That's the reason for
the hope that's in me. That's the reason. Isaiah 53
says in verse four, surely he hath borne our griefs. He bore
and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God and afflicted. That's all we wanted. Crucify
him. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised
for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace,
everything we deserved, was upon Him. And with His stripes, we
are healed. He bore our griefs. He carried
our sorrows. He was wounded because of our
transgressions. He was bruised because of our
iniquities. The chastisement that should
have come to us went to him. And because he took our stripes,
we're healed. To not believe that To not believe
that he finished everything that was required to believe that
now for my salvation, I have to add something to it. Christ
did all he could do. And now I have to add my part
to believe that is to have another reason. For the hope that's in
you. And there's only one reason that
will lead to the reality of salvation. No other reason will lead to
eternal life. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. Believe on his finished work
alone. Don't add anything to his work. Don't take anything
from his work. The Lord said, if a man does
that, I'll remove him from the book of life. It is Christ's
work alone. That is the one and only reason. Lamentations three. I love this
so much. Lamentations three verse 21 says
this. I recall to my mind, therefore
have I hope this is the reason for my hope. Verse 22 says it
is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his
compassions fail not. They're new every morning. Great
is that faithfulness. God's mercy, his compassion,
his faithfulness. It starts over at full capacity
every morning. Can't be exhausted. That's the
reason. That's the reason. Now let's
go over to the New Testament. John 19. John 19, verse 28, it says, after
this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished,
that's a key word in the salvation of sinners, accomplished, that
the scripture might be fulfilled, he said, I thirst. Now there
was said a vessel full of vinegar and they filled a sponge with
vinegar and put it upon hyssop and put it to his mouth. When
Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it, is
finished. And he bowed his head and he
gave up the ghost. Salvation is not yet to come. Salvation is not something that
is looking like it's going to pan out for us. Salvation is
finished. Salvation is done. Salvation is ordered and sure
for every sinner that God chose to save. Every single one. That's
the reason I have the hope that's in me. That's the reason. Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 29 says,
For whom he did foreknow. That word means elect. Whom he
did foreknow, he also did predestinate. To be conformed to the image
of his son. Some men and women do not care
for the word predestination. They don't want to have anything
to do with it. I have no idea why predestination is. To be conformed to the image
of his son who would not want to be conformed to the image
of Christ. How glorious is that? Whom he
did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom
he called, them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified." You notice how it keeps saying, he, he, he,
he did all this. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? That'll bring hope. If God is
for us, nobody can be against us. He spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. God
did this. And he goes on to say nothing
can separate us from the love of Christ. Nothing. What a reason
for hope. What a foundation for hope. No
greater reason than this. Ephesians 2 says in verse. Seven, we have redemption through
his blood. The forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of his grace. We have redemption through his
blood. We possess it right now. We possess it right now and all
of these reasons that I'm telling you, that's my hope. That's the
same hope of every single child of God. Every child of God, there's
only one hope and my hope. Is your hope if he chose me and
if he chose you? Ephesians 2 verse one says in
you, hath he quickened? Who were dead in trespasses and
sins? That's wonderful, isn't it? In Philippians 1 verse 6,
it says, being confident of this very thing that he which hath
begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ. We have the same hope, all of
God's people. It's this. He quickened us. He performs everything we need.
all the way up to the day that the Lord returns for us. Wonderful,
beautiful reason. He started it, he finished it,
he performs it. 1 John 2 says, my little children,
these things write unto you that you sin not, don't sin. And if any man sin, this flesh
is desperately wicked. And unfortunately, this flesh
is bound by sin. And any man who believes that
he has no sin, 1 John 1, the end of it, in verse 8, verse
10, it says that man is deceiving himself. He's calling God a liar.
But 1 John 2, verse 1 says, if any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. That's the reason. That's the reason. Verse John
3, verse 2 says, Beloved, now are we the sons of God. It doth
not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he
shall appear, we'll be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And then verse 3 says, Every
man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he
is pure. 1 John 4 verse 19 says we love
him because he first loved us. That's the reason. That's the
reason he first loved us. I'll give you one more. Revelation
22. Revelation 22 verse 17 says the
spirit and the bride say come and let him that heareth say
come And let him that is a thirst come, and whosoever will, let
him take the water of life freely. Whosoever has this great desire,
whoever God has put a great desire in for this mercy, this grace,
this accomplished salvation, the Lord said, let him come.
And if he comes, my father's drawing him. but let him come. In all of the scriptures we just
looked at from Genesis to Revelation, none of them mention our works. None of them involve anything
that we have done as sinners, any decision we have made. It
is all completely dependent on the work and the blood, and the
mercy, and the grace, and the kindness of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have no role in our expected
anticipation. Our hope is built on nothing
less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. We dare not trust the sweetest
brain, but wholly lean on the Lord Jesus Christ's name. On
Christ the solid rock we stand, all other ground is sinking sand.
And then verse 20 here in Revelation 22 says, He which testifies these
things saith, surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so come Lord Jesus. And that's the reason we have
the hope in us. He's coming and he's coming quickly
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 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.