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 follow along
with me this morning, I'm going to be looking at the first four
verses of Luke, chapter 1. Luke 1 verse 1 says, for as much
as many have taken in hand, many have taken in hand the gospel. Our Lord has never been without
a witness. He has never left himself without
a witness of his truth, the truth in his word. And it says, for
as much as many have taken in hand, to set forth in order a
declaration of those things which are most surely believed among
us, even as they delivered them unto us." Luke says, we were
told these things by someone else. And even as they were delivered
unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers
of the word. It seemed good to me also, having
had perfect understanding of all things from the very first
to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus. He said, I'm writing to most
excellent Theophilus. That name means the friend of
God. Luke says, this is who I'm writing
to the friend of God. Verse four says that thou mightest
know the certainty of those things wherein thou has been instructed
the certainty of those things. Don't you love the confidence
of God's word, the certainty of those things. Absolutely certain,
most excellent Theophilus, friend of God. How could we possibly
enter into the blessing of being called the friend of God? That
a sinful man could be called the friend of God. How amazing
is that? That God would instruct us in
kindness. He would teach us. In his grace,
he would call many, lay hold on many different men throughout
the generations to take the gospel of his word in hand in spite
of all the persecution that men have endured from generation
to generation for declaring the truth of what God has to say. But he laid hold of many to set
forth in order a declaration of those things. And then how
kind is it that He would in turn give us a heart to believe those
things. He would declare them to us and
then give us a heart to believe it. How kind. Look with me if
you would at Luke chapter 2. This is when our Lord, earthly
speaking, was born and the shepherds came to see Him. And it says
in verse 16, They came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and
the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they
made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning
this child. And all they that heard it wondered
at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary
kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Those shepherds
came and they set forth in order those things that God had said. And Mary pondered them in her
heart, pondered all those things. And thank God by His grace, so
do all of His people. All of God's people ponder these
things in their heart. Well, after eight days, from
this point, they brought our Lord to the temple according
to the law. And a man named Simeon was waiting
on them there in the temple. And it says in verse 28, they
then took he him up in his arms. Simeon laid hold on the Lord
Jesus Christ, took him up in his arms and blessed God and
said, Lord, now let us thou thy servant depart in peace according
to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou
has prepared before the face of all people a light to lighten
the Gentiles and the glory of thy people, Israel. And Joseph
and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him."
Those glorious things. Now look with me if you would
at Luke chapter 10. It says in Luke 10, Verse 21. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced
in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent
and has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto
me of my father. And no man knoweth who the Son
is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and He
to whom the Son will reveal Him. And He turned him unto His disciples
and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things
that you see. For I tell you that many prophets,
preachers, many preachers, and kings have desired to see those
things which you see and have not seen them. Many, many preachers,
they've desired to see those things and they haven't seen
them and to hear those things which you hear and have not heard
them. Many have, but they have not
heard them. Well, that's amazing, isn't it? Our Lord said these things, many
have desired to see them, but they haven't seen them. What
a blessing it is that God would reveal these things. Now in Acts chapter 13, it says
in verse 44, Acts 13 verse 44, the next Sabbath day came almost
the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the
Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy and spake
against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting
and blaspheming. Now, it's a great blessing when
God reveals these things that he has called many to stand up
and declare in order, set forth these things. It's great mercy
that God would not only deliver those things, but cause a heart
to believe them. The reality is when many hear
these things, they reject them. And that's what happened right
here. They rejected, they contradicted, they blasphemed God's word after
it had been certainly plainly set forth in order to them. But I want to show you another
group of people who did the very opposite. Over in Acts 17, it
says in verse 10, And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and
Silas by night unto Berea, who coming thither went into the
synagogue of the Jews, These were more noble than those in
Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness of
mind and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were
so. God allowed them to search the
scriptures and find out if these things that had been set forth
in order were so. Should they be believed? Should
these things truly be believed? 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 Father, believing all things
which are written in the law and in the prophets." All things. All things. Now go with me back
to Luke chapter 1. It says in Luke 1 verse 1, For
as much as many have taken in hand to set forth in order A
DECLARATION OF THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE MOST SURELY BELIEVED AMONG
US. THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE MOST SURELY
BELIEVED AMONG US. I've titled this message, THINGS
WE MOST SURELY BELIEVE. THINGS THAT GOD HAS SET FORTH
in his word and are declared in order by his messengers, things
we most surely believe. And God's people believe every
word that proceeds out of his mouth. That's what believers
believe. If you ask a believer, what is
it specifically that you believe? Here, this will be his answer.
He'll say every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. We could
be here forever declaring the things from this word that we
believe. We could start at Genesis 1.1,
go through every page all the way to the book of Revelation
and declare the things we believe. God's people can also declare
what they believe in one word, Christ. We believe Christ. I have something, though, that
I want to set forth this morning in order. From God's word, after
searching the scriptures, I found some places that say we believe. Alright, our text is talking
about how many have taken in hand to set forth in order those
things that we most surely believe. I have some places that specifically
say the two words back to back. We believe. We believe, and this
is what God's people believe. These are not the only things.
But for the sake of time in this message, I'm going to declare
just a few things. that are most surely believed
among God's people. And let's see if God has caused
us to believe them. Let's see if he's laid hold of
us, opened our eyes, opened our hearts and caused us to believe
them. The first one is in John six. If you'd like to go with me over
there, we're going to begin in John chapter six. It says in
John six, verse 66, From that time, many of his disciples went
back and walked no more with him. How terrible is that? How sad is that? How fearful
is that? There's a song and it says prone
to wander. Lord, I feel it. I feel it being
the center that I am in my flesh, in my own nature. I feel it. And it says from that time, many
of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Then
said Jesus unto the 12, will you also go away? Will you also
go away? That reminds me of when the Lord
asked Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? This was Peter's answer. He said,
thou knowest. Lord, you know. You know, he
asked, will you go away? Lord, you know. You know whether
or not you've purposed to keep me. You know whether or not you've
purposed to lay hold of me and do this wonderful work of grace
in me, you know. Now, Peter did answer him right
here, and he gave the only other answer you can give besides thou
knowest. Verse 68, then Simon Peter answered
him, Lord, To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life and watch this right here. He said, and we believe. We believe and are sure we most
surely believe that thou art that Christ, the son of the living
God. That's what we believe. To believe
that he is the Christ, that Christ is to believe he's the God man. He is the God man. It's to believe
that he is the only mediator between God and man. But he's not just the one who
can get man to God. Like most believe he is. Well,
he can get you to God. No, that's not all that he is.
He is God. He is the very God. God is a man. He is God and he
is man. A man is God. Think about that. A man is God. He said flesh and bone. He told
his disciples, touch me. A man is God. One particular
man. We most surely believe that a
man is God. When we think of Moses, Moses
was a great man, but when we think of him, do we consider
him to be less than God? Sure we do. Moses wasn't God
and we could go through all of these great men in the Old Testament.
You could think of David King, you could think of Elijah, God's
prophet, who God sent a chariot of fire to him and carried him
straight up into heaven. The apostle Paul, he wrote half
of the New Testament. When we think of these men, do
we think of them as being less than God? Absolutely we do. Let me ask you about this man,
Jesus of Nazareth. When you think of him, do you
think of him as being less than God? Absolutely not. That man is God. That man is God Almighty. Verse 69, Peter said to the Lord
Jesus Christ, we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ. The Son of the Living God. Now, this is so important. The
Lord Jesus Christ is not God's Son only. Is He God's Son? Yes, He is. He said, My Father.
The Father says, My Son. But he's not just God's son. He is the son of God, the Trinity. God is three persons, father,
son and spirit. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God because he is God. God is three persons. And we most surely believe that
he is the son. Of God. the Father of God, the
Spirit of God, the Son of God. That declaration comes to God's
people and God's people believe it. He causes them to believe
it. Now, the next precious thing
that God's people most surely believe is in Acts 15. Acts 15 in verse one, this is
where it says certain men, which came down from Judea, taught
the brethren and said, except you be circumcised after the
manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. That's what they came
saying, except you be circumcised, you can't be saved. That right
there perfectly describes every denomination of religion, but
the truth. Every one of them, every religion
believes some form of something that says, except you do this,
you can fill in the blank. Except you do this or except
you do that, you cannot be saved. They have to attach some work
to salvation. That's what these men were doing.
And they say, without it, you cannot be saved. But Paul and
Barnabas, they took in hand the declaration of the gospel. The gospel to set it forth in
order, and they had a large dissension, it says in verse two with these
men who were trying to preach another gospel. Paul said, there's
not another gospel. There's only one. and they disputed
with them and they determined to go up to Jerusalem to the
apostles and the elders and talk with them about this and declare
to them everything that was going on. In verse six, Acts chapter
15, verse six, it says, and the apostles and elders came together
for to consider of this matter. And when there had been much
disputing, Peter, the apostle Peter, rose up and said unto
them, Men and brethren, you know how that a good while ago God
made choice among us that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear
the word of the gospel and believe. In God, which knoweth the hearts,
bear them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did
unto us, and put no difference between us and them, purifying
their hearts by faith Now, therefore. Why tempt ye God to put a yoke
upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor
we were able to bear? He said this yoke that men try
to put on other men, they said, except you do this, you can't
be saved. And he said this yoke of works That's a yoke of bondage
that no man is able to bear. No man. He said we were not able
to bear it. Our fathers were not able to
bear it. Why would we want to put it on other men? Trying to
earn salvation. Trying to work hard enough to
become a child of God. Men and women believe that's
what they need to do. I believe. I think. that I'm supposed to
work hard and I'm supposed to do good so I can become one of
his children. That's a yoke that no man or
woman is able to bear. None. Do these scriptures right
here teach good works? Absolutely. They do. Absolutely,
they do. The instruction and the commandment
of God is crucial. The scripture says whom the Lord
loves, he chastens, he corrects, he teaches. But not one time,
not one time has he ever required anything from a sinner in order
for that sinner to become his child. I'd like to repeat that. Not one time has God ever required
anything for a sinner to become his child. He's never said, if
you want to be one of my children, you have to do this. Never any
more than any father would look their own child right in the
eye and say, you have to do this. If you want to become one of
my children, that's an impossibility. He's speaking to his child. That
child already is his child. So here's the second thing that
God's people most surely believe. Verse 11, right here in Acts
15, Peter said, but we believe. We believe that through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved even as they. Peter said salvation is by the
grace of God. That's what we believe. Grace means gift. Grace means kindness. Grace means favor through the
gift. Of God, the father, giving his
own son. And through the kindness of the
Lord Jesus Christ laying down his own life. for his people,
giving his own self, giving his own body, giving his own blood. And the favor that we now have
with God. Through Christ, the son, through
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that's how a man and that's how
a woman is saved. That's how we were saved. That's
how all of God's people are saved. We most surely believe that our
Lord Jesus is indeed that Christ, that Christ, Jesus of Nazareth. is indeed God's Christ. And we believe that through the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that's how a sinner is saved
through his gift, through his work. That's how a sinner is
saved. Free justification through him. All right. Now here's the third
thing that is most surely believed among us. It's over in Romans
chapter six. Romans six verse eight, it says,
now, if we be dead with Christ, that free gift of God, giving
his son and the kindness of Christ laying down his life. Now, if
we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with
him. Paul said in Galatians two, I
am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. He said, but it's not I that
live. It's Christ living in me. That's the life of a believer.
That's the life Christ lives in us and the life which we live
in the flesh. We live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved us and gave himself for us. That's our hope. Our hope starts with Christ.
Our hope ends with Christ. These are the things that have
been most surely declared, taken in hand, set forth, declared
to us, and by God's work, believed by us, by God-given faith. This
is our hope. This is our life. We died with
him. That's our hope. We died with
him. Not that I'm going to do enough
good on this life for God to be happy with me. Here's a believer's
hope. I died with him. God looked at
me and said, you have to die. And God put me in Christ and
in Christ, God killed me justly, rightly. I died with him, but
I arose with him. When he arose, he brought me
with him. I rose with him and now I live
with him. I live in him. In him, we live
and we move and we have our being. We most surely believe that. He said, whosoever liveth and
believeth in me shall never die. And then he asked the question,
believest thou this? Do you believe this? Do you believe
these things that God's word sets forth so perfectly in order. Do you believe this? God causes
his people to say, yes, Lord, we most surely do. Yea, Lord,
in Christ we most surely do. Thank God for these things. Thank
God for the heart to believe these things. Until next week,
may the Lord bless these things to us for Christ's sake. 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, you can write
to our physical mailing address at 905 Yadkin Street, Kingsport,
Tennessee 37660 or 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.