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. I would like to use one verse
of scripture this morning for our text. John chapter 8, verse
32, it says, And you shall know the truth
and the truth shall make you free. You shall know the truth
and the truth shall make you free. I'd like for us to see
this morning a difference, a great difference in the lies of religion,
the lies that are being told in religion. the lies that will
eternally damn a soul to God's hell for believing. And I know
that's strong language but that's the truth of the matter. That
is exactly what the end will be for a soul who believes the
lies that are being told in religion today against God's Word. And
I'd like for us to see the difference in those lies and the truth of
God's Word that will eternally set a man or woman free, free
from sin and free from death, free from hell, free from Satan,
free, totally free. I want us to know, truly know
how we can identify a preacher who has no idea what he's talking
about or a man who is deliberately telling lies. and a preacher
who has been called of God to declare the truth of God's Word.
I want us to know the difference. And here it is. The lies of false
religion. False preachers say, DO. D-O. Do. You need to do. If you want to
be saved, you need to do. That's what the lies of religion
tells men and women. The truth of God's Word says,
done. D-O-N-E. It's done. It's already done. Now, we are
under the bondage of sin. We're under the bondage of the
law. We're under the bondage of our
own works. Until God sends the truth, until
he sends the truth of his word, the truth of the gospel to a
sinner and opens that sinner's eyes to see that it's done. When God sends the truth of his
word to the heart of a sinner, He tells that sinner, you can
rest. You can rest. It's time to rest. Just rest in Christ. It's done. It's done. Men and women are working and
working and God's Word and His Spirit comes and the Good News
of the Gospel tells that sinner, just rest. Rest in Christ. It's done. If you ever hear a
man stand up in a pulpit and say, If you want to be saved,
you need to do this or you need to do that. If you hear a man
tell you that, he's lying to you and he is not God's man. Don't listen to him. Do not listen
to him. But if you hear a man stand up
in a pulpit and say, it is finished, it's finished. If you hear a
man tell you that, he's telling you the truth. And if God gives
us a heart to believe that truth, that will set us free. If God
does it, it will set us free. Now I want to prove that to us.
If you have your Bible there, turn with me to Romans chapter
3. In Romans chapter 3 verse 19
says, Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith
to them who are under the law. Who is under the law? I am and
you are. All of us are. We're all under
the law of God that he's given. Every soul on this earth. And
it says, We know that what things soever the law saith, it saith
to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped
and all the world may become guilty before God. Now who is
guilty before God? I have a center margin in my
Bible and it says subject to the judgment of God. Who is subject
to the judgment of God? Every single one of us. Every
soul that is born into this world is subject to the judgment of
God. There is not one mouth that can
speak up and say, now wait a minute, I never sinned. Not one mouth
can say that. Every mouth is stopped. This
is what God's Word says. Every mouth is stopped and the
reason is because all the world is guilty before God. All the
world, including us. The man who wants to do to be
justified before God, what a poor man that is or a poor woman that
is who has no idea the truth that's going to be waiting for
him. Preachers stand up and lie. They
lie to these poor souls and they tell them that this is what you
need to do in order to be saved. You're going to have to get right
with God. Not notifying people that they're naturally dead,
spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, born into this world
that way. But they tell them you've got
to get right with God and you have to right your wrongs and
you have to have a good thing going with him and you have to
clean up your act and they don't realize that they're going to
go stand before God Almighty and as they stand there in the
judgment right next to them is going to be God's holy righteous
pure just condemning law. That law that he gave that he
said this is what I demand to stand in my presence. Every man
is going to stand right next to that law. They're going to
be judged according to that law. And God is going to look at that
law and then God is going to look at that sinner and he is
going to say, damned. He's going to say that, damned.
And that soul is going to see this perfect holy law and he's
going to say, well no, I'm not that perfect. I'm not that, but
I did try to clean up my act. And this is what that soul will
hear. from God Almighty. You did not do it perfectly. You tried to do, but you didn't
do it perfectly. Perfectly in deed and perfectly
in thought, perfectly in the motive of the heart. That's what
God demands. And every sinner who stands before
him on the merit of what he has done or tried to do is going
to hear God say, depart from me, I never knew you. I never
knew you. Romans 3 verse 20 says, Therefore,
by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight. For by the law, is the knowledge
of sin. That's all that the law can do
for us is expose our sin. All the law can do is show us
that we cannot live up to the law. We cannot do what the law
requires of us. No flesh will be justified before
God by trying to do. No flesh. Can't do it perfectly. Cannot do it perfectly. Verse
21 says, But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested. The righteousness of God is manifested. What does that mean? Over in
John chapter 1, Verse 1 says, In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, the Word was God. And then down in verse
14 it says, And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us,
and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. That's Jesus Christ. That's the Lord Jesus Christ,
the righteousness of God, Christ Himself. was manifested. God came down. That's what that
means. Romans 3 verses 21 through 26. This is all one sentence. Let's
read this one sentence here. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. All of God's law and all of God's
prophets point us to Jesus Christ. The righteousness of God. Verse
22 says, Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, for there's
no difference, for all have sinned. There's no difference in any
of us. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being
justified freely by His grace. through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. That's how a sinner is justified
before God. Freely by his grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God hath set forth
to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare
his righteousness for remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God. to declare, I say at this time,
his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of
him which believeth in Jesus." Now, what did he just say? Everything
we read, what did he mean in that? Here's what he said. Because
man could not do and satisfy God, men and women try to do,
They try, but they cannot satisfy God. And because man could not
satisfy God, Christ came down and did it for His people and
satisfied God for His people. And because man broke God's law,
they were trying to do, but all they ended up doing was breaking
God's law. Because they broke His law and
had to be punished for it, Christ came down and He suffered the
punishment. He took all the punishment for
His people. The wages of sin was death. God is just. That's what we just
read. God is just. The wages of sin
is death and He is a just and holy God. He will deliver that
punishment. So Christ came and He took the
sin of His people upon Himself and He suffered God's wrath.
God poured out His wrath on the sin of God's people in Christ. God poured out His wrath and
Christ suffered that wrath and Christ died for every single
one of them. Just and Justifier. The Just and the Justifier. Verse 27 says, where is boasting
then? Where is boasting then? In this
thing of salvation, a sinner being saved, where's boasting?
What do we have to boast in? Verse 27 goes on to say, it is
excluded by what law of works? No, by the law of faith, the
law of faith. Every time the question comes
up, this is a, A glorious thought to think on. This is wonderful.
This gives us rest right here. Every single time the question
comes up, what does God demand of me? Every time your conscience
brings this up, what does God demand of me? If I'm going to
stand in His presence and not suffer His wrath, what does He
demand of me? Every time that comes up, just
look to Jesus Christ. Just look to Jesus Christ. Everything
God demands, Christ has already provided. That's wonderful news. Everything God demands, Christ
has already provided. Every time the law says, every
time your conscience remembers what God has written in His law,
every time that law says, you've broken me, And there's a punishment
to pay every single time. Look to Christ. You just look
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Every price that the law demanded,
Christ has already paid. Every price the law demands,
Christ has already paid. Verse 28 says, Therefore we conclude
that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. What does that mean? That means
it's not due. It's not due. It's done. It's done. Now let's take a look
at what Christ has already done. Turn with me, if you would, to
Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians 1 verse 1 says, Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints
which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus,
grace be to you, and peace from God our Father and from the Lord
Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. In the Lord Jesus Christ. God
the Father has already blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places. It's done. It's done. I'm sure you're familiar with
the story of Isaac and Jacob whenever Jacob came in to receive
the birthright blessing from his father Isaac. That blessing
was owed to Esau. Esau was the firstborn. Everything
was supposed to go to Esau, but Jacob dressed up like Esau. He disguised himself and he went
into Isaac and Isaac blessed him, gave him everything, gave
him that birthright blessing. And after Isaac did that and
Esau found out about it, he went into Isaac and he cried. He said,
you blessed Jacob and not me. And he completely ignored the
fact that he never wanted that blessing in the first place.
He sold it for a bowl of soup. He didn't care about it. He didn't
reverence it and respect it. But once it was done, he went
in and he cried, you blessed Jacob and you didn't bless me.
And here's what his father Isaac said, what's done is done. I'm not taking it back. I will
not take it back in Christ. In the Lord Jesus Christ, we
have already received the Father's blessing and He will not take
it back. No matter what, He will not take
it back. What's done is done. Verse 4
says, According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him in love. In the Lord Jesus Christ, God
the Father has already chosen us. He has already chosen us. He did it before the foundation
of the world. Our election is done. In Christ it's done. We're chosen
in Him. Verse 5 says, Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ, Himself according
to the good pleasure of His will." Our path that leads us to Christ,
to conform us to the image of Christ, predestination. I don't
know why men hate the term predestination. It's precious. It's what conforms
us to the image of Christ. And our predestined path to lead
us to Him, that path is already done. That's good news. All of
God's people shall be led to Christ. They are all coming to
him. Their path is predetermined.
Our adoption, adoption into the family of God, it's done. It's
finished. There's a, over in John 20, whenever
our Lord rose from the grave, the first person that he appeared
to or revealed himself to was Mary Magdalene. And he told her,
You go and you tell my brethren I've risen and you tell them
that I'm ascending back up to my father and your father, my
God and your God. And what he was saying is it's
done. The adoption is done. The papers
are signed, the blood has been paid, the price is paid. My father,
your father, we're adopted. Verse six, it says, to the praise
of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the
beloved. All that is past tense. Made
us is past tense. Everything we're reading here
is past tense. Accepted in the Beloved. In Christ,
our acceptance into God's presence is done. Will God accept us? In Christ, He already has. It's
done. We are accepted. We're already
accepted in the blood of Jesus Christ. Verse 7 says, In whom
we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of His grace. We have redemption. It does not say we will have
redemption. One of these days we're going
to have redemption. No, it says in Christ we have redemption. We already have it. It's done. It's completely done. Verse 8
says, Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according
to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself. He
has already abounded and made known the mystery of his will
to us. What is it? Verse 10. that in
the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together
in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and
which are on earth, even in him." He's going to gather together
every soul that has been placed in Christ. Every soul that God
the Father put in Christ. Every soul in heaven, every soul
that's on this earth, He's going to gather all of them together.
They're all going to be together in Him. Verse 11 says, "...in
whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated
according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will." The reason that men say, do,
It's so prominent everywhere. So many churches, so many preachers,
men stand up and they tell this horrible lie, do, and the reason
they tell it is because they're trying to say to people, and
they believe, they believe what they're saying, but they're telling
men and women, now you want to receive your inheritance, don't
you? They're trying to encourage men and women, you want to receive
this inheritance, don't you? In Christ, it's already done. In Christ, we already have. We have received the inheritance. It's done. It's rest, finished. Not do, done. He's our inheritance. If we've received Him, we've
received all the inheritance. All things are in Him. If we
have Him, we have all things. 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, in whom also after that you believed,
you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. When God opens
a sinner's ears to hear the truth, How precious it is, how wonderful,
how glorious and gracious it is for God to send His truth
to a sinner. And when He does, and when He
opens those deaf ears and He allows those deaf ears to finally
hear the truth, the truth of the Gospel, the truth of the
Good News, what that sinner hears is a person. A person. In whom. It keeps saying in whom. In Christ. In a person. Not a what. When a person hears
the truth, they don't hear a what. They hear a whom. A person. The truth is a person. Salvation is a person. The gospel, the true gospel.
is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. We preach a person. We believe
a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. And when God's people hear him,
they trust him. They do. They believe him. He
gives life to them. He puts life in their heart.
He opens their eyes to see Him and hear Him and they believe
Him, they trust Him. Verse 13 says, In whom you also
trusted after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation, in whom also that after you believed, you
were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest
of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession
unto the praise of His glory. FAITH TO BELIEVE GOD'S WORD. FAITH TO TRULY BELIEVE GOD'S
WORD. FAITH TO BELIEVE ON CHRIST AND
BELIEVE THAT IT TRULY IS FINISHED. THAT IS THE EARNEST OF OUR INHERITANCE. THAT'S THE EARNEST. WHEN YOU
BUY A HOUSE, I'M SURE MOST OF YOU WATCHING THIS HAVE PURCHASED
A HOUSE. WHEN YOU BUY A HOUSE, YOU PUT EARNEST MONEY DOWN, DON'T
YOU? You put an earnest down. It's your promise. What you're
saying is, I will do this. I make a sure promise. I'm going
to do this. Well, we did not buy the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ bought
us. He bought and paid for us. And
Him giving us faith, Him giving us the ability to believe His
Word, and believe on Him and believe that it's done. He says
it's done. Him giving us that ability to
believe it's done, that is His promise to us that He will fulfill
our redemption. He will gather us to Himself
with all of His people and we'll be with Him forever in glory.
That's his earnest, his promise to us. So here's the message
of scripture. Look to Christ. Look to the Lord
Jesus Christ and rest. That's always been the message.
Moses said stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Just
stand still and look to Christ. Look to everything he's already
accomplished. Look to the blood that has already
been shed. It's done. There's a song that
I love and one of the lines in it says, "'Tis done, the great
transaction's done. I am my Lord's and He is mine."
Until next Sunday morning, 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, 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 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.