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 bring a message
to you this morning titled, We Do Not Corrupt the Word of God. And our text is going to be in
2 Corinthians chapter 2. But I want to begin in Proverbs
14. If you have a Bible handy, let's open it together and look
into these things. Proverbs 14 verse 12 says, There
is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof
are the ways of death. There is A way. A way that seems right to man.
Every man has a way. Every man and every woman has
him or herself convinced that his or her way is right. His or her way of salvation is
the right way. But if it is not the way, the
way. The end is death. The end is destruction. But back in Psalm 25 verse 8
it says, good and upright is the Lord. Therefore will he teach
sinners in the way. The way. Not a way. John the Baptist cried, prepare
ye the way of the Lord. Our Lord himself said, straight
is the gate and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life. And then he said, few there be
that find it. What an amazing statement. Few
there be that find it. Now over in John chapter 14,
It says in verse four, whither I go, you know, and the way you
know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord,
we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way. I am the way. I am the truth
and the life, No man cometh unto the Father but by me." That's
what he said. The way. There is one way. There is only one truth that
leads to life. Any man or woman can have access
to it. Any man or woman can know it
if, and this is a big if, if God will open their eyes to it
in the scripture. If God does that any man or woman
can know and have the way. Now if you'll look with me in
our text 2nd Corinthians chapter 2 verse 17 says, for we are not
as many which corrupt The Word of God. This Word is perfect. It's absolutely perfect. Every
word in the scripture is in complete agreement with every other word
in the scripture. No two verses contradict each
other. They all support each other and
they all point us to the way. The one way. Any deviation from
the one message of the one way is a corruption of the scriptures. It's a corruption of the word
of God. Now, according to the internet,
you can search the internet, and according to the internet,
it says there are 38,000 different Christian denominations
in the world. That's a staggering number. If
that's true, 37,999 of us, we're one of them, aren't we? 37,999
of us are wrong. It has to be the way. It has to be the case. It cannot
be any other way. There's one truth. There's one
way. If 38,000 of them are different and there's only one true way, then 37,999 of us have to be
wrong. Now, here's the question I really
need to know this morning, and here's the question you need
to know this morning. Are we right? Are you and I right? Everybody assumes that they're
right. Everybody does. How can we know? How can we know that we are holding
to the way? Well, verse 17 here in 2 Corinthians
2 says, we are not as many which corrupt the Word of God. We do not corrupt, or that means
deal deceitfully with the Word of God. We don't twist it. We
do not twist it. We do not try and make it insinuate
that we're not sinners. This scripture says we're sinners. And deep down, you and I both
know that we are. All we can say to that is truth. Truth. If you'll look at Romans
chapter 3, if you have your Bible there, Romans 3.23 says, for
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And that
verse does not say except for Gabe Stoniker. It says all, all. Verse 10 says, as it is written,
there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God, they are all gone out of
the way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that
doeth good, no, not one. Isn't that amazing? What do we
say to that? Truth. Truth, that's all we can
say. We do not twist the scripture
to put salvation into our hands. This word of God says, salvation
is of the Lord. That's what it says. Salvation
is of the Lord. It's his to give to whoever he
wants, whenever he wants. Look with me a few pages over
at Romans chapter nine. Romans 9 verse 11 says, for the
children being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil that the purpose of God according to election might stand. And what a big verse this is.
The purpose of God according to election might stand, not
of works. Everybody's trying to work their
way into heaven. He said, it's not of works, but
of him that calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? What
do we say to these things? He said, is there unrighteousness
with God? God forbid. God forbid, for he
saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and
I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then
it is not of him that willeth. It's not of a man or a woman
just making a decision. I've just decided I'm ready.
I'm going to get saved. This is it. He said, that's not
how it works. It's not of him that willeth nor of him that
runneth. Working, working, working. but
of God that showeth mercy. Mercy, for the scripture saith
unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose, have I raised thee up
that I might show my power in thee and that my name might be
declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy. And whom he will, he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, why
doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Nay, but, O man, who art thou that replyest against God? Shall
the thing formed say to him that formed it, why hast thou made
me thus? Hath not the potter power over
the clay? Of the same lump to make one
vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor. What do we say
to these things? Truth. Truth. God is God. Truth. We do not
twist the scripture to try and make it insinuate that any glory
for anything should go to us. None whatsoever. The scripture
says, if any man glory, let him glory in the Lord. Isn't that
what it says? And all we can say to that is
truth. truth there's nothing in this flesh to glory in. So back in 2nd Corinthians 2
verse 17 says we are not as many which corrupt the Word of God
but as of sincerity in honesty we are honest with God's Word
we just declare what it says That's all we do is declare what
it says. We don't declare our opinion
on what it says. That's where man goes wrong and
starts veering off out of the way. Our God has declared what
He has said and what He means and we don't add anything to
it or take anything from it. We just declare it. We handle
it in sincerity. Verse 17 goes on to say, as of
God. We handle this Word as the Word
of God, not just a good suggestion, the Word of God Almighty. It's
absolute. It's final. It's unchangeable. God does not change. He did not
say one thing then and mean one thing then and say one thing
now and mean something else now. God does not change. His word
is unchanging. And verse 17 says, we handle
it in the sight of God. We don't add anything to it and
we don't take anything from it. God is watching us handle it.
God is watching us. We don't fear men in the declaration
of it, do we? If God ever gets a hold of a
sinner, if he ever lays hold of a sinner and reveals the true
and living God to him, like he did to Saul of Tarsus on the
road to Damascus. That sinner won't fear man anymore.
That sinner will fear God. And we know God is watching us
handle this word. And in verse 17 it says, in sincerity,
as of God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ. And if you have a margin in the
center of your Bible, you'll see that the word in translates
of. We speak of Christ. We speak of Christ. Christ is
our message. Christ is the message. Christ
is the way. Christ is the truth. Christ is
the life. It's all about Jesus Christ. Now turn with me to John 5. John
chapter 5. The verse I want to show you
here is verse 39, but let's read verses 40 to 45 so we can understand
verse 39. Now, our Lord is speaking to
the religious leaders here, the leaders of church, the leaders
of religion. And he said in verse 40, you
will not come to me that you might have life. Shocking. He said, I receive not honor
from men, but I know you that you have not the love of God
in you. What an amazing thing to be told
to these Pharisees. He said, I am come in my Father's
name, and you receive me not. If another shall come in his
own name, him you will receive. How can you believe which receive
honor one of another? and seek not the honor that cometh
from God only. He said, do not think that I
will accuse you to the Father. And listen to this. He said,
for there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. He said, you're trusting in Moses.
All right, now let's read verse 39 together. He said, search
the scriptures. Search the scriptures. For in
them, you think you have eternal life. He said, you are looking
into the word, you are reading the word, you are searching the
word, and in doing that, you think you have eternal life. But he just told them, you're
trusting Moses and not me. So he said, go ahead, search
the scriptures. In them, you think you have eternal
life. What he's saying is, but you
don't. You don't, and the reason is
because you've missed me in them. You've missed the way. You've missed the message. He went on in verse 39 to say,
they are they which testify of me. All of them testify of me. Now, what does he mean by that?
Here's what he means. Here's the key to it all. This
is the key to the scripture, okay? The first chapter in the
first verse, Genesis 1-1 says, in the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth. That's Christ. That's Christ. The first verse
of the scripture is all about Jesus Christ. Christ is heaven. That's the absolute truth. Christ
is heaven. Heaven is not a place. Heaven is a person. If he is not there, that is not
heaven. Eternal life is not an existence. Eternal life is a person. The way, we're talking about
the way. The way is not a series of events. Oh, this is so important. I pray
the Lord will bless this to our hearts. The way is not a series
of events. The way is a person. If we have him, we have the way. If we have him, we have life.
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. The
word of God, the word of heaven came down and dwelt among us.
He said, a body hast thou prepared me. And he did all this before
the foundation of the world. That's all Christ. It's all Christ. He said, it went on right there
in Genesis one to say, let there be light. That's Christ. The
light of the world. He went on to tell Adam, do not
touch that tree of life. That tree is the perfect, holy
righteousness of Christ. He told Adam, do not lay hold
of that and add man's anything to it. You'll defile it all. Do not mix man's works with the
perfect righteousness of Christ. Adam and Eve both did. Because
of that, God said to Satan, the one who deceived, he said, the
woman's seed is gonna crush your head. Who's that? That's Christ. That's Jesus Christ. And at that
moment right there, he killed an animal and he took the skin
of that animal and he covered Adam and Eve in that skin. That's
Christ. The atoning covering. For the sins of God's people
covered in the righteousness of Christ, every account throughout
the scripture is Christ Noah's Ark. That's Christ. Whoever was inside that ark was
safe. Whoever was outside of that ark
was damned. It's all Christ. Adam, I'm sorry,
Abraham sacrificing Isaac. We know that story. The father
sacrificing his son. That's Christ. That's Christ. We know the story of Joseph.
Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, his own brethren. But in the end, we see it was
for the purpose of Joseph being able to provide everything his
brethren needed to live. That's Christ. That's Christ. He came unto his own, his own
received him not. It's all Christ. Moses, we go
into Exodus, Moses delivered the people out of bondage. That's
Christ. After that, God told him to kill
a Passover lamb. That's Christ. Behold the Lamb
of God which taketh away the sin of the world. And as we go
on through the scripture, all of those Old Testament types,
that rock that was smitten is Christ, everything about the
tabernacle is Christ. The altar's Christ, the sacrifice
is Christ, the priest making the sacrifice is Christ. It's
all Christ. All of those laws and commandments
throughout the five books of Moses, they're demanding perfection.
Must be perfect. That is the holy, righteous character
of Christ. If we want to see what is Christ
like, just look at the five books of Moses. Perfection. Perfection. And then you go into books like
Joshua. As you read through Joshua, he
conquered all. Joshua conquered all. That's
Christ. His name even means Savior. That's
Christ. Boaz, Ruth's redeemer. That's Christ. That whole story
is about Christ and his bride, King David. God's anointed king. He wrote with his own pen and
his own heart under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He wrote
in Psalm 22, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That's
Christ. Everything that Solomon wrote
concerning wisdom, the wisdom of Solomon, that's Christ. Christ, our wisdom. Isaiah said,
behold my servant. The rod of Jesse, the root out
of dry ground, that's Christ. Jeremiah wrote, I am the man
that hath seen affliction. Thank God, that's Christ. stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted. Isn't that what it says about
him? Ezekiel brought good news. He stood up and he delivered
good news to an entire valley of dry dead bones and they lived. That's Christ. Daniel prophesied of the Messiah
who would come. That's Christ. I love that story
of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They threw him in that fiery
furnace and Nebuchadnezzar said, I see a fourth man. You know
who that was? That was Christ. Hosea. Oh, I hope you know the story
of Hosea and Gomer. Hosea married the vilest woman
that could ever be imagined. Despicable, horrible, vile. He married her. He married her
on purpose. That's Christ. Christ marrying
his bride. Jonah was in the belly of the
whale for three days, wasn't he? That's Christ. Even so, must the son of man
be in the heart of the earth for three days? And then Messiah
came. We get into Matthew, the New
Testament. Messiah came, the seed of woman, and he fulfilled
everything that the Old Testament prophesied concerning him. He earned that perfect righteousness. He satisfied that law. He became
the substitute and the sacrifice for the sin of his people. And
on the cross, he cried, it is finished. And you know, we do
not twist that. We do not try and make that as
though it is not finished. He said, it's finished. It's
finished. After he was in the heart of
the earth for three days, he ascended back up to glory, and
he sat down on the throne of God. And now every time we see
the word God in the scriptures, that's Christ. God the Father
said to God the Son, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. God Himself. And now here we
are in 2 Corinthians 2. These epistles, the apostle Paul
and the other apostles wrote them. They're written to the
new man inside every child of God. That's Christ. Christ in us. The only reason
good works are exhorted to us is because Christ is in us. It's
all for Christ's sake. That's what the Word says. We
don't twist that. We don't do good works trying
to put the cart before the horse again, trying to earn a salvation
again. Christ said it's finished. We
just do these good works for Christ's sake, for love's sake.
It's all for Christ's sake, all the way to the end. The last
book in God's Word, Revelation. That book is not the revelation
of Armageddon. It's the revelation of Jesus
Christ. That's what chapter 1 verse 1
says. The revelation of Jesus Christ. We preach Christ. We preach a person. We preach
a person. The truth is a person. That's
how we know we are holding to the way. Back in 2 Corinthians
2, verse 14 says, thanks be unto God which always causeth us to
triumph in Christ. That's the only way a sinner
can triumph. And maketh manifest the savor
of His knowledge in every place. Every place we turn, we're looking
for Christ. Verse 15 says, for we are unto
God a sweet savor of Christ. in them that are saved and in
them that perish. God's people are a sweet savor
of Christ. Christ in them, them in Christ. All they plead before God is
Christ. And all they preach and witness
to men is Christ. Verse 16 says, to the one we
are a saver of death unto death and to the other, the saver of
life unto life. And that's how we can know if
God has performed a work of grace in us. Whenever we hear the truth
preached. all who will perish when they
hear this message of Christ alone, His work alone, His blood alone,
the works of man and the decision of man and the choice of man
being completely taken out of the equation, all who will perish
will hate that message. They won't want to hear it. It'll
be a savor of death to them. But those who are going to live
forever when they hear the truth of Christ preached, Christ alone,
His glory alone, His work alone, The works of man and the decision
of man and the choice of man completely taken out of the equation.
Those who will live forever will love that message. They'll fall
in love with it. It'll be a savor of life to them.
They will give all the glory. And all the thanks to God, and
they'll say with the Apostle Paul at the end of verse 16,
who is sufficient for these things? It has to be of grace. It has
to be of grace, and it is. We hold to it, we preach it,
and we love it. If you would like a copy of this
message, the title is, We Do Not Corrupt the Word of God.
You can find it on our website at ksgctn.org or write to us
and we'll be happy to send you a copy. 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, 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.