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 want to invite you to turn
with me to the book of Philippians. Philippians chapter 2. We're
going to look at verses 5 to 11. And I have three questions
that I want us to consider in these verses this morning. Three
questions. These are three vital to salvation
questions. The first one is this, who is
God? That's a vital question in salvation,
isn't it? Who is God? Everybody talks about
God. Everybody does. Everybody prays
to God. Everybody loves God. They say
they do. Everybody wants to live forever
with God. Well, who is God? Who is God? The second question
is, what has he done? Everybody talks about what he
wants to do. Everybody talks about what he's
trying to do. But really, what has he done?
What has God done? The third question is, where
is he now? Where is he right now? Is he standing at my heart's
door? Is he running over here and running
over there trying to stop the work of Satan? Who is God? What has he done? And where is he right now? Well look with me here at Philippians
chapter 2 and let's begin reading in verse 5. It says, let this
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Let this mind
be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. What he is telling us
is we all need to repent. That's what he's telling us right
there. Starting with me, he's telling me and he's telling you
we all need to repent. Let this mind be in you. Repentance
is where God's truth starts. The truth of the word of God,
it starts with repentance. Look with me, Matthew chapter
three, if you have your Bible and you're turning with me, go
over to Matthew chapter three, verse one says, in those days
came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea and
saying, repent ye of your sins. for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand. That was John's message. That's what he said when he stood
up and preached. Repent ye, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand. And if you look at chapter four,
Matthew chapter four, verse 17 says, from that time Jesus began
to preach and to say, repent. for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand. That was our Lord's message.
Now what does repent mean? It means have a changed mind. It means let this mind be in
you. Now we all know that there is
a God. We all do. The heavens declare the glory
of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. We would be fools
to say there is no God. We would be absolute fools to
say that. It's written on the conscience
of every man and woman that there is a God. Man, with his natural thinking,
with his earthly physical thinking, He thinks he knows God, but the
truth of the matter is he does not. By nature, we cannot. Our Lord said in Matthew 11 verse
27, he said, no man knoweth the son but the father. Neither knoweth
any man the father save the son, and he to whomsoever the son
will reveal him. So we know that there is a God. All men and women do know that.
But we don't know God. not by nature. Without God revealing
himself, no man can know God. Man naturally thinks that he
understands God, but the fact of the matter is he does not.
God said, my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your
ways my ways. Man naturally says, well, this
is the way I would do it. This is the way I think it ought
to be done. Well, that's not the way God does it. His ways
are not our ways. So the first thing that God gives
to a sinner in this calling of salvation is a new mind, a changed
mind to know him. and to understand His truth,
to understand the truth in His Word. He gives eyes to see His
truth. He gives ears to hear His voice
in His Word. And through His Word, He calls
His child. And that child sees Him as He
is, and that child believes on Him, and that child follows Him. Now let me ask every single one
of us, who is God? Who is God? Look with me back
at our text in Philippians 2. Verse 5 says, Let this mind be
in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus. Everything he's about to say
is concerning Jesus of Nazareth. Christ Jesus the Lord. Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus who Being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. Somebody will hear that and say,
well, it says he was in the form of God. It says he thought it
not robbery to be equal with God. Does that mean he is like
God? Similar to God? Or does that mean He is God? Which one? Look with me at John 14. John
14 verse 6, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Somebody will hear that and say,
oh, okay, so he's just the one who can get you to God. He's
the way to God. Well, he said in verse seven,
if you had known me, you should have known my father also. And
from henceforth, you know him and have seen him. Philip saith
unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith
unto him, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou
not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen
the Father. And how sayest thou then, show
us the Father? Why do you keep saying, show
us the Father? He said, have I been so long
time with you? What does he mean in that? What
does he mean in saying that? Listen to what Isaiah wrote in
Isaiah nine, verse six. He wrote, for unto us a child
is born. We know who he's writing about,
Jesus of Nazareth. He said, unto us a son is given. Jesus of Nazareth, Christ Jesus
the Lord. He went on to say, and the government
shall be upon his shoulder. and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace." That's his name. The name of the one
who was born, Call Him the mighty God because that's who He is. Call Him the everlasting Father
because that's who He is. He and His Father are one. He said, have I been so long
time with you? Have I been so long time with
you? Over in 1 John 5, verse 20 says, And we know that the Son of God
is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know
Him that is true. And we are in Him that is true,
even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life." Now, who is God? the very one who came and walked
this earth for 33 and a half years, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God. He is God. All judgment has been given to
the Son. When a man or a woman leaves
this earth and goes to stand before the throne of God, they
will stand before Jesus of Nazareth. Christ Jesus the Lord. God the
Father said to him, thy throne, oh God, is forever and ever. Jesus Christ, he is God. Now, I'm not going to waste our
time, our precious time here on this radio station to tell
us the lies that men and women say about him, that he wants
to do this and he's trying to do that. It's all lies. It's
all lies. He is not the weak God. He is the mighty God. And all I want to know is this. What
has this mighty God done? What has He done? The scripture
says He does whatever He pleases. The scripture says whatever He
does, no man can stop Him from doing it. And the gospel says,
we preach the gospel, we declare the good news of the gospel,
and this is what the gospel says. Just look at what He's done.
That's the gospel. Just look at what he has done. Back in Philippians 2, verse
5 says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,
who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. Now Jesus Christ is the one who
spoke this world into existence. We have scripture after scripture
after scripture that tells us that. He is the Word. In the beginning was the Word.
All things were made by Him. Without Him was not anything
made that was made. The Word of God, Christ Himself. Jesus Christ is the one who formed
man of the dust of the ground. Jesus Christ is our maker. He's
our owner. He's our controller. He's our
king. He's our God. Jesus Christ is the one that
every soul on this earth ought to reverence and thank and worship. But when He came here, He chose
to make Himself of no reputation. Isn't that amazing? He chose
to make Himself of no reputation. When He came here, not only did
His creation not know Him, Not only did they not know him, they hated him. Isn't that amazing? They hated the one who gave them
life. They hated the one who gave them
breath, a world to live in, a family to love. They hated the one who blessed
them with a mind to reason, a body, a physical strength to work and
do. They hated the one who gave them
every good thing that they have on this earth. Let me ask you
this question. If you had been God, what would
you have done If you had made man and man turned
on you and man did all of that to you, what would you have done?
What would I have done? I'll tell you what we would have
done. We would have wiped them out. We would have killed them
all. Let me ask you this. What did
God do? What did our God do? Verse 7 says, he made himself
of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant. What does that mean? Isaiah 53 says it means He bore
our griefs and carried our sorrows. That's what a servant does. He
bears the burden of another. The Lord laid on Him the iniquity
of us all, all that God His Father gave to Him. Every soul chosen
to be in Him. Verse 7 says, He made Himself
of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of men. It says He was made in the likeness
of men. Does that mean He made Himself
to be like a man? God became a man. That is such a glorious, glorious
truth. God became a man. There is a man in glory seated
on a throne. The God-man, no less God, no
less man. God became a man. Why would He
do that? Why would He do that? He did it because that's what
I am. He did it because that's what you are. In order to bear
our burden, in order to take our sin upon Himself, He had
to become us. He made Himself of no reputation
because that's what I am. Nothing. Nothing. He was despised and he was rejected
because that's what I deserve. As a sinner, that's all that
I deserve. It was a great humiliation for
God to become a man, but he didn't stop there. Verse 8 says, and
being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself. even more. He humbled himself
to the last degree. He humbled himself lower than
any man is able to recover from. Being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. Now wait a minute, who are we
talking about here? Who did this? God did it. God did this. And there's one word in that
verse that explains why. Why he would do this. Verse eight
says, being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient. Obedient. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit, they made a covenant with each other. They didn't make a covenant with
the sinner. They didn't say, I'll do this if you'll do that.
They didn't do that. They made a covenant with each
other to save some sinners. out of the entire fallen race
of sinners. The Father said, I'll choose
them. I'll choose whom we will save. God the Son said, if you choose
them, I'll redeem them. God the Spirit said, if you redeem
them, I'll call them. And the Father did. And the Son
has, and the Spirit will. Our Lord said in John 6, this
is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he
hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up again at the last day. Verse 8 says, being found in
fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Now, was he successful
in what he did? We now understand what he set
out to do. Did he accomplish what he came
here to do? Did he save his people? Or is he still trying? Is salvation finished or not? To know the answer to that question,
all we need to do is find out where is he right now? Where is he right now? If he is standing at my heart's
door begging, it is not finished. If he has taken the first step
and now he's standing there waiting for me to take the second step,
it is not finished. If he's standing there saying
he's done all he can do and now the rest is up to me, it is not
finished. My salvation depends on where
he is right now. Where is he? David said, our
God is seated in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Hebrews 1 says, when he by himself
purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high. Hebrews 10 says, this man, after
he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, he sat down. Why did he sit down? because it was finished. That's why. Christ was given
a work, Christ came to do the work, and Christ finished the
work. Verse nine says, wherefore God
also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is
above every name. that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and
things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Now let me
tell you three things about that and we'll be done. Number one,
He is Lord. He already is Lord. God the Father has already highly
exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name. We
cannot make Him Lord. He already is Lord. He already
is the ruler. He already is the controller. He already is the sovereign. That's what the name Lord means.
Don't listen to a man who tells you the lie that you have to
make him your Lord. He already is Lord. The second thing is this. Every
knee is going to bow. It's not a question of if. It's
when. Every knee in heaven is going
to bow. Every knee in earth is going
to bow. Every knee in hell is going to
bow. Not willingly. They're gonna
be forced to. But they are going to bow. So
here's the third thing. Salvation is bowing the knee
right now. Right now. Today is the day of
salvation. Bowing to the fact that He is
Lord. He is God. He is our ruler and controller. That's salvation. Bowing to the
fact that He Himself is salvation. His blood paid the debt and it's
over. He did it by Himself. I took
no part in it. There's nothing left undone for
me to do. That's salvation. Acknowledging
the fact that I have no control over my own knee. If it bends,
God in mercy and goodness and kindness and grace caused it
to bend. If I bow, God did it. That's
salvation. That new mind that I belong to
Him, if He bends my knee, that's mercy. If he does not bend my
knee, he will break it later in wrath and judgment. Knowing
that is my evidence of salvation. I belong to him. I'm his to do
with as he pleases. So here's my cry, Lord, bend
me, bow me, Show me the evidence that I won't be broken. Lord,
show that to all of us. In our hearts right now, let's
all bend the knee to the Lord Jesus Christ. Until next Sunday
morning, may our 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 kingsportsovereigngracechurch.com. 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 Sunday morning
at 8.30 for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.