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'm going to be speaking to you
this morning from the book of Galatians, Galatians chapter
3. And I want to begin this message
with a question. And that question is this, after
God calls a sinner, God comes to a sinner, a sinner that he
has chosen to show mercy to, chosen to save, after God comes
to and calls that sinner, is there something that that
sinner must do to progressively sanctify himself? Can he grow
holier in God's eyes over time? The answer to that question is
no. No, the Apostle Paul is gonna tell us that sinners are completely
justified and holy before God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the message of this portion
of Scripture. We are justified, we are sanctified,
we are righteous before God. through faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, looking to Christ, trusting Christ, believing on Christ,
what he did, what he said he would do. And he begins this
chapter with a very stern opening. He says, oh foolish Galatians,
strong words, Do you know of anybody who likes
to be called a fool? Do you know of anybody who is
okay with being called a fool? The word means unintelligent. It means unwise. Now our Lord warned us about
the danger of just calling a man a fool. He said if you call a
man that without just cause, you'll be in danger of hell fire.
That's what he said in Matthew chapter five. So we don't just
say a man is a fool because we think he's a fool. God's word
declares who the fool is. And it's a very serious and it's
a very dangerous thing to be a fool in God's eyes. Let me prove that to you with
a few scriptures. If you have your Bible, you can
turn with me to Psalm 5. Psalm chapter five, verse five
says this. The foolish shall not stand in
thy sight. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. He's saying the foolish are committing
a great sin in God's eyes. And they will not stand in his
sight. What is that sin? Our Lord said,
all manner of sin committed against me shall be forgiven. But the
sin of unbelief, the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, not believing
the word that God has spoken, that's the one that will not
be forgiven. over in Jeremiah chapter five. He said in verse one, run ye
to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem and see now and
know and seek in the broad places thereof if you can find a man,
if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth
and I will pardon it. And though they say the Lord
liveth, Surely they swear falsely. O LORD, are not thine eyes upon
the truth? Thou hast stricken them, but
they have not grieved. Thou hast consumed them, but
they have refused to receive correction. They have made their
faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return. Therefore I said, surely these
are poor, They are foolish, for they know not the way of the
Lord, nor the judgment of their God. That's what makes them fools. They don't know the way of their
Lord. They don't know the judgment
of their God. And he said down in verse 19,
it shall come to pass when you shall say, wherefore doeth the
Lord our God all these things to us? Why is God doing all these
things to us? Then shalt thou answer them like
as you have forsaken me and served strange gods in your land. So
shall you serve strangers in a land that is not yours. Declare
this in the house of Jacob and publish it in Judah, saying,
Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding, which
have eyes and see not, which have ears and hear not. He said,
Fear ye not me? saith the Lord, will you not
tremble at my presence? You don't fear me? He's saying you will. You will,
oh foolish people. Over in Matthew chapter seven,
Matthew chapter seven, this is where many came to him who thought
they were righteous before him and found out they were not.
He said in verse 24 of Matthew 7, therefore, whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a
wise man which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that
house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. Who
is that rock? Christ. The wise man casts his
all on, he builds his all on the foundation of Christ. Christ,
his work, his accomplishment. But then he went on to say in
verse 26, everyone that here at these sayings of mine and
do with them not shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built
his house upon the sand and the rain descended and the floods
came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell and
great was the fall of it. great was the fall of it because
it was not founded on Christ, His blood, His righteousness
alone. Anything other than Christ is
sand, quicksand. So what we need to find out is
what does God's Word say? He said that these are foolish
people because they do not understand what their God has said. They
do not understand the judgment of their God. We need to find
out what has our God said. And then after we see what He says,
the question is, and the title of this message is, who is the
fool? Who is the fool who will not
believe and will not bow to the Word of God, to what God has
declared. Well, back in Galatians 3, verse
1 says, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you? That
word means fascinated. Who has put a spell on you? Who has tricked you? Who's pulled
the wool over your eyes? Who are you listening to instead
of God? That's the question every sinner
needs to be confronted with. Who are you listening to instead
of God? Why would you listen to anybody
other than God? I don't want you to listen to
me this morning. I don't want to listen to myself.
I don't trust myself. But I trust our God and I trust
his word. And all I want to declare to
you this morning is God's word, what God has said. Why would
we listen to anybody other than God? Why will we listen to a
man who's been on this earth for 50 years instead of the God
who created the earth? The one who has no beginning.
Why would we listen to a man who says he has obtained wisdom
instead of the God who is wisdom? Why would we listen to a man
who is clearly aging and dying from sin? We all are, wrinkles,
spots, hair turns gray. Why would we listen to a man
who is dying from sin instead of the God who punishes sin? He said in verse 1, O foolish
Galatians, who hath bewitched you that you should not obey
the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently
set forth, crucified among you? Who has stolen you from the truth
of salvation? Being evidently set forth in
the Word of God. concerning the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ. What he's saying is, how is it
that you do not understand what happened on the cross? How is it that you do not understand
the finished, complete, accomplished effort of the Lord Jesus Christ
on that cross? Back in 2 Corinthians 11, verse
3 says, I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through
his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ. The singularity of Christ crucified. And what he's saying to the Galatians
is, why would you leave Christ and go back after the law? When it comes to this issue of
salvation, when it comes to justification before God, when it comes to
whether or not I will enter heaven, enter glory into his presence,
Once we see that Christ is all, once we see that His blood is
all that God will accept as a payment for sin, why would we try to
go back to the works of our law to satisfy Him, knowing that
they could never satisfy Him? Why would we leave the freedom
of Christ and go back to the bondage of the law? He said,
who hath bewitched you? when who Christ is and what he
has done and why he suffered and where he is now was faithfully
preached to you after you heard the gospel. The gospel is all
about Christ. The gospel is 100% concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. If we're not hearing about Christ,
we're not hearing the gospel. If we're hearing what we need
to do for God to save us, we're not hearing the gospel. And Paul is telling these Galatians,
after you heard the gospel for so long, and you professed to
believe it, and you rejoiced in the riches of Christ, why
would you ever see the poverty and the bondage of the law as
being better? Why would you go back? He said in Galatians 3 verse
1 Oh Foolish Galatians who hath bewitched you That you should
not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently
set forth crucified among you This only would I learn of you
he's saying this is all I want to know Received ye the spirit
God's Holy Spirit, God's quickening Spirit, life-giving, eye-opening
Spirit. Received ye the Spirit by the
works of the law or by the hearing of faith? What a great question. What a great question, what an
eye-opening question. He's asking the Galatians, when
did God set you free? This could be said about any
sinner that is recorded in the word of God going from death to life, bondage
to freedom, blindness to sight. And this can be said about every
single person today that God comes to and sets them free. He said, when did God set you
free and speak peace to your heart? When was your redemption
made known to you? Was it while you were trying
to work the works of the law? Or did it happen while the gospel
was being preached to you? Did it come by the deeds of the
law or did it come by the hearing of faith? Which one? Ephesians
chapter 2 verse 8 says, For by grace are you saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. God has never spoken peace to
a man's heart through works. Never. Never. He's never spoken peace
to a man's heart through works. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13 says,
But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel. He called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. So Paul said, this thing didn't
start with works. Why would you believe it ends
with works? Why would we ever believe that?
Back in Galatians 3, verse 3 says, are you so foolish, having begun
in the spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? We started with God's spirit.
Does it end by the works of this flesh? Galatians 4 verse 9 says,
but now after that you have known God, or rather are known of God,
how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto
you desire again to be in bondage? He said, are you so foolish as
to believe that you begin in the Spirit, but you're made perfect
by being baptized? You begin in the Spirit, but
you're made perfect by keeping a certain day of the week? Keeping
a certain ritual? Wearing a certain thing, not
wearing a certain thing? You begin by what God does, but
you're made perfect by what you do? Is that how a sinner is sanctified
before God? God starts it, but you finish
it? He said, are you so foolish?
1 Peter 1 verse 3 says, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according
to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you. You. Who is the you? Who's he talking
about? Verse five says, you who are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. God begat us. God keeps us, we
don't keep ourselves, we're kept by the power of God. Philippians
chapter one verse six 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. He starts that work, he performs
that work. Every ounce of it is of Him,
by Him, through Him, to Him. Back in Galatians 3 verse 4 says,
have you suffered so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain? Like anyone who takes a stand
for God's truth, they suffered persecution for it. They suffered
loss for it. The Apostle Paul said, I suffered
the loss of all things. And he said, did you endure all
that in vain? Verse five, he said, he therefore
that ministereth to you, in which that's Christ, Christ ministers
to God's people, the Spirit, he that ministereth to you, the
Spirit, and worketh miracles among you. And that's Christ. through his apostles, he worked
miracles in the days of the New Testament church. Verse five,
he therefore that ministereth to you the spirit and worketh
miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law or
by the hearing of faith? The miracles that were performed
among you, were they performed along with the doing of the law
or the preaching of the gospel? Did those miracles confirm the
works of the law to you or did they confirm the message preached
to you? Our Lord said, go ye into all
the world and preach the gospel and these signs shall follow
you. Confirming the message. confirming
the message. God confirmed the hearing of
faith. And verse six says, even as Abraham
believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness, the
same way Abraham was counted righteous, that's the same way
a sinner is counted righteous today. Back in Genesis chapter
12, Abraham was 75 years old and God told him to leave his
father's house, leave his country, and go out. And Abraham didn't
know where he was going, but he went. God called Abraham. God revealed himself to Abraham
and Abraham believed God. He trusted God and he went. And
God gave his promise to Abraham. God revealed himself and God
revealed the blessing to Abraham at the age of 75. And when God reveals himself,
And when God reveals the blessing that is in Christ, that is salvation. That is salvation. Our Lord said,
this is life eternal that they might know thee. When a sinner
comes to know God through the revelation of his spirit, through
his word, that's salvation. And then in Genesis chapter 17,
when Abraham was 99, 24 years later, gave him the covenant of circumcision. And he told Abraham, this circumcision
is a covenant I'm going to make with you. I want you to do this.
But he said, this is a token of my promise to you. It's just
a token. The promise was made when Abraham
was 75. The token came when he was 99.
Abraham was justified by God's message of faith. God called
him. And he went out not knowing whether he went. He was trusting
God. And the same way Abraham was
justified, that's the same way you and I are justified. Trusting
God. Looking to Christ. Believing
Him. Believing on Him. Romans 4 tells
us the same thing, reiterates the same thing. In Romans 4,
verse 9, the question is asked, cometh this blessedness then
upon the circumcision only or upon the circumcision also? Is
God's salvation to Jews only or to Jews and Gentiles? It goes on to say, for we say
that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it
then reckoned when he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision?
Was Abraham under that token when God made that promise to
him and called him by faith? No, uncircumcision. And it goes on to say, he received
the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith
which he had, yet being uncircumcised. that he might be the father of
all them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that
righteousness might be imputed unto them also. Abraham believed God. He believed
God, and it was counted to him for righteousness, and the same
thing applies to us today. It is not by the deeds of the
law Our salvation is not kept through
the deeds of the law. We're saved by faith in Christ. We're kept through faith in Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. And that's what Paul is telling
the Galatians back in chapter three, verse seven. He said, know ye therefore that
they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
And the scriptures foreseeing that God would justify the heathen
through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham saying,
in thee shall all nations be blessed. In thee, God said, in
thy seed. What does he mean by that? Well,
in verse 16, it says, Now to Abraham and his seed were the
promises made. He saith not unto seeds as of
many, but as of one and to thy seed, which is Christ, Christ,
Christ. It's all about Christ. He that
has Christ has life. He that has not Christ does not
have life. Salvation is not in anything
we do. Salvation is not in anything that we think we are. Salvation
is in the blood of Jesus Christ alone. Alone. Verse 9 in Galatians 3 says,
So then, they which be of faith, those that have been given faith,
the faith of Christ, They which be of faith are blessed
with faithful Abraham. Those who have all their hope,
all their trust, all their rest in Christ alone, not adding anything
to, not taking anything from his work. Those people are not fools. They
are not bewitched. They're blessed. They're blessed. They're gonna receive the same
blessing Abraham did. They're gonna be blessed with
faithful Abraham. What a promise. What a promise. Is that you? Is that us? Are we trusting Christ alone?
When it comes to your hope of glory, Is it in the fact that
you were baptized years ago, or is it in the fact that you're
trying to be a good person? Or do you, like the Apostle Paul,
count every bit of that dung and say, my only hope is that
I might be found in Christ, have the fellowship of His suffering,
the fellowship of His death, and the fellowship of His resurrection?
If that's you, then we're gonna be blessed. If that's me, we're
both gonna be blessed with faithful Abraham. Let's believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and we'll be saved. 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 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.