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. We're going to take one verse
for our text this morning, one glorious verse of Scripture,
and it's in Psalm 25. Psalm 25 verse 11 says, for thy
name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. What a verse. For thy name's sake, O Lord,
pardon mine iniquity. for it is great. Now, if we truly think about
what that verse is saying, that's an amazing verse. That is an
amazing verse. For thy namesake, O Lord, pardon
mine iniquity, for it is great. David said, my sin is great. It's great. I've thought before about the
fact that I'm so glad that my sin is not on record somewhere
for everybody to walk up and read. Aren't you so thankful
for that? These men and these women in
the scripture, their sin is on record. recorded in God's Word
for all of God's children to read. Just turn to it and read. When I think of David, I think
of a man after God's own heart. I think of a young boy who was
chosen, chosen by God to be the king
of Israel. I love the story of when Samuel
went to Jesse. The Lord told Samuel he was going
to anoint the next king and he went to Jesse and he went through
all his sons thinking, surely these are the ones. And the Lord
said, they're not the ones. Samuel asked Jesse, are there
any more sons in your house? And he said, well, there's the
youngest. He's out keeping the sheep. Samuel said, bring him
in. And as soon as David walked into
the room, God said, arise, anoint him. He's the one. He's the one. When I think of
David, I think of a young boy who had courage. He had courage
to fight a lion, fight a bear, fight a giant. When I think of
David, I think of a man who brought the Ark of the Covenant back
to Israel. And I have so much respect for
David. I do, I love that man. God's
chosen king. But the fact of the matter is,
David was a sinner. David was a sinner. There's another man in the scripture
named Naaman. And Naaman, he was a great man. He was a mighty man. He won battles. He was a warrior. He brought
many victories to his king. But the only problem for Naaman
was he was a leper. He was a rotting, dying man. He was a leper. And that's David. David was a
great man. He truly was, but he was a sinner. He was a
dying center. David lied to get some showbread
one time, but he lied to God's priest. He lied to God's priest
to go in and get some showbread to eat. And then right after
that, to save his own skin, he didn't have faith in God. He didn't trust in his God and
wait on his God to protect him and provide for him. He didn't
practice what he preached. What he did is he pretended to
be a madman. He stood against the doors of
the gates of the city and he scratched on them. He let spit
fall down into his beard. He lied to everybody. He was
a coward. And then there was another man
named Uriah. David had dealings with a man
named Uriah. This was a man who was fighting
for David. literally fighting for David,
a devoted soldier of his king. And David took his world, took
his whole world. David was a married man and he
committed adultery against his own wife. He committed adultery
against Uriah's wife and then when he was caught Bathsheba
came to David that was Uriah's wife Bathsheba and she came to
David and she said we have a problem when he was caught he tried to
cover it all up he didn't own it he didn't man up he tried
to cover it up he tried to get Uriah to go home to his wife And when Uriah wouldn't do it,
he said, no, my king, I'm going to stand guard at your doorstep
defending you. I'm going to be loyal to you.
I'm going to be faithful to you. And when Uriah wouldn't go home,
David had the man killed, had him killed. And David's conscience
was so seared to it all. He was so seared to it all. He didn't feel one drop of remorse,
not one, until God in mercy sent him Nathan the prophet. Nathan the prophet came to him
and he said, David, let me tell you about a great sinner. And when Nathan got to the end
of his story, David said, you tell me who that is and I'll
make him pay. And Nathan said, David, thou
art the man. Thou art the man. And God's two edged sword, God's
own word pierced the heart of that sinner. And at that very moment, this
is what David cried. In Psalm 51, the heading of that
psalm says, to the chief musician, a psalm of David, when Nathan
the prophet came unto him after he had gone into Bathsheba. Verse
one, David cried, have mercy upon me, oh God. Have mercy upon me according
to thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. For I
acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.
ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have
I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest."
Whatever you do, you're right in doing it. Lord, you're the
judge. You're the judge. And I stand
before you a guilty sinner. I'm just a guilty sinner. That's all I am. Now back in
Psalm 25, verse 11, he said, for thy name's sake, oh Lord,
pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. It's great. Let me show you why this verse
is so amazing. We said just a minute ago how
amazing this verse is. Let me tell you why it's so amazing. Could you imagine a prisoner,
just a regular convicted prisoner in one of the prisons near us
here. Could you imagine that prisoner
going before the judge And saying, your honor, I'm gonna beg you for mercy. I'm gonna beg you to set me free. And the reason I'm begging you
to set me free, to release me, to pardon me, that's what pardon
means, it means excuse. I'm begging you to excuse me. Set me free. And the reason I'm
begging for you to set me free is because I'm such a great sinner. That's the reason. My transgressions
are so many and they're so great. And I acknowledge every one of
them. Every single one of them. I'm
guilty of every single one of them. So I'm asking because of
that. Because I'm so bad, so wretched. Because I'm such a sinner. And
because I'm guilty of every one of them. Because of that, I'm
asking for you to pardon me. Could you imagine that? Could
you imagine a prisoner going before a judge and asking that?
Most every prisoner who has ever gone before a judge for pardon
goes on the grounds of, I'm not guilty. I'm not guilty. Or they go on
the grounds of, I used to be. I used to be a sinner. I used to be a transgressor,
but I'm not anymore. I'm not anymore. That was then,
but not anymore. But this right here is what David
is crying. This is what David is crying to God Almighty. He's
saying, I'm the worst. Please set me free. Please set me free. Why? Because
I'm the worst. That's why. It's because I'm the worst. Can
you hear the Lord God of heaven saying, why would I do that? Why on this earth would I do
that? David said, for thy name's sake. For thy name's sake. I'm asking
you to do it for thy name's sake. What is His name? What is His name? Call His name
Savior. Call His name Redeemer. Redeemer, Savior. Over in Jeremiah
23, verse five says, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,
that I will raise unto David a righteous branch. And that's
Christ. A righteous branch and a king
shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and justice
in the earth. In his days, Judah shall be saved
and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his name whereby
he shall be called. His name is called the Lord,
our righteousness. You know what's so glorious about
that? Let me tell you what's so glorious about that. It does
not say the Lord is righteousness, even though he is. Even though he is, it doesn't
say that. And it does not say the Lord has earned His own righteousness,
even though He has. But what it actually says is,
His name is the Lord our righteousness. He is our righteousness. Lord, for thy name's sake, pardon my iniquity, for it is great. I only have one good thing to
plead, and it's you. I have no righteousness of my own. You're my righteousness. When I'm asked what makes you
worthy to stand in the presence of God, Lord, I'm gonna point
to you. You're my righteousness. And here's my plea, Lord, I'm
begging you to forgive me. I'm begging you to set me free. And here's the grounds for my
plea. It's because you came into the world to save sinners, and
I'm the greatest sinner I've ever known. That's why I'm begging. It's because you came to save
sinners, and I'm the greatest sinner I've ever known. Over
in Psalm 103, David said, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all
that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O
my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all thine
iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life
from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and
tender mercies. who satisfieth thy mouth with
good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. The
Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are
oppressed." Every sinner who comes to Christ begging for pardon
and his only grounds being The oppression of his own sin. Not the good works that he's
tried to do. If a man comes pleading his own good works, it's not
going to go well for him. Some men did that in Matthew
7. They came saying, Lord, we did this and Lord, we did that.
And he said, depart from me. I never knew you. I never knew
you. But any sinner who comes saying,
Lord, I stand here acknowledging all my sin, all of it. I acknowledge all of it. And I've come to you for forgiveness. I've come to you for pardon because
of who you are. I've come for thy name's sake.
Every sinner who comes on the grounds of being a sinner is
going to receive something from the Lord, every single one of
them. The Lord said in Isaiah 61, the spirit of the Lord God
is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings
unto the meek. He hath sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening
of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort
all that mourn, to appoint unto them, now this is what he said
they get, every sinner who comes, this is what they get, to appoint
unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for
ashes. Isn't that wonderful? Every sinner
who comes standing in the ashes of his own sin is going to receive
in exchange for those ashes the beauty of the Lord. He takes
our ashes and He gives us His beauty. Verse 3 says they're
going to get the oil of joy for mourning. Every sinner who comes
shedding the tears of sorrow over his sin, over his sin, not
just the tears of sorrow. Men and women are sorry about
a lot of things. They're sad over a lot of things,
but a sinner who comes shedding the tears of sorrow over his
own sin, is going to receive for His namesake the oil of joy. He's going to receive the balm
of Gilead, the joy of the Lord, the joy of forgiveness, the joy
of a freed conscience from all that guilt, totally free from
all that guilt. Verse three says, the garment
of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees
of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be
glorified. That he might be glorified. He's gonna do every bit of that
for his name's sake. That he might be glorified. In Jeremiah 31, the Lord said
in verse 31, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I
will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with
the house of Judah. I'm going to make a new covenant,
a new testament. Right before our Lord went to
that cross, He held up the cup and he said, this cup is the
New Testament in my blood. Before it was in the law. That
covenant was in the law, now it's in my blood. Which is shed
for you. I'm going to forgive you. And
I'm going to pardon you. I'm going to redeem you. And
I'm gonna do every bit of that for my name's sake, for the covenant
of my blood's sake. I'm gonna pay for you in full. And he said in verse 32, not
according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in
the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the
land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although I was in
husband unto them, saith the Lord. But this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and
write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall
be my people. And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know
the Lord, for they shall all know me. From the least of them
unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord, for I will forgive
their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. I'm gonna pardon them. I'm going
to set them free. I will forgive their iniquity
and I will remember their sin no more. How is that even possible? He said, I'm gonna remember their
sin no more. How is that possible? The God
who knows everything, the God who knows the end from the beginning,
the God who searches and tries the hearts of men and the thoughts
of men, how is that possible? Here's how. He said, when I see
the blood, I will pass over you. I won't even look at you. I won't
even look at your deeds. I will keep my eyes on Christ
my Son and His precious blood, the blood that covers you. You
will be hiding in Him. You're going to be hiding in
Him. Now, if you want to be judged
on your own works, if a man wants to be judged on his own works,
and I'm going to tell you, I don't. Men are so proud of their works,
and they're so self-righteous concerning their works, and they
don't want to hear of their works being thrown out. And I don't understand that because
If we want to be judged on our own works, then God won't put
us in Christ. We won't stand in Christ, not
if we're going to stand on our own. And we'll have to stand beside
Christ. And we will have to be compared
to Christ. And if we don't meet the standard
that He set, then we'll die in our sins. God gave that law as
his standard. This is what I demand to enter
into my presence. And Christ came and obeyed it
perfectly. He fulfilled it perfectly. And
God looked at him and he said, well done. I am well pleased. And if a sinner does not meet
that standard, he'll die in his sins. But if a sinner comes begging
to be under the blood, oh, if a man or a woman who knows
he or she is a sinner, we've sinned against God. We all ought
to know that we're sinners. And I'm going to tell you this
morning, if you and if I come begging to be under the blood, If we realize that's our only
hope. If we come begging to be robed in His righteousness. Lord, because you earned that
righteousness. And because we know that you
will give it to the sinner in need. We know that you're going
to give it to every soul that God the Father put in you. We
know that every sinner that God chose is going to be drawn to
you. Every sinner is going to come. Every knee is going to
bow. And so Lord, because you are
the righteous one, because you earned it, and because you'll
give it, we come begging. Any sinner who comes to Christ
like that, The eye of God Almighty is going to be fixed on the payment
Christ made for that sinner. And his sins are going to be
forgiven. He's going to be pardoned. He is going to be set free. He's going to be excused. And there will be no more sin
to remember. None. Because Christ put it away. He put it away. That is the only
way to come to Christ. It's as a sinner. That's the
only way a sinner will be accepted if he comes acknowledging what
he is. I'm a sinner. Begging for thy
namesake. Oh, for thy namesake, Lord. Pardon
mine iniquity, for it's so great. Our Lord said, all who come to
me like that, I will in no wise cast out. So here's what we have
to say based on the word of God. Come ye sinners, come to the
Lord Jesus Christ. He will pardon you from your
sins. 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.