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 preach knowing that in my flesh
as a man, I cannot do anything for anybody. Nothing. But I preach with the burden
of knowing that men and women's souls depend on the Word that
I've been called to declare. It pleased the Lord by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe." That's what God said.
Salvation is not at all by man's might Not at all by man's ability
in any way, shape or form. It has nothing to do with how
good a speaker is. It has everything to do with
God's will and purpose. It has everything to do with
God's Spirit. And it has everything to do with
God's Word. Our God has declared what is
to be preached. He has declared why it is to
be preached, and He has declared how it is to be preached. And I want us to look at that
this morning in Isaiah chapter 40. Verse 1, our God said, Comfort
ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. Aren't you so glad that doesn't
say, rake them across the coals? Aren't you so glad it doesn't
say that? You get hold of my wicked, sinful
people and you rake them across the coals. It's not what he said
at all. He said comfort ye, comfort ye
my people. God has a people. God has a people. If God did
not choose a people, everyone would go to hell. That's a hard
statement, isn't it? That's a hard statement. That's
a hard statement to make. It's a hard statement to hear,
but it's the truth. It's the truth. If God did not
choose a people, If He did not desire in His heart to have a
people, every soul on this earth would be damned eternally to
hell. But God chose a people. Isn't
that amazing? Isn't that wonderful? God chose
a people. The majority of this world does
not want to hear that God chose a people. They do not want to
hear it at all. They hate it. They won't have it. But it does
not change the fact that God chose a people. It doesn't change
it one bit. We don't have an opinion on that
fact. We don't argue that fact. We
don't judge that fact. Who are we to reply against God? The truth to declare is God chose
a people. That's all we can do is declare
that God chose a people. And he tells his preachers, your
job is to comfort them. That's what I've called you to
do, comfort them. Verse one, he said, comfort ye,
comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to
Jerusalem. That word comfortably means to
the heart. Speak to the heart. Men and women,
they struggle in the mind, and they struggle in the mind, and
they struggle in the mind. But it's not until God speaks
to the heart that a sinner will have any comfort of belonging
to Him, being one of His people. If God does not speak to the
heart, it doesn't matter what the mind believes. It doesn't
matter what the mind knows. Salvation is of the heart. Out
of the heart are the issues of life. Verse 1, He said, Comfort
ye, comfort ye My people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished." Here's what everybody wants to
know. What do I have to do? What do I have to do? That's the question men asked
over and over throughout the scripture. What must I do? What has to be done in order
for me to inherit eternal life? How do I get into heaven? Until God moves on the heart,
that question right there will never be answered. until God
moves on the heart, that question will never, ever be answered. God's messenger will declare
that all of God's people were chosen from the foundation of
the world, and the mind will say, that can't be, uh-uh, that
just can't be. And God's messenger will declare
that Christ came into the world and paid only for the sin of
every soul that was chosen from the foundation of the world.
And the mind says, that can't be. This thing can't be all in
God's hands. It can't be. I have to have some
say in the matter. And if God leaves a person right
there, that soul will die in that error. But if God ever speaks to the
heart, if God ever speaks to the heart, His child will hear
Him say, your warfare is accomplished. It's accomplished. You must do
nothing. Nothing. I have done it all. And if God speaks that to a heart,
that heart will say, I believe that. If God delivers that truth to
a sinful heart, that heart will respond by saying, I believe
it. I believe that. Verse 2, He said,
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare
is accomplished. that her iniquity is pardoned. Christ only saves sinners. Did you know that? Did you know that? Christ only
saves sinners. If a soul on this earth is not
a sinner, Christ will not save that soul. I hope we all know that there
is no soul on this earth that's not a sinner. I hope the Lord
has revealed that much to us. There is no soul on this earth
that's not a sinner. But if a man or woman believes
in his own or her own heart that he or she is not a sinner, that's
a devastating belief. That's a devastating belief to
have. And the reason is because there
is no comfort in God's Word for that soul. No comfort at all. He said, I did not come to call
the righteous. Did you know that He said that?
I did not come to call the righteous. I came to call sinners to repentance. God's mercy is evidenced. It's
evidenced. It's made known. It's clearly
seen when the self-righteous become sinners. It means the truth has come.
That's what it means. It means they see God and they
see themselves. A man named Joseph Hart wrote
this poem. One of the lines in a poem he
wrote says, a sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made
him so. If a man knows himself to be
a sinner, that means God's Holy Spirit caused that man to see
himself. God's Holy Spirit revealed the
truth to him. A sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so. And to every soul that God has
revealed that to, He tells His preachers, this is what I want
you to preach. Isaiah 40 verse 1, he said, Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished,
that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. double. You talk about grace. You talk
about grace. Now that's what we are called
to preach. That's what God said to preach. Now he's going to tell us why.
Why? And we're about to hear in these
next few verses, we're about to hear What shall I cry? That's what Isaiah said. Actually,
that's what John the Baptist said. This is concerning the
forerunner of Christ. He said, what shall I cry? But
this all falls under the category of why? Why do we cry this? Verse three, Isaiah 40 verse
three says, the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness,
prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a
highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low. And the crooked
shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory
of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The voice said, Cry,
and he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the
goodness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth,
the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon
it. Surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, but the Word of our God shall stand forever. Why do we
preach this truth? Here's why. It's because every
valley Every hidden thing. Every secret thing. All of the secrets of the heart
and of the mind. All of the hidden sins. All of the hidden emotions. All
of the hidden thoughts. They're all going to be brought
up. They're all going to be brought up. Verse 4 says, Every valley
shall be exalted, And every mountain and hill shall be made low."
Every mountain. All pride. All self-righteousness
is going to be made low. It's going to be cut down. Cut
down. He said the crooked is going
to be straightened out. And the rough places, everything
that goes against the grain of God's Word, it's going to be
planed off. Verse 5 says, The glory of the
Lord shall be revealed. The glory of the Lord shall be
revealed. God is coming back. He's coming
back. And verse 5 goes on to say, All
flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it. All flesh. Every single knee
is going to bow. Every knee. Salvation, though,
is being made to bow right now. Right now. Then every knee is
still going to bow, but it will be too late. It's going to be
too late. This right here is why we cry
the truth right now. Right now. Verse 6, the voice
said, cry. And he said, What shall I cry? And God Almighty said, This is
what you cry. All flesh is grass, and all the
goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass
withereth, the flower fadeth, Because the Spirit of the Lord
bloweth upon it, surely the people is grass." Every soul on this
earth is nothing more to God than grass. That's it. Look at verse 12. He said, Who
hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted
out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the
earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and
the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit
of the Lord, or being his counselor, hath taught him? With whom took
he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path
of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of
understanding? Who did this? Man thinks he's
so important. Man is so proud. But look what
verse 15 says. God Almighty said, Behold, the
nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small
dust of the balance. Behold, He taketh up the isles
as a very little thing. Every island that's on this earth. He said it's a very little thing.
And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn." Lebanon is proud of
its cedar trees, the cedars of Lebanon. He said they're not
even sufficient to burn. "'Lebanon is not sufficient to
burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering.
All nations before Him are as nothing.'" and they are counted
to him less than nothing and vanity." Isn't that something? That's bold. That's a bold statement. David said over in Psalm 37,
this world is going to get cut down. Cut down. The end of verse 7 right here
in Isaiah 40, Our Lord said, Surely the people is grass. Grass. Verse 8, He said, The
grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the Word of our God shall
stand forever. That right there is why. We ask the question, why do we
preach this? That's the reason. That's why. God told us what.
God told us why. Now He's going to tell us how.
How do we preach His Word? How do we preach what He has
commanded us to declare? Verse 9, He said, O Zion, And
that translates, O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion,
you that have been called by God to deliver this truth. He said, O Zion that bringest
good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain. Don't grovel
down here below. Don't dwell on man's works and
man's ability. You get up into the high mountain. Point men above. He said in verse 9, O Zion that
bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain. O
Jerusalem that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with
strength, lift it up, be not afraid, say unto the cities of
Judah, behold your God. You tell them who God is. Tell them who God is. Look with me at verse 18. He
said, to whom then will you liken God? Who do you think God is
like? You're going to compare God to
anything? To whom then will you liken God
or what likeness will you compare unto Him? The workman melteth
a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold,
and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that
he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot. He
seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image that
he shall not be moved. Have you not known?" We all make
these little idols in our minds and in our hearts, and we compare
that to God. He said, Have you not known?
Have you not heard? Hath it not been told you from
the beginning? Have you not understood from
the foundations of the earth? It is He that sitteth upon the
circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers. that stretcheth out the heavens
as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in, that
bringeth the princes to nothing." The men of this earth who see
themselves as royal, mighty, God brings them to nothing. Verse
23 says, He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity, empty. yea, they shall not be planted,
yea, they shall not be sown, yea, their stock shall not take
root in the earth, and he shall also blow upon them, and they
shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble."
What a horrible truth! What a fearful truth! Verse 25
says, "...to whom then will you liken me?" Men and women think
they know God. They think they understand God
and have God figured out. They think they know that God
wants only good for them and God's trying to help them. Oh, they're going to be in for
a rude awakening. They have Him likened wrong. Verse 25, He said, To whom then
will you liken Me? or shall I be equal, saith the
Holy One? Lift up your eyes on high, and
behold, who hath created these things? that bringeth out their
host by number, he calleth them all by names, by the greatness
of his might. For that he is strong in power,
not one faileth. Why sayest thou, O Jacob? Jacob's name means sinner, trickster,
supplanter. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and
speakest, O Israel, my way is hid from the Lord? Why do you
say God can't see what I'm doing or thinking or feeling? My way
is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from
my God. Hast thou not known? Hast thou
not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of
the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of His
understanding. He giveth power to the faint,
and to them that have no might He increaseth strength. Even
the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall
utterly fall." Verse 31 says, but. That's one of the greatest words
in God's Scripture, but. He said, My people were under
the warfare of the adversary, but... My people were a people full
of iniquity, but... He said, All flesh is grass,
but... Verse 31, They that wait upon
the Lord Those who are looking to, and bowing to, and trusting
in the mercy of the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall
mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary,
and they shall walk and not faint. Why? Why is that the case? When the world is going to get
cut down, those who do not bow to, those
who do not trust in, we know that Christ is all. All salvation
is in Him. And all who are outside of Him,
when they're all going to get cut down, as the Scripture declares,
And when we who do trust in Him are just as full of iniquity
as they are, there's no difference. Why this glorious outcome for
us? Why? Look with me back at verse
10. Isaiah 40 verse 10 says, Behold
the Lord God. That's Christ. will come with strong hand, that's
Christ, and his arm, that's Christ, shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him. His reward is with Him. What
is His reward? What does Christ get? In Psalm 2, God the Father said
to Him, If you ask of Me, I'll give you the heathen for thine
inheritance. I'll give sinners to you. I'll
give certain sinners to you for your inheritance if you ask of
me." He must have asked. His reward, it says, is with
Him. And His work before Him. We started this with Him saying,
you comfort my people by telling them that I finished the war. You comfort my people by telling
them that I paid for all of their sin. He keeps His work right
in the forefront of His mind. Isn't that wonderful? Every time
He sees one of His people, He remembers His work. Therefore,
verse 11 says, he shall feed his flock like a shepherd, he
shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom,
and shall gently lead those that are with young. Do you know what
that is? Double. double goodness, double
mercy, double grace. He said, you go tell my people
that they have received from my hand double for all their
sins. By God's grace, by God's declaration,
you trust in Christ, you look to the Lord, And you will, you
shall, receive double for all of your sins. 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.