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 talk to you for just
a minute this morning, and I want to tell you something about this
thing of religion, this thing of going to church, being saved. believe in what we know to be
called the gospel. There is a sad problem in the
world today. And that problem is how far we
have gotten away from the word of God. So far from God's actual word. I've seen posts on the internet,
I've seen different postings by people on different websites
where they'll put up a motivational saying or something like that,
something that sounds good, something that makes you feel good, something
that warms the heart. And then they'll give a scripture
at the bottom of it as though that's what God said in that
scripture. And you can turn to that scripture
and read it. And you can clearly see that's
not what God said. Not at all. They've taken what
he said and they twisted it to sound better, sound a little
more motivational. And the sad thing is, is men
and women believe it. They see these things on there,
and you know, some nice saying, some kind saying, and then it'll
say, you know, Proverbs something after that, or Jeremiah something
after that, and they'll believe, I know what God said in the book
of Proverbs, or I know what God said in the book of Jeremiah,
and they cling to it. thinking they're trusting the
true and living God, when in reality they're just trusting
something that a sinful man said. Somebody made it up, and they're
holding to it. That's their hope. Our Lord said, that's the blind
leading the blind. Isn't that what He said? That's
the blind leading the blind. Moses wrote, oh that they were
wise. Oh, that they were wise, that
they understood this. I want to be wise, don't you?
I want to understand what God has written in His Word concerning
our eternal souls, concerning our standing before Him. We're
going to go stand before Him. I believe we would be wise to
find out what He has to say about our standing before Him. And like Moses said, that they
were wise that they would consider their latter end, consider these
things. There's only one truth, and that's
the truth. There is only one truth. It's always that way. Whatever
happens, There's one truth in the matter. And when it comes
to this thing of religion, going to church, there are thousands
of denominations out there. But there's only one truth. There's only one truth. Does
that not hit you like it hits me? If there's only one truth
and there's a thousand denominations, that means 999 of them are wrong. Isn't that right? How can we know which one is
God's truth? Well, we can know it right here. The truth is the Word of God. God gave us the truth. So what I want us to do this
morning is I want us to open God's word together. I don't
want us to look at something that some man has posted. I want
us to open God's word. And let's see what he has to
say in it. I believe we would be wise if
we would do this and beg him to give us a mind and a heart
to understand these things. and cause us to consider our
latter end. So if you have a Bible, let's
get it together and open to the book of Acts chapter 24. Acts
chapter 24, and let me tell you what's going on in this chapter
of this book. So it will set up what Paul is
about to say. Paul is in prison. and he is
waiting for his accusers to come. He's about to be put on trial,
and they're gonna accuse him of some things. They're gonna
accuse him of profaning their temple, which he didn't do. He
was worshiping God, and they just did not like the God that
he worshiped. But they accused him of profaning
the temple, and they accused him of being the ringleader of
a sect, they called it. a cult, they called true worship
a cult. And they gave him a great compliment
by saying, this man's a ringleader. Of everybody who's trying to
point men to Christ, this guy is the ringleader of them all.
No one is more fervent, no one is more pressing, he's given
his all to this. And Paul answered them, he answered
in his defense by saying, I was not disputing with anybody in
the temple. I was not raising up the people,
he said, creating an uproar. They're all telling lies, that's
what he said, they're all telling lies. But he said, I will tell
you right now the truth. I'll tell you the truth, now
verse 14 in Acts 24, Paul said, but this I confess unto thee,
that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I, the
God of my fathers, believing all things which are written
in the law and in the prophets. He said, after the way that they
call heresy, they're calling it division. He's just trying
to divide us. They're calling it a rebellion.
They're calling it a cult. After the way which they call
heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers. The way that they
hate. The way that is so offensive
to them. the way that they do not believe,
the way that they say that just can't be right. That cannot be
the truth. I've never heard anybody say
that. He said, that's the way I worship
the God of my fathers. Now what he's saying is true
worship, true worship. The worship of the true God from
the true word is different. That's what he's saying. There's
a difference. You can't just go in and find
it anywhere. There's a difference. It's not
like mainstream religion. And this is what I want to stress
this morning, true worship of the true and living God. Worship that comes straight from
God's true word is different. There's a difference. It's actually
nothing like mainstream religion, nothing like it at all. Verse 14, he said, this I confess
unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship
I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written
in the law and in the prophets. all things which are written
in the law and in the prophets. Now, I don't mean to be a personal
offense to anyone. That's not my desire at all.
I don't want to personally offend anyone. But I believe I can right
now say this morning, with the Apostle Paul, that my heart's
desire and prayer to God, he said for Israel, I say for Kingsport,
I say for Kingsport, I say for Johnson City, I say for Bristol,
wherever you are right now, my heart's desire and prayer to
God is that we all might be saved, me and you. And the only way that salvation
will come to a sinner, and that's what I am, and that's what you
are, we're sinners. And the only way salvation will
come to a sinner is if God confronts him with the truth. So by God's grace, if He will
enable me to, I want to tell you the truth this morning. I
deeply want to tell you the truth. I promise you from God's Word,
you're about to hear the truth. And I say that because we're
about to see it in God's Word. I don't say it because I'm saying
it. I say that because God is saying it. We're about to see
in God's Word what the truth is concerning worship, concerning
the gospel, concerning God. Now let me tell you how true
believers and true worshipers are different. Number one, true
followers of Christ believe everything God has written in his word. Everything. We don't take the parts we like
and leave the parts we don't like. We don't let the doctrine, we
don't let the tradition of our denomination overrule the doctrine
of Christ. That's what the scripture calls
this Word of God, the doctrine of Christ. We don't let what
has been passed down to us overrule what God has to say in this word.
I would believe that, but I've been told all my life that this
is how it is over here, so I better stick to that. No, no. We believe all things which are
written in the law and in the prophets. Now please listen to
me on this. Every denomination, will say
the exact same thing, every one of them. You go ask any man or
any woman who is a church-going person, you walk into any church
anywhere, and you ask them, do you hold to the Word of God? Do you believe all of the Bible? Do you preach the scriptures? They'll say, oh, yes. Yes, we
do, we preach the Word. We believe the Word, we're holding
to the Word. Everything our pastor preaches
is right out of the Bible. Right out of the Bible, that's
what they'll say. But here's the truth of the matter. I say
this with a sad heart. Most poor, unfortunate souls
are not taught the Word. And they have no idea what is
actually in the Word. And I'm talking about the preacher
standing up behind the pulpits. They were never taught it. They
don't know it. They're not preaching it. And I say that as the Apostle
Paul said, who maketh any man to differ? We're talking about this difference.
Who makes this difference? Are we proud because we might
know what God has to say in His Word? No, no. Everything that a child of God
is, he's only that by the grace of God. It's only because God
chose to open his mind, open his eyes, open his heart, put
life in his soul, faith in him. So the grace of God is the only
thing that makes the difference. But that right there is where
God's children truly are different. God in mercy and in grace opens
the eyes of His people and He reveals His Word to them. He
reveals the truth to them in spite of what every other man
or denomination or anyone might believe or might preach or might
say. In spite of what my father might
say, my mother might say, my grandparents might say, God puts
the truth in a center. And that's the difference. If
you'll look with me at Romans 7, I wanna show you something.
Turn with me over to Romans chapter 7. Now this is the Apostle Paul
speaking. The man that God used to write
over half the New Testament. He says in Romans chapter 7 verse
15, for that which I do, I allow not, I know not. I don't know
why I do it. The things that I do, I don't
know why I do them. He said for that, for what I
would, that I do not. For what I wish I did, I don't
do it. He said, but what I hate, what
I absolutely hate about myself, the things that I wish I would
not do, that's exactly what I do. Verse 16, he said, if then I
do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it's good.
I know the law's good. I know what the law says and
I acknowledge it's good and I wish I did it. Verse 17, now then,
it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. He said sin is holding me captive. Sin has overtaken me. Sin is
overruling me. And I can't overcome it. I've
tried, but I cannot overcome it. The sin that's in, my own sin,
it's my sin. It causes me to do everything
I hate and it will not let me do all the things I love. Verse
18, he said, for I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. Don't let anyone fool you into
thinking that there are good people on this earth and bad
people on this earth. Our Lord said, there is none
good. God looked down from heaven to see if there were any that
did understand and seek him, and he said, there's none, none. No, not one. None good. That rich young ruler came and
said, good master, he said, why do you call me good? There's
none good but one, and that's God. That's God. And Paul, the Apostle Paul right
here in verse 18, he said, I know that in my flesh dwells no good
thing, for to will is present with me, but how to perform that
which is good, I find not. I just cannot. I cannot see how
to do it. Verse 20, he said, now if I do
that, I would not. It is no more I that do it, but
sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law that when I
would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the
law of God after the inward man, but I see another man. I see
another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and
bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my
members. He said, O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Who,
who? Now let me ask you this question. How could I read that? How could
I read and understand what the Apostle Paul just said and then
claim before God and men that I have a free will? How could I do that? Didn't we
hear what Paul just said? He said, I want to, but I can't.
And the things that I would love to stop doing, I can't. Understanding that, you and I
would have to have a blind eye to the Word of God to believe
that we have a free will, wouldn't we? We would have to be totally
blind to the Word of God to believe we have a free will. Over in
Romans 9 verse 15 says, for he saith to Moses, God said 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, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy."
How could I read that? Understand what was just said
and then stand up and preach that man has a free will. How
could I do that? Over in John chapter 5, our Lord
said, you will not come to me that you might have life. Will
not. You know what he's saying there?
He's saying the only thing you will do is not come to me. That's it. Man's will is bound. It's bound to sin and rebellion. Man does have a will, but it's
bound. It's not free. Not at all. Over in Matthew chapter
6, if you're turning with me, look at Matthew chapter 6, our
Lord said in verse 9, Matthew 6 verse 9, after this manner,
therefore pray ye, our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed
be thy name. Now that's what God said. that
we need to do when we pray. He said, after this manner, this
is how you need to pray. He said, our Father, how could
I read that? How could you read that? Understand
it. And how could I get on my knees
after that and say, hail Mary, full of grace, blessed art thou
among women, holy Mary, mother of God. How could I do that?
Just based on what God's word says. Back over in Romans chapter 9,
you know most people will say they don't believe in election.
They talk about these doctrinal issues, and I don't believe that.
No, not at all. Sure don't believe in election.
Back in Romans 9 verse 11 said, for the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of Him that calleth. How could I read that and not
believe in God's election? How? You know, people say, well,
God cast a vote for you and the devil cast a vote against you
and you decide. No, we just read out of this
verse, it's not of him that willeth. You don't decide, I don't decide.
Not at all. 1 Thessalonians 1 says, knowing,
brethren, beloved, your election of God. Some form of that word
is in this Bible 27 times. But people say, well, I just
don't believe it. I don't believe in election. Well, that's where
we differ. That's where we differ. Over
in John 17, verse six, our Lord said, I have manifested thy name
unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they
were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word.
Verse nine, he said, I pray for them. I pray not for the world. but for them which thou hast
given me for they are thine. How could I read that and understand
what our Lord just said? And then stand up before men
and women and tell the lie that Jesus Christ came into the world
to save every soul on earth. How could I do that? And we could go on and on with
this. We could go on and on. Every belief that every denomination
holds to, we could seek it in God's word and find out the truth
of the matter. And that's what God's people
will do. The first thing that sets true believers apart from
the world of religion is they believe all things which are
written in the law and in the prophets. And they don't twist
them. They don't wrestle with them.
They don't change them. They don't add anything to them.
They don't take anything away from them. They just believe
them. They just believe them. Now quickly, here's the second
thing. Back over in Acts chapter 24, Paul said in verse 14, this
I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy,
so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are
written in the law and in the prophets, and have hope toward
God, which they themselves also allow that there shall be a resurrection
of the dead, both of the just and unjust. Here is what separates
the heart of a true believer from the heart of every other
denomination on earth, every heart of religion. A true believer
hopes in one thing only. It's not in the Virgin Mary.
It's not in a family tree that we can trace all the way back.
It's not in ourselves to make any kind of final decision or
do any good deed in order to secure our salvation. Every ounce
of a believer's hope is in God. Every ounce of it. As we read
this word and we believe this word, We see that we are so low,
so low. I'll tell you how low this word
declares us to be. Six feet under. Six feet under,
dead, sinful, vile, wretched, all of us, starting with me,
all of us. Somebody will say, well, not
me, don't you call me a sinner. Well, I'll tell you what the
word says. 1 John 1.10 says, if a man says
he has no sin, he makes God a liar. That's pretty wretched, isn't
it, to call God a liar? This word exposes the truth about
us. Low, we're low. As we read this
word, though, we see how high and mighty and powerful Christ
is. We see our absolute inability,
we see His infinite sufficiency and ability. And this is what
a believer will realize. If He did not in mercy choose
to shed His blood on us, we would have no hope. We would have no
hope. All of our hope is in God. True
believers bow to God Almighty. True believers believe His Word. And true believers ascribe all
the praise and all the glory to Him alone. For kindly, lovingly,
freely giving salvation to them through the shedding of His own
blood. Now the world calls that heresy. The world wants to attach
some work to that. They want to add something to
it. And they call that heresy. But do you know what God's sheep
call it? Worship. They call it worship. We're so
sinful, but He chose us, He died for us, He called us, and He'll
keep us. 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.