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 invite you to turn with me
this morning to Acts chapter 6. Acts chapter 6, there's one
verse of Scripture I want us to look at. It's verse 8. It says, and Stephen, full of
faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Now something stands out to me
about this one verse that I want us to look at. It says, Stephen
was full of faith and power, and he did great wonders and
miracles among the people. The reason he did great wonders
and miracles is because he was full of faith and power. I want
us to look at the subject of faith and power. I want us to
know the truth this morning about faith and power. Faith is a mysterious
thing, mysterious to most people, even a lot of believers. Every
true believer knows that faith is a vital thing. According to
the Scripture, according to the Word of God, it's a vital thing.
A man or woman that has truly searched the Scripture can see
that there is no salvation without faith. Faith means to believe,
to believe God's Word, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
faith. Some people want to deny its
vital role in salvation. But in order to do that, you
have to deny most of the New Testament. Turn with me over
to John chapter 3, John 3, 16. That's a very popular verse of
Scripture. John 3, verse 16 says, For God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Verse
18 says, He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he
that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not
believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Verse 36
says, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, And
he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath
of God abideth on him. That's pretty clear, isn't it?
That's pretty clear. Look at Mark chapter 16. Go with me over to Mark 16 verse
16 says, He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but
he that believeth not shall be damned. That's pretty clear,
isn't it? Now here's my question for us
this morning. Is salvation totally of the Lord? Is salvation all, all of God's
grace? Or is there one work involved?
When we get down to the heart of it, does my salvation ultimately
depend on a work? Must I believe? Must I believe
or not? In this thing of salvation, can
I do nothing? Some people say, you don't have
to believe. You don't have to come to Christ. You don't have
to seek Him. You don't have to ask. You don't
have to knock. You don't have to beg for mercy.
You don't have to believe His declared Word. You don't have
to hear His Word. Let me ask you this, is that
right or is it wrong? All those things that I just
mentioned, they're evidences of faith. So is salvation totally
of the grace of God? Did the blood of Christ pay all
my debt? Did Christ satisfy God's justice
on that cross? Is it finished? or does my salvation
ultimately depend on a work? Must I have faith? That's my
question. Must I have faith? Well, let's
start by looking at some scriptures. Turn with me over to Matthew
chapter nine. Matthew chapter nine, verse one
says, and he entered into a ship and
passed over and came into his own city, speaking of our Lord. And behold, they brought to him
a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their
faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer,
thy sins be forgiven thee. Now what does that verse say
was the reason for His forgiveness? It says, Jesus seeing their faith. Their faith, that's what it says.
Look at verse 20. And behold, a woman which was
diseased with an issue of blood 12 years, came behind him and
touched the hem of his garment, for she said within herself,
if I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned
him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good
comfort. Thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole
from that hour. What did the God of heaven say made her whole? He said, Her faith. Look at verse
27. And when Jesus departed thence,
two blind men followed Him, crying and saying, Thou Son of David,
have mercy on us. And when He was come into the
house, the blind men came to Him, and Jesus saith unto them,
Believe ye that I am able to do this. They said unto Him,
Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying,
According to your faith be it unto you." According to your
faith. All right, now look at Matthew
15 with me. Matthew chapter 15, verse 21
says, Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coast of
Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan
came out of the same coast, and cried unto him, saying, Have
mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David! My daughter is grievously
vexed with the devil. But he answered her not a word.
And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for
she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am
not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then
came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he
answered and said, It is not meat to take the children's bread
and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord. Yet
the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table.
Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy
faith. be it unto thee, even as thou
wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour." Now this is God speaking. We're reading
the words of God Almighty. Turn with me to chapter 17, Matthew
17 verse 14 says, And when they were come to the multitude, there
came to him a certain man kneeling down to him, and saying, Have
mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic. And sore vexed, for oft times
he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought
him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus
answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how
long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you?
Bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil and
he departed out of him and the child was cured from that very
hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart and said, why
could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, because
of your unbelief. For verily I say unto you, if
you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto
this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove,
and nothing shall be impossible unto you. He said, O faithless
generation, if you had faith as the grain of a mustard seed,
the smallest seed there is, Nothing shall be impossible to you. You
could move a mountain. Well surely our Lord doesn't
mean that literally. Well, turn with me to Matthew
21. Now this is only four chapters
away in the same book. This is not Mark's account. This
is in the same book. Matthew chapter 21. Verse 20
says, And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying,
How soon is the fig tree withered away? Jesus answered and said
unto them, Verily I say unto you, If you have faith, and doubt
not, you shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree,
but also, if you shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed,
and be cast into the sea, it shall be done. and all things
whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive." He said, do you see what I've
just done to this fig tree? If you have faith and doubt not,
not only can you do the same thing to the fig tree, but you
could say to this mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast
into the sea and it shall be done. Stephen was full of faith
and power. That's what our Lord is describing
right here. Now do we not want that? It sounds
like we desperately need that. It's clear to me that I must
have faith. Turn with me to Luke chapter
18. Luke chapter 18 verse 35 says, And it came to pass, as he was
come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the wayside,
begging. And hearing the multitude pass
by, he asked what it meant. And they told him that Jesus
of Nazareth passed by, and he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son
of David, have mercy on me. And they which went before rebuked
him, that he should hold his peace. But he cried so much,
the more, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood
and commanded him to be brought unto him. And when he was come
near, he asked him, saying, What wilt thou that I should do unto
thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus
saith unto him, Receive thy sight, thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his
sight and followed him, glorifying God. And all the people, when
they saw it, gave praise unto God. Thy faith has saved thee. I must have faith. I see that
clearly in the word of God. I must have faith. In Luke chapter 22 verse 31,
our Lord told Simon, the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan
hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat. But
I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted,
strengthen thy brethren. Christ told Peter, You had better
cling to your faith. I have prayed to God the Father
on behalf of your faith that it would fail not. Now this is
starting to sound serious to me. This is starting to get serious. I have got to have this faith.
I must have faith. I cannot be caught without this
faith, can you? Seeing everything that our Lord
has said about it, can you? What does all this mean? What
must I do to be saved? Is there a role for me in this?
Let's get to the answer of this question, all right? Based on
what our Lord has taught us through His Word, are we saved by works
or grace? The answer is grace. Is salvation
up to me or Christ? The answer is Christ. So what
does all this mean? What are all those verses that
we just read saying? Let me show you three things
about faith, and I believe our God will clear all this up. The
first one is in Ephesians chapter two. Go with me to Ephesians
two and look at verse eight. It says, for by grace. Are we saved by works or grace?
For by grace are you saved through faith. The grace of God is applied to
a sinner through faith. He goes on to say, and that not
of yourselves. It's not of yourselves. It does not originate with us. It's not a seed that is cultivated. It's not something in the depth
of our innermost being that's brought out. It's not an ability
that's dormant and we must wake it up. It's not there. It's not there. It does not exist. It is not there. The only thing
that is in me In the depth of me is death and sin. That's it. Faith does not exist
in a sinner unless God puts it there. That's the only way it
can exist in a sinner. Now, I must have faith, but God
must put it there. It's the faith of Him. Ephesians 2 verse 8, For by grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. It is the gift of God. There's only one place that faith
naturally exists, and that's in God. God is the maker of it. He is the creator of it. He's
the author of it. It's His faith. All faith is
His faith and it must be given to a sinner. So the first thing
we need to know about faith is it's of God and it's from God. And who is God? Jesus Christ. It's of Christ. It's from Christ. All right, now here's the second
thing. Turn with me over to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12
verse 2 says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith. Not only is Christ the author
of our faith, it's of Christ. He's the maker of it. He's the
giver of it. But not only is He the author
of our faith, Christ is the finisher of our faith. You've heard people
say, you need to exercise your faith. I can't. I just can't. Christ gave it
to me, but I can't exercise it. And the reason is because I'm
dead. I'm dead in my trespasses and sins. There's a saying, wrong
on the fall, wrong on it all. Wrong on what happened to mankind
in the garden, wrong on the whole thing. Man died spiritually. So I can't exercise this faith.
I'm dead. Christ must exercise it. Faith is of Christ. Faith is
from Christ. Faith is by Christ. It is God
which worketh in us both to will and do. He's the author and He
has to be the finisher. I have no part in the beginning
of faith. I have no part in the middle
of faith. All right, now here's the third thing. Turn with me
back one chapter to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 verse 1 says, now
faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things
not saying. What does a believer hope for?
A true believer, what does a believer hope for? One thing. David said, one thing have I
desired. It's Christ. Christ is the whole
object and substance of faith. Faith does not look to myself. Faith does not look to me. Faith does not look to me. Faith does not look to me to
drum up any faith. Faith looks to Christ. Faith is of Christ. Faith is
from Christ. Faith is by Christ. Faith is
to Christ. The one common denominator in
every aspect of faith is Christ. Whatever we have to say about
faith, it has to be attached to Christ. And the mystery becomes
clearer. And this question becomes answered
when you take out the word faith and you put the word Christ there. Let me ask you this. Must I have
Christ? The gift of Christ? The work
of Christ? The object of Christ? Oh, yes,
I must. I must. Is there a work involved
in salvation? Oh, yes, there is. It's just
not my work. It's the work of Christ in me. Even believing is the work of
Christ in me. Let me show you that in the Scriptures.
Go back over to Matthew chapter 9 where we just were a moment
ago. Look at verse 2. They brought to him a man sick
of the palsy, lying on a bed, and Jesus, seeing their Christ, seeing their Christ, said unto
the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven
thee. Why did he forgive those sins?
It's because he saw their Christ. That's why. Look at verse 22,
Matthew 9 verse 22. It says, But Jesus turned him
about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort,
thy Christ hath made thee whole. Thy Christ. Faith looks to Christ
in everything. In everything. Look at verse
28, and when He was come into the house, the blind men came
to Him, and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able
to do this. And they said unto Him, Yea,
Lord. Then touched He their eyes, saying, According to your Christ
be it unto you. By the authority vested in me,
open your eyes. Turn over to Matthew 15 where
we just were. Matthew chapter 15 and look at
verse 27. And she said, truth, Lord, yet
the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table.
Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy
Christ. Be it unto thee, even as thou
wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. You have a great Christ. A great
Christ that put that faith in you and is working in you right
now, causing you to look to Christ. So be it unto thee. Matthew 17,
verse 17 says, Then Jesus answered and said,
O Christless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you?
How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me. And Jesus
rebuked the devil and he departed out of him and the child was
cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus
apart and said, why could not we cast him out? And Jesus saith
unto them, because of your unbelief. It's because you're not looking
to Christ. You're looking to yourselves,
thinking you have the power. Stephen was full of faith and
power. Christ and power. It wasn't Stephen's power. It
wasn't Stephen's faith. Verse 20, Jesus saith unto them,
Because of your unbelief, for verily I say unto you, If you
have Christ as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this
mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, and
nothing shall be impossible to you. If you have the gift of Christ
and the work of Christ causing you to look to Christ, nothing
shall be impossible to you. That's what he was saying in
Matthew 21. If you had Christ as the grain of a mustard seed,
you could kill the fig tree. You could kill all your own works.
Christ would kill them. Adam and Eve, they clothed themselves
with fig leaves. That's man's own works. And if
you have Christ, you'll kill your own works. And that mountain
that stands between you and God, that Sinai, the law, it'll be
removed, cast into the sea. If you say, I can't move the
mountain, that's faith. I can't do it. This flesh says,
you know, I think I can move that mountain. Faith says, I
can't, but Christ can. I can't save myself, but you
can save me. I can't cross that river of death,
but you can cross it. You did. So I look to you. That's faith. Faith says, I look
to you to give me the eyes to be able to look to you. Faith
just keeps saying Christ. True faith says, I have no part
in the beginning, I have no part in the middle, I have no part
in the end. Now turn with me back over to
Luke 18. And look at verse 41. Luke 18, 41 says, saying, what
will thou that I should do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that
I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, receive
thy sight, thy Christ hath saved thee. That's the gospel. Thy
Christ hath saved thee. He's all our comfort. Thy Christ
hath saved thee. Luke 22 verse 31 says, The Lord
said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you that
he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee that thy
Christ fail not. True faith is in His power. It's in His ability. Now go with
me back over to Acts chapter 6, verse 8 says, And Stephen,
being full of Christ and His ability, did great wonders and
miracles among the people. Who gets all the glory for the
miracles that Christ wrought through Stephen? Christ does. Thine is the kingdom and the
power and the glory forever. Amen. May Christ dwell in each
one of us. We must have Christ. Until next
Sunday morning, may our Lord bless His Word. 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.