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 begin by asking three
questions. And I'm going to ask you to listen
carefully to these three questions that I ask. The first one is
this. Does the direction that this
nation is going bother you? Here's the second one. What do you think about the lack
of God in our government? Here's the third one. Do either one of those first
two questions matter? Do they matter? Now here's why
I ask you those questions. Recently my wife answered our
front door and a man was standing there inquiring about her salvation. And those first two questions
were the questions he asked her. He asked her, does the direction
that this nation is going bother you? And he asked her, what do
you think about the lack of God in our government? Now here's
what I want to know. Do those questions matter? When you're talking to someone
about the eternal destiny of their soul, do those questions
matter? There's a story in the Word of
God of some men who didn't believe in the resurrection and they
came to our Lord and they said, Master the resurrection, when
the resurrection comes, whose wife shall this woman be? Of
seven brothers, the oldest had this woman to wife and he died
and the next one honored him by marrying His wife and then
He died and such on and so forth and all seven brothers married
this woman. In the resurrection, whose wife
shall she be? Now let me ask you this, does
that question matter? I mean really. Are there really going to be
streets of gold in heaven? Does that question matter? What are your thoughts on the
rapture? What do you think about the days
of tribulation? Have the days of tribulation
already passed? Are we right now in the days
of tribulation or are they yet to come? Does that question matter? Really, does it matter? Concerning
your and my eternal soul, does that question matter? There is only one question that
matters. God asked the question. And it's found in Matthew 22,
Verse 41 says, while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus
asked them, saying, what think ye of Christ? What think ye of Christ? What do you think of Jesus Christ? This man who was standing at
our door asked my wife those questions and asked her if she
was worried about it. And she said, no, I'm not worried
about it. I know that God is in control. And the man said,
you're right. God is in control. And then they had a little moment
of conversation talking about God. And then this man realized,
oh, you believe in the Trinity." One God, three persons. That's
when he started pushing his tracks, trying to convince her that Jesus
Christ is not God. And he told her, he said, you
read the Lord's Prayer. Really read it. And he said,
you'll see what I'm talking about. So I did. I turned over to Matthew
chapter 6 and I read it. And if you have your Bible with
me, I want you to turn there. Let's go to Matthew chapter 6
and verse 9 says, After this manner, therefore, pray ye, Our
Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom
come, thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this
day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our
debtors. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and
the power and the glory forever. Amen. Jesus Christ said, Our
Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. He said,
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. He went on
to say, give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us. Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil. For thine
is the kingdom and the power and the glory. What the man was
getting at was that prayer was quoted and prayed as a man. And do you know what? He's right. That is the glory of the gospel. God became a man. A man died for men. A man lived for men. A man prayed for men. Well, I thought you said he was
God. I did. God became a man. To say that that proves He's
not God is to say, I have no idea who Christ is. And I have no idea why He came. And I have no idea what He did. And I have no idea where He is
now. What think ye of Christ? That's the question. He's a man,
but He's not just a man. Turn with me over to John 1. John 1, verse 1 says, In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. Verse 14 says, "...and the Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth." God was made flesh, perfect flesh. Verse 14 says,
"...and we beheld His glory." Well, which is He? Is He God
or is He man? Yes. So He really is God? Yes. And He really is man. Yes. Yes, that's right. I want you
to listen to a particular version of the Bible, and it's not a
version, it's a perversion of the Bible. And I'm not singling
out any one denomination. Religion is religion. And every
single religion that's contrary to the truth, I don't care what
doctrine they call themselves, this is where all error begins. This is what all error believes. Listen to this right here. This
is John 1.1 in a particular Bible, and it says, in the beginning,
the Word was. And the Word was with God, capital
G, and the Word was a God, lowercase g. Now I'm here to tell you this
morning that that is a lie and that is not the truth. In the
beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, capital G,
and the Word was God, capital G. Now in this perversion, verse
14 says, so the Word became flesh and resided among us, and we
had a view of His glory, a glory such as belongs to an only begotten
Son from a father, lowercase f, any father. And He was full
of undeserved kindness and truth. Now I'm here to tell you this
morning that that is a lie. That is not the truth. The Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, capital F, full
of grace and truth. This world believes that Jesus
Christ was such a sweet little son of God. Just a precious little
son of God. Now let's ask this question.
What think ye of Christ? Does that question matter? God asked it. God asked it. Back over in Matthew
22, verse 41 says, While the Pharisees were gathered together,
Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son
is he? They say unto him, The Son of
David. He saith unto them, How then
doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, Thee, Lord, said
unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine
enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord,
how is he his son? And no man was able to answer
him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him
any more questions. What think ye of Christ? Well, He's a Son. Whose Son is He? Whose Son is the Son of God? Look at Hebrews 1 with me. Verse
4 says, Being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which
of the angels said he at any time, thou art my son, this day
have I begotten thee, and again I will be to him a father, and
he shall be to me a son. And again when he bringeth in
the first begotten into the world, he saith, and let all the angels
of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who
maketh his angels spirits, And his ministers a flame of fire.
But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and
ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. Now whose son is he? Unto the
Son the Father said, Thy throne, O God. Thy throne." Over in Genesis
chapter 1, Moses wrote Genesis. He penned Genesis and the Lord
said, Moses wrote of Me. He was writing about Me. In Genesis
1 verse 3 says, And God said, in the beginning was the Word,
And God said, Now let me ask you this, what do you think?
Do you think that was Christ? What think ye of Christ? Let
me tell you right now this morning over this radio station what
I believe. I am confident of, I am fully persuaded that all
things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that
was made. Now what think ye of Christ?
Genesis chapter 3 verse 14 says, And the Lord God said unto the
serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all
cattle and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly
shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy
life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between
thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel." God told Satan, the woman's seed
is coming to crush your head. Now who do you think that's talking
about? That's Christ. Do you think he really did it?
What think ye of Christ? Did he defeat Satan? Is it finished? Is the battle
finished? Well turn with me to Genesis
6, verse 5 says, And the Lord said, I will destroy
man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man
and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air. For
it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord." He found grace. Verse 13 says, And God
said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me, for
the earth is filled with violence through them. And behold, I will
destroy them with the earth. make thee an ark." God told Noah
to build an ark and he said everything inside that ark will be saved. Do you think that ark is Christ? Do you think our only hope of
safety is to be in Him? Has God convinced you of that
yet? What think ye of Christ? Is He your salvation? Go to Numbers 21 with me. Numbers
21 verse 4 says, And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of
the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom. And the soul of the
people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake
against God and against Moses, Wherefore have you brought us
up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread,
neither is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light
bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents
among the people, and they bit the people, and much people of
Israel died. Therefore the people came to
Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the
Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that He take
away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole, and it shall
come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh
upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass,
and put it on a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent
had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
These serpents were biting and killing the people. And God told
Moses to make a brass serpent and put it on a pole and lift
it up. Take the very thing that's killing
the people and put it on a pole and lift it up. Those serpents
represent sin. Sin is what is killing you and
me. And our Lord said, as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. Now what think ye of Christ?
Was He made to be the very thing that's killing you and me? Did
He become sin? My sin? Did He become what I
am by nature? so that I might become what He
is by nature? What think ye of Christ? Is He your substitute? Is He your substitute? 2 Corinthians
5 verse 21 says, for He hath made Him to be sin for us, who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him. That's a substitute. That's a
substitute. In Exodus, God said, kill a lamb
and put that blood on the doorpost. And when I see the blood, I'll
pass over you. That's a substitute. Now what think ye of Christ?
Is He your Redeemer? Your substitute? Is He the one
that paid your price? Did He pay it in full? What think ye of Christ? That
rock that was smitten and outflowed living water, does He satisfy your thirsty
soul? Is He all your need, or are you
seeking something else? The world seeks wisdom. The believer
says, Christ is my wisdom. The world is trying so hard to
be righteous. They're trying so hard to earn
heaven. They're under so much bondage.
The believer says, Christ is my righteousness. Christ is my
holiness. Christ is my hope of eternity. Christ is all. My all is a person. My answer to everything is a
person. What think ye of a person? Now we started this with three
questions. And I want to end this with three more. We're going
to read them, three more questions. And as we read these, I want
to ask all of us, you and me both, to really think. Really enter in and answer these
three questions in our hearts. Turn with me over to John chapter
21. John 21 verse 15 says, So when they had dined, Jesus
saith to Simon Peter, Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me more
than these? What our Lord asked him was,
Peter, what think ye of Christ? Do you love me? And I want to ask myself that.
Do I love Him? Do I love Him? It says, When they dine, Jesus
saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me
more than these? He said unto him, Yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. He said unto him, Feed my lambs. The first question is, do I love
Him? Love. Now here's the second one,
verse 16. He saith to him again the second
time, Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Do you love me? What think ye? of Christ. Do I love Him? Well, yeah, I go to a church
that preaches the truth and they all love the Lord down there.
Well, what about ye? Ask yourself this question. Is
this gospel a personal gospel to you? What think ye? What think ye? Lovest thou me? That's the first question. The
second one is, Lovest thou me? And the third one is in verse
17. He saith unto him the third time, Simon son of Jonas, Lovest
thou me, me? What am I here for? When I worship
God, I need to ask myself, what am I here for? Am I just here
for heaven? Am I just here because I'm curious
to see the streets of gold? Am I just here for paradise? Or do I love Him? Do I want Him? Is He your inheritance? Is He
my inheritance? Is He our pearl of great price? Is He our heart's desire? I hope so. I hope so because all who desire
Him and need Him get Him. They do. All who beg Him. All who ask, receive. What do
I need? I need Christ. That's what I
need. I need God Himself. Jesus Christ is the God and I
need Him to be my God. Jesus Christ is the Redeemer
and I need Him to be my Redeemer. I need Christ because Christ
did not just put a down payment on sin. He paid it all. He paid it all. He said, come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. I will
give you rest. What think ye of Christ? If you
go to him, will you find rest? Do you believe in your soul that
you can cast all your burden on him? because He careth for you." Our Lord, whenever He bore the
sin and the shame of the cross, He paid it all. He finished that work. And there
is no more work to fulfill. There is nothing that a sinner
must do to be saved but look to the Lamb of God. Just believe
on the Son of God. What think ye of Christ? I believe
that if all of my hope is in Him, I have a sure hope. David,
his last words were, Although my house be not so with God,
he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things
and sure. This is all my hope. It's all
my desire. It's in Christ. It's in Christ. What think ye of Christ? This is the most important question
that must be asked. It must be asked. All other things
do not matter compared to this one question. Lord, give us a
heart to say, Christ is all. Give us a heart to say, Christ
is all. 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.