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
in your Bibles this morning to John chapter 8. John chapter
8, and I want to begin reading in verse 32. Our Lord said, and you shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. What a glorious
verse that is. A glorious verse of scripture. You shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. Do you know what believers are?
True believers. They are seekers of truth. They just want the truth. Where
do they go searching for it? Do they go find a short man with
a long beard up in the mountain somewhere? No, that's not where
they go. They go to God's Word. God's Word, let God be true and
every man a liar. I wanna know the truth. You know
why? The truth shall make you free. The truth is gonna make us free. What is the truth? That's the title of this message.
What is the truth? Well, verse 20, right here in
John 8, notice that verse 20 says, These words spake Jesus
in the treasury as he taught in the temple and no man laid
hands on him for his hour was not yet come. Our Lord is not
talking to drug addicts. He's not talking to thieves.
He's not talking to anybody in the gutter. He's not in the prison
talking to prisoners. He's in the temple. He's telling this to religious
people. Verse 20, these words spake Jesus
in the treasury as he taught in the temple and no man laid
hands on him for his hour was not yet come. Then said Jesus
again unto them, I go my way and you shall seek me and shall
die in your sins. Whither I go, you cannot come. He's talking about his death
which he should accomplish. He's gonna die, he's gonna be
buried He's gonna be raised victoriously, and He's gonna sit down on His
throne in glory. And He says, where I'm going,
you cannot come. You cannot come. Psalm 24, verse
three says, who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or
who shall stand in His holy place? Who shall? Verse 22, then said the Jews,
will he kill himself? Because he saith, whither I go,
you cannot come. Will he kill himself? That's exactly what he's gonna
do. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down
his life for his friend. He said, no man takes my life
from me. I lay it down. And now he's about to explain
to them why they cannot come. Why, where
he's going, they cannot come. But before we read it, turn with
me over to Exodus chapter three. I wanna show you this over in
Exodus chapter three, and let's begin with verse 11. And Moses said unto God, who
am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth
the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, certainly
I will be with thee, and this shall be a token unto thee that
I have sent thee, when thou hast brought forth the people out
of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain. And Moses said
unto God, behold, when I come unto the children of Israel,
and shall say unto them, the God of your fathers hath sent
me unto you, and they shall say to me, what is his name? What
shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I am
that I am. And he said, thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me to you, I am. That's what our God has been
saying since the beginning, I am, I am. Well, back over in John
chapter eight, verse 23, and he said unto them, ye are from
beneath, I am from above. Ye are of this world, I am not
of this world. What is the truth? First of all,
If we're looking for the truth, we can't look for it on this
earth. We can't look for it in the men of this earth. Truth can only come from above. Truth comes from God. Truth does
not originate with men. All men are liars. Truth comes
from God. Go with me over to Job 11. Job chapter 11 and look at verse
seven. Canst thou by searching find
out God? Can you find out God by searching? Canst thou find out the Almighty
unto perfection? It is as high as heaven. What
canst thou do? Deeper than hell, what canst
thou know? The measure thereof is longer
than the earth and broader than the sea. Who can find out? Or who can know anything except
God reveal it? Who can know the things of God?
Higher than the heaven? Deeper than hell? longer than the earth. If we
want to know the truth, God has to reveal it. That's the truth. God has to reveal it. Turn with
me over to Romans chapter 11. Romans 11 verse 33 says, Oh the
depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.
The depth of the riches. both of the wisdom and knowledge
of God, how unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past
finding out. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord? Or who hath been His counselor?
Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed again
unto Him? For of him and through him and
to him are all things, to whom be glory forever, amen. If we want to know the truth,
God is gonna have to reveal it. God is gonna have to reveal it
to us. We're gonna have to wait on him to reveal it to us. Now back over in John chapter
8. John 8 verse 23, he said unto
them, ye are from beneath, I am from above. Ye are of this world,
I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you that
you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I
am, you shall die in your sins. Here's the truth. A sinner will
die in his sins. And where Christ goes, that sinner
cannot come. Because he believes not, the
Lord said, that I am. If you're reading along with
me, you'll notice the word he is in italics, it was added by
the translators. If you believe not that I am. And remember, he's telling this
to the religious people in the temple. If you don't believe
that I am, you'll die in your sins. Well, here's a question
we all need to know the answer to. I am what? I am what? The answer is God. The same God
that met with Moses. Do you know who that was in the
burning bush? That was Jesus Christ. The I am. Do you know who that was that
came down on Mount Sinai when it exploded with fire? That was
Jesus Christ. this same Jesus. If you don't
believe that I am, you'll die in your sins. God has got to speak the truth
to us. He must speak the truth to us. That's our only hope. It's our
only hope. He must speak the truth to us
or we're gonna die in our sins. How does He speak the truth to
us? How does He do that? Well, go
with me over to Hebrews chapter one. Hebrews chapter one, verse one
says, God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake
in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these
last days spoken unto us by His Son. By Son. Christ is the only messenger
of truth. If a man preaches the truth,
he is only delivering the message of Christ. He is only delivering
the Word of Christ. The word of Jesus Christ is the
word of truth. It's the only truth that there
is to declare. If we're gonna know the truth,
it's got to be revealed by God. And it's only gonna be revealed
through the message of Christ. The message of Christ. Back over
to John chapter eight, verse 25 says, Then said they unto him, who
art thou? Now these were the religious
leaders asking him this. The ones who knew the law and
the prophets. How blind, how blind could you
possibly be? This man, Jesus of Nazareth,
fulfilled everything that was prophesied about the Messiah. Christ fulfilled it all. but
they were blind to it. Totally blind to it. Verse 25,
then said they unto him, who art thou? And Jesus saith unto
them, even the same that I said unto you from the beginning. Our Lord never hid the truth.
He never hid the truth. Man by nature is blind to it.
Man by nature is dead and he cannot see it unless God quickens
him, sends life to him, opens his eyes. But our Lord never
hid the truth. Look at verse 12, he said, I
am the light. Oh, I wish we could just see
the light. Our Lord said, I am the light. I wish we knew the way. He said,
I am the way. I want eternal life, don't you? Our Lord said, I am the life. I just wanna find the truth.
I am the truth. I am. The scripture tells me
to rest on the Sabbath. Rest on the Sabbath. The Lord
says, I am the Sabbath. Rest on Christ. The scripture
tells me to come to the altar. The Lord says, I am the altar. He is. What's the truth? He is. Go with me over to Hebrews
11. Hebrews 11 verse 6 says, but
without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh
to God must believe that He is. He is what? The same that He
said from the beginning. God. God. The truth. The way, the life. Well back over in John 8 verse
26 says, our Lord said, I have many things to say and to judge
of you. Many things to judge of you. The truth hurts. It really does,
the truth hurts. When a sinner sees the truth,
The first thing it does is it stabs the heart. It stabs the heart. The truth
about myself is a hurtful thing because there's nothing good
in myself to say no. When I find out the truth about
myself, it's a hurtful thing. Look at John 5, John chapter
5, verse 1. Verse 42, our Lord said, but
I know you that you have not the love of God in you. We all hear that by nature and
say, well, that's not true. Oh, but it is. God said so. That's God talking. This flesh
is enmity against God, the enemy of God. Verse 43, he said, I
am come in my Father's name and you receive me not. If another
shall come in his own name, him you will receive. How can you
believe which receive honor one of another and seek not the honor
that cometh from God only? Do not think that I will accuse
you to the Father. There is one that accuseth you,
even Moses, in whom you trust. For had you believed Moses, you
would have believed me, for he wrote of me." Everything Moses
wrote about God, the Lord Jesus Christ said he was writing about
me. But if you believe not his writings,
how shall you believe my words? How? They're the same. They're the same. Back over in
John 8 verse 26 says, I have many things to say and
to judge of you, but he that sent me is true. And I speak
to the world those things which I have heard of him. They understood
not that he spake to them of the father. He's saying the words
I speak are true because they're coming directly from the Father. That's why. Verse 28, then said
Jesus unto them, when you have lifted up the Son of Man, then
shall you know that I am. And I do nothing of myself, but
as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. He's saying,
I'm telling you the truth as plain as day. And you cannot
hear it because you don't have ears to hear. But when you see
me lifted up, when you crucify me, when you see Christ crucified,
you're gonna know that I am. Why? Just because he died? No. A lot of people died. A lot of people were crucified. A lot of people. There were two
other men that were crucified with him, right there with him.
What made the difference? He's saying, when you see me
go into that grave, You're gonna know that I am because you're
gonna see me walk out. I'm coming back out. You're gonna
know that I am because it is not possible for death to hold
me. It's not possible. I am. Verse 29 says, and he that sent
me is with me. The father hath not left me alone,
for I do always those things that please him. Scripture says
God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. He said,
I and my father are one. We're one. Verse 30, as he spake
these words, many believed on him. Many believed on him. Him. The truth is a person. It's a person. The truth is a
person. Salvation is a person. If we want to know the truth,
we've got to know a person. A sinner can understand total
depravity and unconditional election and limited atonement and irresistible
grace and perseverance of the saints and not know the truth,
even though all those things are true. Believing correct doctrine,
believing systematic theology is not believing the truth. If we're gonna believe the truth,
we've got to believe a person. The truth is a person. What do we preach down here at
Kingsport Sovereign Grace? A person. A person. Verse 30 says, as he spake these
words, many believed on him. Him. Paul wrote, oh, that I may
know him. Oh, that I may know him. To believe
Him is to believe His words. The Word of God. His words are
spirit. His words are life because His
words are truth. Truth. Verse 31 right here in
John 8, Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If
you continue in My word, then are you My disciples indeed.
He gives an if, then. He said, if you believe, if you
continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. We understand what he means through
everything that he has said. He said, faith is not of yourself,
it's a gift. Faith is believing God, believing. And he said, that's not of yourself,
that's a gift. Hebrews 11 says, faith is the evidence. Continuing
in his word is not a condition of faith. If you continue, then
you'll believe. Continuing in his word is not
a condition of faith. It's an evidence. It's an evidence. How do I know I believe God?
God keeps me in his word. He keeps me loving it. He keeps
me living on it. He keeps me finding comfort through
it. He keeps me seeing Christ in
it. If he causes us to continue, then he said we are his disciples
indeed. Lord, keep us. Keep us. That's our only hope. Keep us. Our only hope is that Christ
would keep us, that his blood would keep us. Thy word is truth. Thy word is truth. And if God
causes a sinner to believe it, the good news is that sinner
can't not believe it. That sinner has to believe it.
And verse 32 says, our Lord said, you shall know the truth. You shall know the truth. If
God has revealed Christ to us, if we know Him, Him, if we know His purpose,
if we know His work, if we know why He came, what He did, what
He actually accomplished on that cross. He was not showing us
a way. He is the way. The reason He left His throne
and came here in the first place is because we are fully, totally,
completely, vile, wretched sinners. That's the truth. That's why
He came. And when He died on that cross,
He paid every debt for every sin. Paid in full. Total redemption. And now it
is finished. It's finished. That's His Word.
That's His Word. And if God has revealed Christ
to us, revealed His purpose and His work, if we know that He
is, if we know that He is the same He said from the beginning, If we know the one who conquered
death and rose victoriously and is seated on his throne, if we
know that he is the great I am, the great I am, then we know
the truth. We know him. And if we know the
truth, the truth shall make us free. Make us free. Free from what? The curse. The condemnation of sin. Free from religion. Free from
tradition. Free from bondage. He'll set
us free from trying to justify ourselves before God. He'll set
us free from all our labors, all our works, trying to please
Him, trying to please Him, trying to please Him. Once we see the
truth, Jesus Christ pleased His Father. This is my beloved Son
in whom I'm well pleased, and all who are in Him, I'm well
pleased with them. That's the truth. He'll set us
free from the facade we've been trying to live up to. He said,
come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll
give you rest. Rest. God knows who we are. He sees our sin. That's why he
sent us the truth. He sent us Christ to set us free. Until next Sunday morning, may
the 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.