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 Matthew chapter 4 and I want us to think about
something together. The God who made the whole world. who made everything in the world,
who made time, who made us. The God who has no beginning
and no end. The God who knows all things,
knows the end from the beginning. The God came to the earth that
he made. And after 30 years of waiting,
he began to preach. God did. And the reason he preached
is because he had something to say to man. And if a man is ever going to
hear anything in his life, a man or a woman, if they're ever going
to hear anything in this life, don't you think that he would
be wise, don't you think we would be wise to hear what God has
to say to us? If a man's ever gonna hear anything,
don't you think he would be wise to hear what God has to say to
him? Well, right here in Matthew chapter four, verse 17 says,
from that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, repent for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Now that was 2,000 years ago.
And he didn't say, repent for the kingdom of heaven will come
in a few thousand years. He said, it's here. And there's not a soul standing
on the face of this earth that has not sinned against his God.
We all have. So our Lord said, And he's commanded
every called and sent preacher of God to say, get ready. We're going to meet God. Get ready. We're going to go
meet God. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now turn with me over to Luke
chapter 12, verse 16 says, And he spake a parable unto them
saying, the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself
saying, what shall I do because I have no room where to bestow
my fruits? And he said, this will I do.
I will pull down my barns and build greater. And there will
I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul,
soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine
ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, thou fool,
this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then whose
shall those things be which thou hast provided? You know what
our Lord was telling them right there? Repent, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. When men and women first hear
what God has to say to them, their response is usually, I
don't know if I like this. I don't know if I like this.
This is starting to scare me. I don't know if I want to hear
about this God. Well, here's the truth of the
matter. Whether or not I want to hear about him, I'm going
to go meet him. I'm going to go meet him. I've got to stand before him. And if I'm not a saved man, if
I'm not a redeemed man, a cleansed man, I'm gonna stand there in
front of him polluted in all of my sin. You know, realizing that is what
causes a sinner to fear the Lord. You know that? Fear this holy
God. Moses and Isaiah and Saul of
Tarsus and John on the Isle of Patmos, as soon as they saw God
for the first time. Not religion. They all saw religion. As soon as they saw God, Isaiah
said, woe is me. Saul, trembling, said, Lord,
what would you have me to do? Fear, true fear. What would you have me to do? That's the first question that
every sinner asks when God reveals the truth to him. They realize
I have a judge. And that judge will have nothing
to do with sin. It cannot be in his presence. He must punish it. And I'm a
sinner, so he must punish me. That's the truth. That's the
truth. It's an awful truth, but I'm
telling us the truth. I'm telling us the truth. As
soon as that consumes a sinful heart, That heart will not rest. It will not rest until it has
this question answered. What must I do to be saved? We ask it all the time. It's
because every sinner does. What must I do to be saved? I've
got to be saved from my sins. I don't need to rededicate my
life. That's not what I need. I need
to be saved from my sins. The Apostle Paul said, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? Who? Turn with me over to Acts
chapter 16. the Philippian jailer saw the
God of Paul and Silas for the first time. And in Acts 16, verse
29, it says, then he called for a light and sprang in and came
trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas and brought them
out and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said,
recite these Hail Marys and do some community service, do some
good for others and live a more morally upstanding life and promise
that you will do this and promise that you won't do that. No. They said, believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and the house. That's it? That's it? That's the answer? But that seems too simple. No, actually it's impossible. It's impossible for a sinner
without the Lord sending that Holy Spirit of Christ It's impossible. Faith does not exist in a sinner
until God sends the faith of Christ to that sinner through
his Holy Ghost. By grace are you saved through
faith, and that's not of yourself. It's a gift of God. It's not
of yourself. A sinner cannot believe because
it's not of himself. It's a gift of God. If God doesn't
send it, there is no believing. There is no believing. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That's a
gift of God. It's not a work of man. It's
a gift of God. But it seems so small. It seems
so insufficient on my part. There is no my part in believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ. We just said it's impossible
without God sending His Holy Spirit. But if God sends His Holy Spirit,
And if God causes you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou
shalt be saved. God said that. Any sinner who
truly believes on the Lord Jesus Christ cannot be condemned for
his sin. Cannot. Turn with me over to
Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter eight, verse one,
it says, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the spirit. No condemnation. No condemnation. Who walk not after the flesh. Who walk not after trying to
live right in this flesh. who walk not after trying to
earn their way to heaven through their own flesh, but after the
Spirit. Those who walk through this life
believing on the Lord Jesus Christ in heart and spirit. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. If God ever
sends salvation to a sinner, he's gonna put in their heart
Number one, a desire to believe. I want to believe, you know that?
He's going to put a desire to believe and he's going to put
in there a very particular belief. A very particular belief. What
is it? Because I want to know what it
is and I want to believe it. I want to be saved. I want God
to save me. So what is it? What will they
believe? Well, here's the answer. Turn
with me over to Matthew chapter one. Here's the answer. Matthew one verse 21 says, and
she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus. for he shall save his people
from their sins. That's what believers believe. Thou shalt call his name Jesus. Now we do not, we try not to
refer to him as Jesus. Over in John chapter 13, verse
13, our Lord said, you call me master and Lord and you say,
well, for so I am. I cannot find one instance of
the Lord's disciples coming up to him in person and personally
addressing him by saying, Jesus. They didn't do that. They called
him master. They called him Lord. Out of
love, out of respect, and out of reverence. I don't even call
my dad by his first name. Out of love and respect, much
less my God. So we don't just call his name
Jesus, but here's how believers do reverently call him Jesus. They believe God became a man. God became a man. To believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ is to believe on God manifest in the flesh. This man Jesus
can't just get you to God. This man Jesus is God. Do you
know that? He is the God. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. What does that mean exactly?
Believe what? Here it is in Matthew 1 verse
21 it says thou shalt call his name Jesus for Because He He
One Only one. He alone. Not he and me. Not he and me. Not he and me. He. Salvation is not a cooperation
between he and me. Salvation is not a cooperation.
Salvation is an operation by the great physician. He, he. Turn over to Acts chapter four
with me. Acts chapter four verse 10 says,
be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that
by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified,
whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand
here before you whole. This is the stone which was set
at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved." No other name. None other. He. Christ alone. Is that what you believe? Is
that what you believe? He alone. Go back over to Matthew
1, verse 21 says, he shall. You know what that means? It
means he's able and he's willing. He's the only one who can. He's the only one who will. Paul
said, I am persuaded that he is able. He said, come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And he shall. If a sinner comes
to Christ labored and heavy laden, Christ will give him rest. How
does a person come to him for rest? How does a person come
to Him for rest? We come with the heart. That's the answer. We come with
the heart. We don't come down front. We
don't come to the front of the church. We don't come to the preacher.
We don't come to the priest. We come to Christ with the heart. Out of the heart are the issues
of life. We believe with the heart that
the one who is able will. Turn over to John 11 with me.
John 11 verse 23 says, Jesus saith unto her, thy brother shall
rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She said
unto him, yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the
son of God, which should come into the world. Believest thou this? Do you believe
he shall? Or do you believe that God wants
to save you if you'll let him? Do you believe that He shall? Or do you believe that He's standing
at your heart's door knocking, waiting on you to make the move?
Which do you believe? Back over in Matthew 1, verse
21 says, He shall save. He did not start the work and
leave the rest up to you. He did not. He did not make salvation
possible. He made it secure. He did not
show us the way. He is the way. Philippians 1
says, He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 12 says, He is the author
and the finisher of our faith. It's finished. Christ finished
it. The song says, if you from sin
are longing to be free, look to the Lamb of God, for He alone
is able to save you. Look to the Lamb of God. Verse
21 says, He shall save His people. His people. Not one soul is in
hell that Christ died for. Not one soul. There is a heaven
and there's a hell. And if one soul that Christ died
for is in hell, then he's a failure. And he cannot do what he says
he can do. If one soul is in hell who Christ
died for, then we would have to say, call his name Jesus,
for he might save his people. There's no hope in that. There's
no comfort in that. There's no security in that.
Turn with me over to Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42 verse 1 says, behold
my servant, that's Jesus Christ. Behold my servant whom I uphold,
mine elect, that's Jesus Christ. In whom my soul delighteth, that's
Jesus Christ. I've put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry nor lift up
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged
till he have set judgment in the earth and the isles shall
wait for his law. Verse 10 says, sing unto the
Lord a new song. Why? Because he shall not fail. He shall not fail. He said to his father, those
that thou gavest me I have kept and none of them is lost. What
this means is Christ didn't come to die for everybody. Christ
didn't come to die for everybody. He didn't come to save everybody. He came to save His people. His people. Well, who are His
people? That's the best part. That's
the most amazing part of it all. Turn with me over to Mark chapter
2. Mark chapter two verse 15 says, and it came to pass that
as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat
also together with Jesus and his disciples, for there were
many and they followed him. And when the scribes and Pharisees
saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples,
how is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?
When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, they that are whole
have no need of the physician, but they that are sick. I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Sinners to repentance. Do you
know who his people are? Sinners. Sinners like you and
me. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. To save sinners. Is that not
the greatest news you've ever heard in your life? It is if you're a sinner. It
is if you're a sinner. Romans 5 verse 7 says, for scarcely
for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good
man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That means he saved us. Call
His name Jesus, for He shall save His people. His people. Back over in Matthew 21, Matthew
1, verse 21, it says, Call His name Jesus, for He shall save
His people from. That word means removal. It means
separation. That means when Christ went to
the cross, he took our sins with him, the real actual sins that
we right now carry out in time. Christ put them away in eternity.
I still have plenty of sins ahead of me that have not been carried
out in time yet, but Christ has already put them away. Isn't
that wonderful news? He took them from His people
and He laid them on Himself. And they're gone. They're gone. Praise Christ our God for that. They are gone. He shall save His people from
there. Christ didn't just put away sin.
He put away my sin. My sin, oh the bliss of this
glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the
whole, was nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise
the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul, because it's well. it is well. She shall bring forth
the Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sins." The Lord Jesus Christ paid it
all, all the debt we owed. Sin had left a crimson stain
but he washed it white as snow. Now, let me ask you this. Believest
thou this? Do you believe that God himself
is the one who came? Do you believe that he alone
is the only one who's able and willing? Do you believe that
all He requires is to see your need of Him? Cry out to Him. Do you believe you are a sinner? It was your sins that nailed
Him to that cross. Do you believe that? Do you believe
through the fact that God raised Him up that the Lord Jesus Christ
paid your debt in full? If you do, If you do believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, then it sounds like salvation has
come to you. And if salvation himself has
come to you, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Christ the truth has set you
free. And you are free indeed. 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.