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 John chapter 19. John chapter 19. We're going to look at a glorious,
glorious truth this morning. Every single thing that happens
in this world, in this life period, every single thing that happens
is according to purpose. You know that there is no chance. It's all
on purpose. Do you believe that's true? Are you settled on the fact that
God Every single thing that happens that God is ordering it, is controlling
it, it's all according to his purpose. Are you settled on that
fact? Romans 8.28 talks about his purpose. Ecclesiastes three says that
there's a time to every purpose under heaven. How many times a day do we forget
that? I know I do. I forget it every hour, every
minute, every second. I forget it every time something
happens that I don't want to happen. I forget it every single time
something happens that I do not want to happen. Every time something's not going
like I want it to, you know. Well, the truth of the matter
is, is no matter what it is, every single thing that happens
is going according to God's purpose. Every single thing that happens.
Man fell in the garden according to purpose. You know that? God
knew he would fall. God said to Adam, in the day
that you eat thereof, he knew he would fall. He knew he would
eat it. And he said, in the day that
you eat thereof, thou shalt surely die. And because we died, God
purposed a purpose, a great purpose, a grand scheme. By way of man,
it's an impossible scheme. It's a design that's too deep
to measure. It's a design that's too mysterious
to understand. A purpose only God could purpose
with an outcome that only God could accomplish. Look with me
at John chapter 19 verse 30. It says, when Jesus therefore
had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. It is finished. An eternity of purpose from the
Father, the Son, and the Spirit. An eternity of design by the
Father, the Son, and the Spirit. An eternity of communication
between the Father, Son, and Spirit culminated and celebrated
in three words, it is finished. What do you think happened in
glory when all the angels and the whole host of glory and the
cherubims and the seraphims as all of God's creation watched
the Son of God hanging there on that cross What do you think
happened when he looked up to his father and in glory and in
honor cried, it is finished? Heaven erupted. Heaven erupted. If the angels erupt with joy
over one sinner that repenteth, what do you think happened when
total redemption took place? Complete salvation. Complete
justification. Complete sanctification. Complete
holiness. Complete righteousness. Redemption
in three words. It is finished. It's finished. The whole story
of the gospel is told in those three words. The whole story. He said it. What's he talking about? What
is finished? Well, turn back with me over
to John 17 and look at verse four. It says, I have glorified
thee on the earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. What work did God give him to
do? What was the work? The work was every single thing
that God purposed to be done, all of it. The Son's work is
the Father's will, His purpose and His will. And even though
we can't measure it, and even though we can't fully understand
it, our God has revealed the mystery of His will. He's revealed
His purpose. the purpose he made from the
foundation of the world. And it's an amazing purpose. Some people say, God has a wonderful
plan for your life. No, he doesn't. Nothing could be farther from
the truth. I've never heard a greater lie
told. God does not have a wonderful plan for your life. He has an
amazing purpose for His elect. There is something that He has
willed to happen. Let's see what it is. Turn with
me over to 2 Peter 3. 2 Peter 3, look at verse 10,
it says, But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. The earth also and the works
that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these
things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to
be in all holy conversation and godliness? looking for and hasting
unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being
on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness." In the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth. That's what Genesis says. And
God has purpose to destroy this heaven and this earth. And the
reason is because of sin. And God has purpose to create
a new heaven and a new earth. And he's not gonna allow any
sin to enter into it. It's gonna be a place wherein
dwelleth righteousness. What is righteousness? Righteousness is actually not
a what, it's a who. Christ is our righteousness. Our God did not purpose to live
on this earth, but he did purpose to create a brand new earth and
he actually lives there. Righteousness dwells there. Turn with me over to Revelation
21. Revelation 21 verse 1 says, And
I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and
the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And
I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And
I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men. And He will dwell with them,
and they shall be His people. And God Himself shall be with
them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former
things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne
said, Behold, I make all things new, And he said unto me, write,
for these words are true and faithful. He said, write. So John wrote. And now he's commanded
me to preach, so I preach. These words are true and faithful. They're true. It almost sounds
too good to be true, doesn't it? It really is true. God has revealed his purpose
in that to us. All right, now let's see what
else he's purposed. Go with me over to Genesis chapter 15. Genesis chapter 15 and look at
verse five. It says, and he brought him forth, the
Lord God brought Abraham forth. He brought him forth abroad and
said, look now toward heaven and tell the stars if thou be
able to number them. And he said unto him, so shall
thy seed be. Those who believe the truth,
God's sheep. God's sheep are usually scattered
sheep. Here a few, there a few. That's how God purposed it to
be on this earth. He called it a remnant, a remnant. He said, though they be as the
sands of the sea, a remnant is gonna be saved. He said, broad
is the way, but straight is the gate, broad is the way, but few
there be that find it. So he said, a remnant's gonna
be saved, just a few scattered sheep. But that's not God's purpose
for the new earth. He has purpose to put a multitude
there which no man can number. And it's going to be a happy
and it's going to be a safe place to dwell. And the reason is because
everybody there is going to be just like Jesus Christ. It's going to be a world full
of people who act just like Jesus Christ. They're all going to
be conformed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that
not wonderful? Now God's purpose on this is
very specific. Right here in Genesis 15 verse
five, he brought him forth abroad and said, look now toward heaven
and tell the stars if thou be able to number them. And he said
unto him, so shall thy seed be. Thy seed. Now turn over to Genesis
22 and look at verse 17 with me. It says, that in blessing
I will bless thee And in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the
stars of heaven and as the sand which is upon the seashore. And
thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. He's talking
about a particular people. And he's not talking about every
single person born to Abraham. Let me show you that over in
Galatians 3. Turn to Galatians chapter 3. And look at verse 16, it says,
now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not
and to seeds as of many, but as of one. And to thy seed, which
is Christ. Christ, the Lord was talking
about Christ. This promise was purposed to
Christ. God the Father has purposed for
Christ to inherit this new heaven and this new earth. He's giving
it all to Christ. All things have been put in the
hands of Jesus Christ. So where does the great multitude
come from that no man can number? That multitude is every person
that God the Father purposed to be in Christ. They're gonna
inherit this new earth in Him. You see, it's vital that a sinner
be in Christ. All the promises, all the goodness,
it's all in Christ. And if we vile sinners are gonna
have any access to the blessings of God, it's only gonna be through
Christ. It's only gonna be in Christ,
in Him. Now if that's true, and it is,
based on the word of God, it is, here's what I wanna know. If that's true, here's what I
wanna know. Who did God purpose to put in Christ? I need to know
that. Well, that's the amazing part.
Hebrews 2 verse 16 says, for verily he took not on him the
nature of angels. He didn't purpose to put them
in Christ. Listen to Jude 6, Jude verse 6, it says, and the
angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation,
those that fell with Lucifer. The angels which kept not their
first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved
in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great
day." He didn't purpose to redeem them back to their original state.
But Paul wrote, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Sinners like you and me, is that
not amazing? He didn't do it for angels, he
did it for sinners. God the Father purposed to put
sinners in Christ. Sinful men. What an absolute
mystery that is. God will have nothing to do with
sin. That's what God purposed. He himself said he will by no
means, by no means clear the guilty. Isn't that what he said? Turn with me over to Job chapter
nine. Job chapter nine, look at verse
two. Job said, I know it is so of
a truth, but how should man be just with God? That's the great
question. That's this mystery that he will
by no means clear the guilty, he'll have nothing to do with
sin. Job said, I know it is so of a truth, but how should man
be just with God? Look at Job 15. Job chapter 15,
verse 14, it says, what is man that he should be clean? Who's
worthy to be clean? And he which is born of a woman
that he should be righteous? Behold, he putteth no trust in
his saints, yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. How
much more abominable and filthy is man which drinketh iniquity
like water. That's what the word of God says
about sinful man, you and me. It says we drink iniquity like,
we drink sin like water. Is that the truth? That's what
God's word says. Look at Job 25. Job 25 verse four says, how then
can man be justified with God? What a question. That's the question. That's the question of the gospel.
That's the question of religion. That's the question of every
man. How then can man be justified
with God? If man is nothing but sin, absolutely
nothing but sin, and if man is going to meet God, and if God
is going to punish the sinful, how then can man be justified
with God? Or how can he be clean that is
born of a woman? Behold, even to the moon in it
shineth not. Yea, the stars are not pure in
his sight. The word of God says that the
stars of the heavens are not pure in the sight of God Almighty. Verse six, Job 25 verse six says,
How much less man that is a worm A worm. And the son of man, which
is a worm. Can you say that about yourself? Can you say, I'm a worm? That means a maggot. Can you say that about yourself?
You know, it takes the spirit of God to convince a sinner.
I'm a lot worse than I thought I was. I'm nothing but a worm,
a maggot in God's eyes. So how can man be justified with
God? How can something so vile be
justified with God? Well, that's impossible with
man. It's absolutely impossible with man. That's too deep to
measure. That's too mysterious to understand. But this is what the Lord Jesus
Christ said. He said, look unto me, I am a
just God. That means I punish sin. That
means I will not clear the guilty. I am a just God and, thank God for that word and,
the Savior. I'm a just God. and a Savior. Thanks be to Christ. Praise the
Lord. I'm a just God and a Savior. God will by no means clear the
guilty. And the only way man could be
guiltless, the only way, was if God became a man. So Christ said, The Son of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ said, lo, I come. In the volume of the
book, it is written of me. I'll do it. I'll do it. With man, it's impossible. Man
fell. God said, Adam, in the day that
you eat of that, you're gonna surely die. It was impossible
for man to redeem himself. He fell so low. It was impossible,
so Christ said, I'll do it. I'll come. And God recorded his
work in the volume of the book. It's written of me. I will finish
all the righteousness that you need. You know, righteousness
is perfection. It's rightness. It's everything
that's right. Man is only wrong. Man is only
sinful. We can try to convince ourselves
that that's not true, but deep down, every single one of us
know. We know. All we have to do is
just acknowledge our mind for just a minute. Acknowledge our
thoughts. You know how wicked our thoughts are. We try to polish
it up okay on the outside. We try to dress well and guard
our tongue in public. Watch where our eyes are looking
and things of that nature. But if we would get into our
heart, just get into our mind, just take a minute and think
about the thoughts that go through this mind. We're sinners. We're vile. It's true. With man, it's impossible. Man
is unrighteous. Man tries to establish his own
righteousness, but it's impossible. So Christ said, I will fulfill
all the righteousness you need. And he walked this earth a glorious,
perfect, righteous, holy man. And he gave that righteousness
to every single sinner that God put in him. When he earned it,
they earned it. And Christ said, I will fulfill
all the justice that God demands. A sinner's gonna go stand before
God And if God is a just God, and He is, then God's got to
punish that sin. He must punish that sin. Christ
said, put them in me, and then punish me. And I will fulfill
all the justice that God demands. And as He hung on the cross,
knowing that the purpose of God that all whom the Father chose
should dwell with them on this brand new earth, knowing what
He was doing, knowing that with His own stripes they were healed. He looked up at His Father with
great delight, with great satisfaction, and He said, It is finished. Oh, how glorious are those words.
How glorious are those words. It is finished. And he bowed his precious head
and he gave up the ghost. Purpose fulfilled. All of God the Father's purpose
fulfilled in God the Son. fulfilled in Jesus Christ. If we ever learn something about
God's purpose, if we ever learn something about
God's purpose, we're gonna learn something about God. We're gonna
learn something about God's gospel, his good news to sinners. What
is God's gospel? It's Christ. Paul said, I'm determined
to know nothing among you save Christ and Him crucified. That's God's gospel. That's God's
purpose. Well, let's ask this question.
How can we know that God's purpose has been fulfilled? How can we
know? How can we know that it truly
is finished? How can we know that the work
is complete, totally complete? Well, turn with me over to Acts
chapter 13 and look at verse 29. It says, and when they had
fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from
the tree and laid him in a sepulcher, but God raised him from the dead. And he was seen many days of
them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are
his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad
tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,
God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children, in that he
has raised up Jesus again. As it is also written in the
second Psalm, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.
This day. How can we know his work is finished? God raised him from the dead.
He was sent here to earth to do the work and the disciples
watched him ascend back up into heaven. The work is finished. Do you know where he is right
now? He is seated on his throne. Why? Because it's finished. That's why. Until next Sunday
morning, may the Lord bless His Word. 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.