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 Isaiah chapter 40, and our text
is going to be verses 3 to 11. The title of this message is
the three fold message of evangelism. Now the word evangelist is in
this Bible three times and the word means an announcer of good
news. An evangelist is simply a preacher
of the gospel. That's all he is. Just because
a person is a preacher, it doesn't mean he's a preacher of the gospel.
Just because a person is a preacher, it doesn't mean he's telling
you the truth. So let's ask this question. What
is the truth? What is the gospel? And where
did this message come from? The answer is God himself, Jesus
Christ. What is the truth? God himself,
Jesus Christ. He said, I am the way and I am
the truth. What is the gospel? God Himself,
Jesus Christ. Who He is, what He's done. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Where did this message come from?
God Himself, Jesus Christ. This is the Word of God. Well, verse three in our text,
Isaiah chapter 40 says, the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness. Now that's prophesying about
John and he's speaking to every single preacher of truth. He's
talking about John and he's talking about every preacher of the gospel. He says in verse three, prepare
ye the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a
highway for our God." If a man is going to be a true gospel
preacher, he must prepare the way of the Lord. He must make all of his business
the way of the Lord. He must make every path he leads
men and women down the way of the Lord. Don't get sidetracked
on how to live right. Let's not get sidetracked on
how to be happy in life. Let's not get sidetracked on
church government. Let's not get sidetracked on
wood, hay, and stubble. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Verse three says, make straight
in the desert, in the dry land, in the parched land, in the barren
land, in the place where it's just hot and dead. You know what that is? That's
a dead, dry, stony heart. Verse three says, make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. Because He's coming. He's coming. If a preacher is
telling men and women the truth, the true gospel, three things
will happen every time. three things will happen. Number
one, every broken, sad, low, humbled sinner, every single broken, humbled
sinner who really hears the gospel, who really hears the good news,
They're going to be glad. They're going to be lifted up
every time. The second thing that will happen
is every proud, haughty, self-righteous sinner who really hears the gospel
is going to be cut down. He's going to be humbled. He's
going to be put in his place. He's gonna find out he's a sinner,
like the rest of us. And the third thing that'll happen
is, all of these scriptures of truth, all of these words that
are so hard to follow, so hard to understand, in the preaching
of the gospel, they're all gonna be made plain. Verse four in
our text tells us that. It says, every valley shall be
exalted. Every low, hurting, humbled sinner
is going to be lifted up. And it says, every mountain and
hill shall be made low. Every proud, self-righteous sinner
is going to be brought down. and the crooked shall be made
straight, and the rough places plain." These things that are
so hard to understand and so hard to follow, it's all going
to be made plain through the preaching of the gospel. Now
turn with me over to Luke chapter 24. Luke 24, and we're going
to read verse 27. It says, "...and beginning at
Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded
unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."
Now look at verse 44, it says, and he said unto them, these
are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you.
that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law
of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning
me. Then opened he their understanding
that they might understand the Scriptures." The true gospel,
which is Jesus Christ and Him crucified, makes it all plain,
every bit of it. Well, back to our text. What
is this gospel? Verse five says, and the glory
of the Lord shall be revealed. The glory of the Lord revealed. That's the gospel. The glory
of His mercy. The glory of His grace. The glory of His person, who
He is. the glory of His work, what He's
done, it'll all be revealed through the preaching of this gospel.
Verse 5 says, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and
all flesh shall see it together for the mouth of the Lord has
spoken it. Here's the command to the true
preacher of the gospel. Verse 6 says, The voice said,
cry, cry out, cry. Here's the true preacher's response.
Verse six says, what shall I cry? What should I say? What would
you have me to say? What is the truth concerning
men and women? Verse six says, all flesh is
grass. All flesh is grass. All flesh is grass. That's so hard for us to get
a hold of. It says, all flesh is grass and
the goodliness thereof, the beauty of it, the goodness of it is
as the flower of the field. All flesh Young, old, red, yellow,
black, white, religious, church-going. All flesh is worthless. Go out into the yard and pick
one blade of grass. Just one blade out of your yard. Pick handfuls of grass, pick
a truckload of grass, pick a train load of grass, and then go to
a store in town and try to buy something with it. It's worthless. It's worthless. Listen to these comments. A man
said, we are born spiritually dead and worthless. Nothing we can do in life improves
the condition. Man, that's a pretty hopeless
state, isn't it? We are born spiritually dead and worthless. Nothing we can do in life improves
the condition. Turn with me over to Romans chapter
7. Romans 7, and let's read verse
18. It says, for I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. For to will is present with me,
but how to perform that which is good I find not. Look at Romans eight, verse eight,
it says, so then they that are in the flesh, that's every single
man and woman standing on this planet earth. Verse eight says,
so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God cannot. This must be preached in order
to break man's proud heart. Man needs to know the truth.
I need to know the truth. Somebody tell me the truth. We need to know that we're worthless
sinners. We need a savior. We need an
intercessor. We need a mediator. Isaiah said,
we are all as an unclean thing. And all our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags. And we all do fade as a leaf. And our iniquities, like the
wind, have taken us away. Scripture says, man at his best
state. is altogether vanity. Altogether, just empty. Turn
with me over to Isaiah chapter six. Isaiah six, and let's read verse
five together. It says, Isaiah said, then said
I, woe is me for I'm undone. Because I am a man of unclean
lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.
For mine eyes have seen the king, the Lord of host. He said, I'm a man of unclean
lips. How do you know Isaiah? How do
you know you're an unclean thing? How do you know you're a center? He said, now I know who God is.
Now I've seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Now I've seen the Holy
One." Well, our text, Isaiah 40 verse 7 says, the grass withereth,
the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon
it. Surely the people is grass. Surely. That's the first point
in this threefold message. The all flesh is grass. We must get a hold of that. We
must understand that. We must bow to that. We must
acknowledge that it's the truth. All flesh is grass. Now here's
the second point in this message. Verse eight says, the grass withereth,
the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. The word of our God shall stand
forever. This recorded word, the holy
word, Our Lord said, not one word of it shall fail." Not one
word, a returned void. If He said it, the Word of our
God shall stand forever. Psalm 119, verse 89 says, "'Forever,
O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven.'" It's settled in heaven.
It's ordered. It's sure. Forever, oh Lord,
thy word is settled in heaven. This word was given to us in
time, but in the beginning was the
word. Jesus Christ, the word. In the beginning was the word,
and the word was made flesh. And the word was with God, and
the Word was God. Jesus Christ, the Word, the Word
of God, the Son of God, shall stand forever. His office shall stand forever. He's our King. He's our King,
and our King shall stand forever. He's our maker, he owns us, he
controls us. We belong to him and we're gonna
belong to him forever. He's our defender. He's our protector and we shall
be defended and protected forever. He's our redeemer and we shall
be redeemed forever. He's our friend. And he said,
I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. He shall
stand forever. His blood, his shed blood is
going to stand forever. Our redemption, our atonement,
our payment for the debt of our sins. is going to be paid in
full forever, forever. His grace, his mercy, and his
grace, thanks be to God, shall stand forever. If he has shown mercy to us,
it'll never end. We'll stand in his mercy forever,
forever. His gift to us, His grace, the
gift of Himself will never be taken away, never. And His glory
and His honor and His exaltation will never be diminished, never. It will stand forever. That's good news, isn't it? Isn't
that wonderful news? All flesh is grass, but the Word of our God shall
stand forever. Now here's the third part in
this threefold message. Verse 9 in our text, Isaiah 40
says, O Zion that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the
high mountain. O Jerusalem, that bringest good
tidings, lift up thy voice with strength, lift it up, be not
afraid, say unto the cities of Judah, behold your God. Behold your God. All flesh is grass. The word
of our God shall stand forever. Behold your God. John the Baptist was preaching.
He was telling people about Christ. He was telling people about Christ.
He said, I'm not even worthy to tie this man's shoes. He kept
saying, Christ is the one who's coming. And all of a sudden,
here he comes. And John lifted up his voice
and he cried, behold, the Lamb of God. Behold. Look to Him. Look to Him. If you from sin are longing to
be free, look to the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin
of the world. Look to Him. Look and live. Behold. Behold. You're. You're God. That's the good news. You're
God. He's not just a God. He's not
just the God. He's your God. He's my God, thanks be to God. I am my beloved's and my beloved
is mine. He said, I'm good, I'm gracious. He said, you're a sinner, you're
vile, you're unworthy, but I will have mercy. I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. And I am my beloved's and my
beloved's is mine. I will be your God. I need my God. My God. He said, I will be your God and
you will be my people. I will take your sin. I will
take your sinfulness. I'll take it off of you. I'll
put it on me. I'll take it to the cross. I'll
take it to the grave. I'll pay the penalty. I'll pay
the price. I'll pay the debt. I'll do away
with all that sin. Then I'll gather you unto myself
and you will be my people. Verse 10 in our text, Isaiah
chapter 40 says, behold, the Lord God will come with strong
hand and his arm shall rule for him. Behold, his reward is with
him, and his work is before him. That says, behold, the Lord God. That's Jesus Christ, the Lord. It says, behold, the Lord God
will come with strong hand. That's Jesus Christ. the right
hand of God. It says, Behold, the Lord God
will come with strong hand and His arm. That's Jesus Christ. The Lord hath made bare His holy
arm. Jesus Christ. It says, Behold,
the Lord God will come with strong hand and his arm shall rule for
him. And then it says, behold, his
reward is with him. What is his reward? Well, turn
with me over to Psalm chapter two. Let's turn to Psalm two
and read verse eight. It says, ask of me and I shall
give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost
parts of the earth for thy possession. That's God the Father speaking
to God the Son. And he said, ask of me and I
shall give thee the heathen. for thine inheritance. The heathen
is you and me. The heathen, the outcast, the
strangers. It's an unfair inheritance, isn't
it? All his people get him. They
get the precious one. They get the son of God. For
their inheritance, he gets the heathen. But the good news of
the gospel is Isaiah 40 verse 10 says, behold, his reward is
with him. Oh, he takes us with him. He said, I'll never leave you. I'll never, never, no, never
forsake you. I want to be with him. I want to be in him. Lord, keep
your hand on me. Help us. That's good news. His
reward is with him. And then verse 10 says, his work
before him. His work before him. I am a sinner saved by grace. That's all I am. I cannot do
anything to merit a righteousness before God. There's no work that
I can do to inherit the kingdom of heaven. But His work is before
Him. Everything that was required
to satisfy God, everything that was required to satisfy justice
and judgment He accomplished in His work. He walked this earth
for 33 years and He did everything that was required to fulfill
the law. And then He went to the cross
and He did everything that was required to pay the punishment
of sin. And the Father is pleased, well
pleased, because all of Christ's work is before Him. Behold your great God. Verse 11 says, he shall feed
his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently, gently,
mercifully, tenderly, compassionately lead those that are with young. That translates those that give
milk. Lord, help us. Give us the sincere
milk of the Word. All flesh is grass. The Word
of our God shall stand forever. So behold your God. 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.