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 to the book of Revelation, chapter 5. Verse
1 says, And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne,
a book written within and on the backside sealed with seven
seals. The revelation is such a mysterious
book to the world, but it actually is no different from every other
book in this Bible. They all have the same subject. And Revelation chapter 5 begins
with good news. I have wonderful news this morning.
Somebody is sitting on the throne. Verse 1 says, And I saw in the
right hand of him that sat on the throne. Aren't you so glad? Aren't we all so thankful for
that? Somebody is in charge. Somebody is in charge of me.
I'm so thankful for that. Somebody is in control. Somebody
reigns. Somebody's doing as he pleases
with the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of earth. There's
somebody sitting on the throne. To a person that has no control
over anything, that's wonderful news. That's good news. Well, who is it? Who is this
one sitting on the throne? Our text says he's the one who
holds the book. Verse one says, and I saw in
the right hand of him that sat on the throne, a book written
within and on the backside sealed with seven seals. What book,
what book is he talking about? What book does he hold? The answer
is every book. And we're going to look at a
few of them. We refer to our own lives in chapters, don't
we? We say it's time to move on to
the next chapter in life. Well, this book, the book, the
Bible says every step a man takes is ordered by God. Do you know
what that means? It means somebody's on the throne. It means our lives are in His
hands. We are His people to do with
as He pleases. Now turn with me over to Romans
chapter 9 and we're going to read verses 17 to 21. Romans 9 verse 17 says, For the
Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, why
doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formedest, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay, Of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honour, And another unto dishonour? Do you know what he's
saying? Somebody's on the throne. In
Deuteronomy 32 verse 39, he said, I kill and I make a life. I wound and I heal. Neither is there any that can
deliver out of my hand. He holds the book. Every chapter of my life is in
the hands of the one who sits on the throne. Thanks be to God.
That's so comforting. Also, he holds the book, his
book, his word, which contains all the mysteries of God, the
secret things of God. He holds this book. Job 11 verse
7 says, Canst thou by searching find out God? Solomon said, no
man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning
to the end. No man can. David wrote, the Lord looked
down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any
that did understand this book and seek God. Not one, he said. No, not one. Our Lord said in
Matthew 13 verse 13, Therefore speak I to them in parables,
because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear not, neither
do they understand. Well let's look back at Revelation
chapter 5 verse 2 says, And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with
a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to loose the
seals thereof. And no man in heaven, no man
in heaven, nor in earth, not one man in earth, neither under
the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man
was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to
look thereon. And one of the elders said unto
me, Weep not. Behold, the Lion of the tribe
of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book,
and to loose the seven seals thereof." You know, that's what
a preacher's called to do. Our Lord, who was a preacher,
said, I have been anointed to preach good tidings unto the
meek. I'm sent to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty
to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are
bound. How does He do this? He says, weep not, and behold
the Lion of the tribe of Judah. There is only one who is able
to unlock the mysteries of this book and reveal the truth in
it to a sinner. There's only one who's able to
open blind eyes and open deaf ears and give life to a dead
heart, and it's the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David. Behold, the Lamb of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is His
name. He said, I have the keys of hell
and death. He holds the book. It's His to
reveal to whoever He pleases. It's His to unlock the mystery
to whoever He pleases. Well, what is this mystery? What
is this secret in the book? What is the truth in the Word?
What must he reveal to the meek? And why are they broken-hearted?
What's all this talk about captivity and being bound in prison? A
person says, I don't understand. Well, turn with me over to Revelation
chapter 20. Revelation 20 verse 12 says,
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. One day, every human being born
into this world must stand before God. I believe most of the world
knows that. Verse 12 says, And I saw the
dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were
opened. The books. Every single thing
that we do And every single thing that we say, that we think, that
we feel, is being recorded in heaven. That's the truth. I believe
most of the world knows that. Verse 12 says, And I saw the
dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were
opened. And another book was opened,
which is the book of life. and the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books according to their
works." Every man and woman is going to be judged according
to their works. I believe most of the world knows
that. I do. I believe most of the world knows
something of that. But here is what mankind by nature
doesn't understand. Just how holy God really is. Right here in Revelation chapter
20 verse 13 says, And the sea gave up the dead which were in
it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them.
And they were judged every man according to their works, and
death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second death. And whosoever was not found written
in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Why will
a person be cast into the lake of fire? Sin. Sin is why. Now surely no one
is so delusional to think that they've never sinned. We know
we've sinned, all of us. 1 John 1 verse 10 says, if we
say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar. We make God
a liar. And his word is not in us. Every
person can say, well, sure, I've sinned. But here's what the natural
man believes. All of my sins are going to stack
up. They are. And all of my good
deeds, all of my charitable deeds, they're going to stack up. And
whichever one comes out on top, that's going to decide where
I go. That is not what this book says. Cover to cover. It says, God is so holy, not
one spot of sin can be in his presence. You know, disease is
a result of sin. The reason we get certain any
disease is because of sin. The reason we get cancer is because
of sin. My mother had cancer and it pleased
the Lord to take her through that cancer. But she had cancer
in a lymph node, just a tiny little lymph node. And once that
truth came out, there's no way her doctor would have said, well,
you have cancer, but there's so much good in the rest of your
body. We'll just forget about it. The
good outweighs the bad. No, it must be removed. It must be. There was no way
that my mother could say, now lymph node, I know you're cancerous. I know you're vile. I know you're
dead, but I forgive you. We'll just leave you in. No, it must be removed. That one spot was enough to bring
down her whole body. Sin is a deadly cancer that's
eating us alive. Everything we do, everything
we touch is covered in sin. Everything we say is tainted
in sin. Everything we think and everything
we feel is a result of our sin. If we get honest with ourselves,
we know that's the truth, don't we? I have to get honest with
myself. As I preach this on the radio, I have to get honest with
myself and know that's the truth. That's the truth about me. And
this is what will bring the fear of the Lord upon a person. Realizing
He holds that book. He holds my record. Everything
I've ever done, He knows. He knows all about me. There
are no secrets with God. Well, if the books are going
to be opened, and if I'm going to be judged based on my book,
based on my works, What hope do I have? I know that my name is not going
to be written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Based on my works, there's
no possible way that my name can be written in the Book of
Life. Do you know what my only hope
is? It's that the Lord Jesus Christ
said, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I need mercy. Mercy is not getting what I deserve. All the evidence is stacked against
me. Do you know the only place that mercy can be found? It's
in the one you've offended. If I've offended the friend on
my left, It does me no good to get forgiveness from the friend
on my right. I offended the one on my left.
My only hope is in the one who sits on the throne. I must get
to him and beg him for mercy. How can I get to him? Well, turn
with me to Revelation chapter four. Revelation 4 verse 1 says,
After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven. There's a door opened in heaven. What is that door? Where is that
door? The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
am the door. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. A door was opened in heaven.
It says in the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet
talking with me. Chapter one here in Revelation
says that trumpet is the Lord Jesus Christ. He said I am the
way and I am the truth. I heard as it were of a trumpet
talking with me which said come. come, come up hither, and I will
show thee things which must be hereafter.' And immediately I
was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and
one sat on the throne." When the Lord Jesus Christ calls a
sinner and says, Immediately, that person is in
the Spirit. Their spiritual eyes are opened. Their spiritual ears are opened. Spiritual life is given. They
no longer see this man named Jesus. They see a throne set
in heaven and somebody sitting on it. They see Jesus Christ,
the great judge of the earth, He reveals who He is and what
He's done. Chapter 4, verse 3 says, He that
sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone. When a sinner
comes begging for mercy and looks to the one sitting on the throne,
this is what they see. They see a jasper stone and they
see a sardine stone. Revelation 21 says that a jasper
stone is clear as crystal. And I have a center margin in
my Bible. And my center margin over in Exodus 28 says that a
sardine stone is a ruby. It's blood red. Verse 3 in Revelation
4 says, He that sat was to look upon like the water and the blood. living, sanctifying, pure water,
clear as crystal, and redeeming, justifying, shed blood. That's what he looks like. That's
called sanctification and justification. And it's the mercy of God to
a sinner. Back over in Revelation 5, verse
6 says, And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and
of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a
lamb, as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which
are the seven spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.
If we want to know what sanctification and justification look like?
He's sitting on the throne. What does that mean? What does
that mean? What is sanctification and justification? What does that mean? Everything
that I have ever done in this life, everything I have ever
said, everything I have ever thought and everything I've ever
felt has been recorded in heaven, every single thing. Our Lord
walked this earth for 33 years. Everything He ever did, everything He ever said, everything
He ever thought, and everything he ever felt was
recorded in heaven. My book, my record was spotted. It was vile. It was decayed. Cover to cover,
inside and out, it was full of sin. His book was clean. His book was pure. His book was
right. His book was good. Cover to cover,
inside and out, it was full of holiness. And he traded books with me. He put his name on the cover
of my book. And he put my name on the cover
of his book. And the books were opened. He made my record clean, clean,
pure, good, right. He is my sanctification. And because he traded books with
me, I received his inheritance. You know what that inheritance
is? All things. And because he traded books with
me, he received my damnation. He is my justification. He went to the cross with my
record on Him. He bore my sins. There's a song that we sing and
it says, Sing, oh, sing of my Redeemer. With His blood He purchased
me. On the cross He sealed with seven
seals. my pardon. He paid my debt and
then he set me free. Did he do this for every single
man and woman on this earth? Sadly, no, he did not. He said,
many shall say in that day, Lord, we've done all these wonderful
things in thy name. And he is going to say to them,
depart from me, I never knew you." The disciples came to him
one time rejoicing because even the devils were subject to them.
But our Lord said, don't rejoice over that. He said in Luke 10,
rejoice because your names are written in heaven. He said to
his father, I pray not for the world, but for them which thou
hast given me. And all that thou hast given
me will come to me. Will come begging for mercy. If any sinner has a desire to
come to Christ, to come to Jesus Christ, begging for mercy, It's
the Lord who put that desire in them. It's the Lord who ordered
their steps. And for any sinner that says,
you know, he died a long time ago. He died 2,000 years ago. A lot of sinners have needed
his book. A lot of sinners have needed
his record, his work, his righteousness. Are there any more copies? If
I really have a book, if I really have a record, and if He truly
did trade records with His people, are there any more copies? Are
there enough for all whom the Father gave Him? Are there enough
for me? Is there one more copy for me? Well, turn with me in your Bible
over to John 21. John chapter 21 verse 24 says
this, This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and
wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. And
there are also many other things which Jesus did, The witch, if
they should be written every one, I suppose that even the
world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. Amen. Did our Lord accomplish salvation
for all of his people? Did our Lord do enough to save
all of his people? Absolutely. In John 17 verse
12, our Lord prayed to His Father, while I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I
have kept, and none of them is lost. The Lord Jesus Christ sits
on the throne. He holds the book. He holds the
book of life and He holds all who are in it. And thanks be
to God, He sealed it with seven seals. It's ordered and it's
sure. And our text, Revelation chapter
5, ends with 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands saying
with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb that was slain. And
the four beasts said, Amen, and the four and twenty elders fell
down and worshiped him that liveth forever and ever. Amen. May the Lord God bless his word
to our hearts until next Sunday morning. 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.