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 Isaiah 43. We're going to be looking at
the first 13 verses. Verse 1 begins by saying, You know, that could be one of
the most glorious words in the scripture. But. The question is, but what? Why does he begin with the word
but? Chapter 42, verse 13 says this,
The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man. He shall stir up jealousy
like a man of war. He shall cry, yea, roar. He shall prevail against his
enemies. I have long time hold in my peace. I have been still
and refrained myself. Now will I cry like a travailing
woman. I will destroy and devour at
once. Verse 17 says they shall be turned
back They shall be greatly ashamed that trust in graven images,
that say to the molten images, ye are our gods. Verse 25 says,
therefore, he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger and
the strength of battle, and it hath set him on fire round about,
yea, he knew not, and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart. chapter 43, verse 1 says, But,
but, now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and
he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed
thee. I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. This text tells us that some
people need to be very, very afraid, but some can fear not. Now here's the question we need
answered. Who is he talking to? Who is he saying this to? If
some need to be very afraid, but some can fear not. Who is he saying that to? Well,
verse one says, but now thus saith the Lord that created thee,
O Jacob, and he that formed thee, Oh, Israel. So he's talking to
Jacob and he's talking to Israel. Well, then that doesn't apply
to me. I'm not from that little country
over there. I'm not from Israel. Well, let's look at something
just to be sure. Turn with me over to Romans chapter nine,
Romans nine, verse six says this, Not as though the Word of God
hath taken none effect, for they are not all Israel which are
of Israel." They're not all Israel which are of Israel. So being
from that country, that's not what he's talking about. All
right, now turn over to Romans chapter 2 and let's look at verses
28 and 29. They say, For he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward
in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one
inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit,
and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of
God. THE MARK OF GOD'S PEOPLE IS NOT
ON THE OUTSIDE. IT'S ON THE INSIDE. YOU CAN'T
JUST LOOK AT A PERSON ON THE OUTSIDE AND TELL WHETHER OR NOT
THAT'S ONE OF GOD'S SHEEP. THAT MARK IS ON THE INSIDE. NOW
TURN WITH ME OVER TO GALATIANS CHAPTER 3. VERSE 7 SAYS THIS,
KNOW YE THEREFORE THAT THEY WHICH ARE OF FAITH The same are the
children of Abraham. Verse 29 says, And if ye be Christ's,
then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. God's people are all of those
who belong to Jesus Christ. All of those who are in Christ. all those whom He loved, all
those whom He chose, all those whom He adopted into His family
and He gave them a new name, Israel. It means a prince with
God. All who belong to Him have access
to the blessed promises in His book. Now, if you're turning
with me, hold your place in Galatians and go back to our text, Isaiah
43. Verse 1 says, But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear
not, for I have redeemed thee." Redeemed thee. All right, let's
go back to Galatians 3 and let's read verses 10 to 13. It says,
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. Let me read that again. It says,
for as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. What that saying is, if
we try to live by the law, We're going to be cursed because we
cannot keep every single thing in God's law. It's impossible.
We've broken it. Therefore we're cursed. Verse
11 right here says, but that no man is justified by the law
in the sight of God. It is evident that no man is justified by the
law in the sight of God. It is evident. For the just shall
live by faith. And the law is not faith, but
the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law. How did he do that? Verse 13
says, being made a curse for us. For it is written, cursed
is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Do I understand what this is
saying? Can I get a hold of this? If
I have to follow this law, if I have to fulfill this law to
get into heaven, I'm cursed. I cannot do it, I'm a sinner. I've already sinned. I've already
broken it. I break this law continually.
You who are listening right now, you know this is true, don't
you? We break this law continually. We wish we didn't, but we do. And my only hope in this life
is that the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled this law for me. I couldn't do it. My only hope
is that he did it for me. And all I can do now is just
look to and trust in him and his good work. And that's called
faith. Faith is looking to, and trusting
in, and hoping in, and believing on the work of Jesus Christ. Faith is not a work. Faith is
looking to somebody else's work. Faith has nothing to do with
me. And if I have this faith, it
didn't even begin with me. It was given to me by Jesus Christ. He says to his people, fear not,
fear not. I have redeemed thee. I hung on that tree for you. It was supposed to be you. You're
the one that broke the law. You're the one that should have
died for your sins. But I hung on that tree for you. THEY PIERCED MY HANDS, IT SHOULD
HAVE BEEN YOUR HANDS. THEY PIERCED MY SIDE, AND I GAVE
UP THE GHOST FOR YOU. Now just listen to 1 Peter chapter
1. This is verses 18 and 19. 1 Peter 1 says this, For as much as you know, that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot. There's a song that says, I'm
redeemed by love divine. Glory, glory, Christ is mine. All to Him I now resign. I have been redeemed. We've been redeemed from the
curse. If I am a child of His, if we
are His people, we've been redeemed from the curse because He was
made a curse for us. We've been redeemed from sin
because He was made sin for us. We've been redeemed from judgment
because He was judged for us. Romans 8 says, there is now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Isn't that good
news? Because Romans 8, 3 says, Christ
condemned sin in the flesh. Well, our text, Isaiah 43, verse
1 says, But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob,
and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed
thee. I have called thee by thy name. Listen to John chapter 10. This
is verses 14 to 16. He said, I am the good shepherd
and know my sheep and am known of mine. As the father knoweth
me, even so know I the father. And I lay down my life for the
sheep and other sheep I have, which are not of this fold. Them
also I must bring. And they shall hear my voice
and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. This call, he said,
I've called thee by thy name. This call is a sovereign divine
call. I called they just listened to Romans eight.
This is verses 29 to 31. FOR WHOM HE DID FORKNOW, HE ALSO
DID PREDESTINATE TO BE CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON, THAT
HE MIGHT BE THE FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN. MOREOVER WHOM
HE DID PREDESTINATE, THEM HE ALSO CALLED, AND WHOM HE CALLED,
THEM HE ALSO JUSTIFIED, AND WHOM HE JUSTIFIED, THEM HE ALSO GLORIFIED. NOW WHAT SHALL WE SAY TO THESE
THINGS? If God be for us, then who can
be against us? What are we going to say to these
things? It's a sovereign call. And it's a personal call. It's
not a general call. It's a specific call. He said, I have called thee by
thy name. If God calls a sinner, That sinner
is going to know he's talking to me. He's talking to me. You know, if you're in a dark
room, pitch black, can't see the hand in front of your face,
and somebody turns a light on, do you think you'd know it? Well, he says, fear not. I have
redeemed thee. Fear not. I have called thee
by thy name." And he says in our text, fear not, thou art
mine. Now turn with me over to John
chapter 17. Let's read verses 9 and 10. John 17 verse 9 says, I pray
for them. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that amazing, to think
about the Lord Jesus Christ saying, I pray for them. Man, I wish
I could get a hold of that. He said, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine, and all
mine are thine, and thine are mine. and I am glorified in them."
He said, the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man, the
righteous man, Jesus Christ availeth much. He said, Peter, Satan hath
desired you that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed
for thee. And your faith, your gift of
God is not going to fail. Fear not. You belong to me. Well, our text verse two, Isaiah
43 verse two says, when thou passest through the waters, I
will be with thee and through the rivers, they shall not overflow
thee. When the flood of troubles and
the flood of trials come, and they will come, I will be with
you. Psalm 23 says, yea, though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil for thou art with me. The most important flood to me,
the most important one to me, is when I cross over the River
Jordan. That's the river of death. I
don't want to cross it alone. I don't. Lord, when it's time
for me to face death, be with me. Be with me. Turn over a couple of pages to
Isaiah 46. Look at verse 3. It says, Harken unto me, O house
of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which
are born by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb. And even to your old age, I am
he. And even to whore hairs, that
means gray hairs, will I carry you? I have made and I will bear,
even I will carry and will deliver you. He's saying, when you cross
that river, if you belong to me, if you're my child, you're
not even going to touch the water. I'm going to carry you above
it. Oh, I want him to redeem me.
I want him to call me. I want to belong to him. I want to be his child. I can imagine him saying as he
carries us across, you see, I told you there was nothing to be afraid
of. Well, the end of verse two in our text, Isaiah 43 says, When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned. Neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. Back in the old settlement days,
when families were settling out west, they used to have these
wagon trains. And a lot of people, a lot of
families would go out together and they'd all be in a line.
have a wagon train headed West. And there were a lot of dangers
on this journey across the United States. And one of the dangers
was prairie fires. They had this high grass out
in the plains and, and if a fire would start, uh, these huge prairie
fires would just sweep the land. And it was a huge danger for
these wagon trains. So what they would do is they
would send a scout out in front. They'd have one man on a horse
and he'd go out a couple of miles and make sure there was no danger
that they needed to know about. But one day this scout was riding
out front and he came over a hill and all of a sudden, there's
a prairie fire. And this fire is just raging
across the land, raging, and it's coming right for the train.
So that scout turns and he goes back to the wagon train and he
tells the wagon master, we've got a prairie fire and it's headed
right for us. It's coming fast. So that wagon
master told everybody, told all the men, I want you to pull some
grass back behind us. And I want you to start a fire
behind us and let it burn out the other way. So they did that
and they started a fire and that fire took off and it started
leaving them behind them. Once it was gone, the wagon master
said, all right, now let's ease the wagons back. So this man was sitting on his
wagon, and he had his little boy in his lap, and they were
sitting there waiting. And all of a sudden, over the
hill, here comes a fire. And it's coming fast, and it's
coming right towards them. And they're just sitting there,
and they're watching this fire come. And this little boy started shaking,
just shaking. And his dad said, son, what's
wrong? And he said, I'm scared, dad. And he said, why? He said, I'm scared of the fire.
I don't want the fire to get me. And his dad said, son, you
don't have anything to be afraid of. We're standing on burnt ground. Fear not. The text says, when
thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned. Neither
shall the flame kindle upon thee. Verse 3 says, For I am the LORD
thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I am Jehovah, he
says. If I said it, it will come to
pass. I am the Lord, I change not. I am God. 2 Corinthians says
God was in Christ reconciling us. Matthew 1.21 says call His
name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins. But
Matthew 1.23 says call His name Emmanuel because God is with
us. Verse 3 in our text says, I am
the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Sheba for thee. He told Moses, you tell my people
when they're walking out of Egypt, a dog is not even going to bark
at them, that they may know that I have put a difference between
Israel and the Egyptians. Our text verse 4 says, Since
thou was precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable, and
I have loved thee. Therefore will I give men for
thee and people for thy life. Thou was precious. Thou has been
honorable. What does he mean by that? Well,
let's read the next three verses and they'll explain it. He said,
fear not for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north,
give up and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from
far and my daughters from the ends of the earth, that every
one that is called by my name, for I have created him for my
glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him. I made him precious
in my precious blood. I made him honorable because
I redeemed him from all his iniquities. He has no more sins. Why did
I do this? Because I love him. He said in
verse four, I have loved thee. That's the beginning of our great
salvation. There's a song that says hail sovereign love that
first began the scheme to rescue fallen man. Verse 8 in our text
says, "...bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the
deaf that have ears. They think they see, but they
don't. They think they hear, but they
don't." How scary! How scary is that? Verse 9 says,
"...let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people
be assembled. Who among them can declare this
and show us former things? Let them bring forth their witnesses
that they may be justified, or let them hear and say, it is
truth. Let them bring forth their witnesses
that they may be justified, or let them hear and say, it is
truth. Let them prove in the Word of
God that their idols are actually God's, or let them hear the voice
of the true God say, I am God and there is none else. If they
ever hear him say that, they will say it is truth. It's truth. Well, in verse 10,
he says, if you've heard my voice, ye are my witnesses. If you confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. If you confess that He's the
only hope of salvation, He's the only hope of redemption and
eternal life, if you confess that Jesus Christ is all, then
He says, you are my witnesses, you are my servant, you belong
to me. And you can rest assured, you
can believe with all your heart that I chose you that you know
me, and you believe me, and you understand that I am He. Verse 10, he says, you are my
witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant, whom I have chosen,
that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He.
Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after
me. I, even I, am the Lord, and beside me there is no Savior. I have declared and have saved,
and I have showed when there was no strange God among you.
Therefore, ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God. Yea, before the day was, I am
he, and there is none that can deliver out of my hands. I will
work, and who shall let it? Now, let me ask you this question.
What do we say to these things? What shall we say to these things,
to the words of our God? Amen. Amen. Until next Sunday morning, may
the Lord bless His Word to our hearts. 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.