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 in your Bibles to John chapter 1. We're going to
look at verses 10 to 14. Let's begin by reading the text.
John 1 verse 10 says, He was in the world, and the world was
made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own,
and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him,
to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on His name, which were born not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, The glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. The
text begins in verse 10 by saying, He was in the world. He was in the world. That's amazing, isn't it? That's amazing. If you really
stop and think about that, the God of heaven came to this world. And he stayed in this world for
33 years. Now, why did he come? Why would
he leave glory? Why would he leave the comforts
of paradise and come down here to this filthy, evil world? Why would he do that? Why did
he come? Well, he said in Luke chapter
19, I am come to seek and to save that which was lost. He said in Luke chapter 9, the
Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives but to save them.
He said in John 10, I am come that they might have life and
that they might have it more abundantly. He came here to save
dying sinners. That's why He came. Verse 10
says, He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and
the world knew Him not. Isn't that so sad? Isn't that
terrible? It's sad, but it's true. The
world knew Him not. And the world will be shocked
on the Day of Judgment to hear Him say, Depart from Me, I never
knew you. Well, the text John 1 verse 11
says, He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. This great God of mercy, His
own, rejected Him. They wouldn't receive Him. It
started the moment He put Himself in the womb of a virgin. Joseph
was going to put Mary away, privately it said, because of Him, because
she was pregnant with Him. When it came time for her to
deliver, Mary had to lay Him in a manger. That's a feeding
trough in a barn because it says there was no room for him in
the inn. He can't stay here. This is the
one who created the universe. Herod hated him so much he demanded
every child two years and younger is going to die because of him. On the cross of Calvary, They
all cried with one accord, crucify him. We hate him. We hate him. Who said that? The Satan worshipers? No, it
was God's church who said that. 5,000 of the people that brought
him to Pilate, demanding that he be crucified, God saved them
at Pentecost. And they made up the beginning
of the New Testament church. That's what the book of Acts
chapters 1 through 4 says. Our God is good. He's so good. But verse 11 in our text says,
He came unto His own and His own received Him not. The fool says, I wouldn't reject
Him. They might have, but I never
have, and I never will. Well, if you have your Bibles
open, turn with me to the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 53,
verse 3 says this, he is despised and rejected of men. A man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we, we hid as it were our
faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. Verse six says, all we like sheep
have gone astray. We have turned every one to his
own way. And the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all. Peter said, Lord, they may leave
you, but not me. I'll lay down my life for you. And the Lord said, Peter, Before
the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you'll deny me three times. Three
times. You know, the problem for mankind
is we've rejected God. We've rejected God and we don't
even know it. We don't. In what way? How have we rejected God? Man
by nature has no idea who Jesus Christ really is. And they don't
bow to Him for who He really is. He was in the world and the
world was made by Him. And the world knew Him not as
God. This man, Jesus Christ, who came
and walked this earth, is the very same God who spoke the world
into existence. He was in the world, and the
world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. You know,
well, I go to church. I'm religious. Well, it doesn't
matter if I don't know who God is. It doesn't matter at all.
Can you believe He had mercy on any of us? This is why the
gospel is such good news. It's such good news. It's because
none of us deserve it. Verse 12 in our text back in
John chapter 1 says, but in spite of that, in spite of the fact
that he was in the world and the world was made by him and
the world knew him not, in spite of the fact that he came unto
his own and his own received him not, it says, but as many
as received him, Received, not accepted, received. Did you know that the phrase
except Jesus as your personal savior is nowhere in the Bible? Did you know that? The word except
is in the Bible 25 times. The word accepted is in the Bible
29 times. And not one time is God asking
anybody to accept him. Not one time. He says, I have
accepted you. Sadly, most of the time he said,
I will not accept you. I have not accepted you, but
but as many as he accepted, as many as he was good to, as many
as he chose to give himself to, as many as received him. Our
text, verse 12, says, to them, not to all, but to them gave
he. He gave power, it says. And that word power means the
privilege. That's what it means. It's not
insinuating at all that He put the ability in their hands. Verse 12 says, But as many as
received Him, to them gave He the privilege to become the sons
of God. even to them that believe on
His name." Salvation is a great privilege. It's a great privilege. We are chosen to be saved. Now turn with me over to 1 John
chapter 3. 1 John, in the back of our Bible,
chapter 3. Verse 1 says this, Behold, what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should
be called the sons of God? Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not." The world knoweth us not. The
world doesn't understand us. doesn't understand where we're
coming from, because it knew him not. The world, the way of
the world, the way everybody's going, the way everybody thinks,
mainstream, mainstream religion, the broad way. Our Lord said
broad is the way that leads to destruction. Everybody's going
this way. Well, be careful. The broad is
the way that leadeth to destruction." Our text says in John 1, nobody
knew Him, nobody received Him, but He saved some in spite of
themselves. It says in verse 12, as many
as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name." Verse 13 says,
"...which were born." Born again. Now, two chapters over, our Lord
told a man in John 3, his name was Nicodemus. He said to him
in John 3, verse 3, "...Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God." Cannot. Except a man is born
again. And then in verse 6 he said,
that which is born of the flesh, the first time. We're all born
into this world the first time. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. And that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
Ye must be born again. Must be. Now all men and women
by nature, every one of us born into this world, we're all lost. Every one of us, every human
being that is physically born into this world, we're born lost. Actually, we're more than just
lost, we're dead, dead. And unless a person is given
life, unless a person is born again, unless they're saved by
the Lord Jesus Christ, He or she cannot see the Kingdom of
Heaven. Cannot. A person must be saved. The problem with most all is
they have no idea they're lost. No idea. They have no idea what
that means. But a person must be saved. All
right, now let me show you here in our text three things that
cannot save a person. Three things that absolutely
cannot save a person. Our text John chapter 1 verse
13 says this, which were born, that means born again, given
life, spiritual life, saved, that's what it means, which were
born not of blood, not of blood. Now that's not talking about
the blood of Jesus Christ. It's not talking about that at
all. That word in the Greek, it means two things. It means
the blood of a man or an animal, and it also means kindred relatives. That's what it means. Hebrews
10 says this, it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of
goats should take away sins. You can sacrifice all you want
to, but it's not going to take away your sins. We can give up
all kinds of things, but it's not going to take away our sins. Even though a man dies for his
cause, even though he's martyred for his cause, it will not save
his soul. It does not matter if my mother
and my grandmother were saved. It has no bearing on my soul. My status doesn't matter. My race doesn't matter. It is not of blood. It's not a blood. Verse 13 says,
which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh. It does not matter how badly
my flesh wants to inherit the kingdom of God. It does not matter
how hard I try to do good things. It doesn't matter. The things
I do, they don't matter. All the works of my flesh are
filthy rags in the eyes of God." That's what the scripture says.
He told Nicodemus, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. That's all it's ever going to
be. Now listen to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 50 says this. Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither doth corruption
inherit incorruption. It's not going to happen. flesh
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption." Now listen to Matthew chapter
16. Matthew 16 verses 15 through
17 say this, He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And
Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God, And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed
it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." Flesh and blood
did not reveal that to you. My Father which is in heaven
did. A saving knowledge of Christ cannot come by flesh or by blood. Our text in John 1 verse 13 says,
which were born, not of blood. My status in the world can't
save me. My bloodline can't save me. It
says, nor of the will of the flesh. My works can't save me. Verse 13 says, nor of the will
of man. Let me show you a couple of scriptures
for this. The first one is John chapter
5 verse 40. It says, You will not come to
me that you might have life. That's what the Lord said. You
will not come to me that you might have life. It can't be
of the will of man. Man will not come. Now listen to Romans chapter
3, this is verses 10 and 11. As it is written, there is none
righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. There's none, none that seek
after God. It's not of the will of man.
Now, even if I understand that I cannot save myself, even if
I know that, even if I can see that in the scripture, I can't
save myself. Even if I understand that the Lord Jesus Christ has
to do it, I cannot decide to give my heart to Jesus. I can't. I cannot make him my
personal savior. I cannot choose him. I can't. The choice is his. He must choose me. I can't do
anything. I cannot do anything except Cry
out for mercy. That's all. Just cry out for
mercy. Blind Bartimaeus, he couldn't
do anything but cry, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. Please have mercy on me. Well,
wait a minute. So you're saying that salvation
is dependent on something I do. You said I can't do anything
except cry out for mercy. Is it dependent on me doing that?
No. No. A dead man cannot cry. A dead man cannot cry for mercy. But listen to this. If I cry,
if I cry, then it is the evidence that God has given me life. It's the evidence. Now think
about this. When a baby is born, When a baby
is first born, that doctor exhorts that baby to cry. Why does he
do that? To prove that the baby's alive. It's proof of life. Does that
baby cry in order to be alive? No. That baby cries because it
is alive. CRY OUT FOR MERCY! THAT'S THE EXHORTATION! SALVATION
IS OF THE LORD! CRY OUT FOR MERCY! SALVATION
IS NOT BY MY STATUS! IT'S NOT BY MY WORKS! IT'S NOT
BY MY DECISION! Verse 13 in our text says, "...which
were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor
of the will of man, but of God." It's of God. It is only by the blood of the
Son of God. That's it. The Lord Jesus Christ,
the Lamb that was slain, that's it. He said, I lay down my life
for the sheep. That's it. It's only by His blood. It's only by the will of God
the Father. In James 1, verse 18, it says,
of His own will. begat he us with the word of
truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creature.
It's of his own will. That is the only way it's of
God. It's of God. Listen to first
Peter chapter one, verses 23 through 25. It says being born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the
Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh
is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the
flower thereof falleth away. But the Word of the Lord endureth
forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached
unto you." Listen to one more. This is Acts chapter 13, verse
48 says this, And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord, and as
many as were ordained. ordained, purposed, purposed to salvation, ordained
to eternal life, believed. It's of God. It is of God. It's not of man. It's not of
him that willeth. It's not of him that runneth,
it's of God that showeth mercy." Well, this gospel is good news. It's very good news. John chapter
1, I want to read verse 1 and verse 14 back to back. It says, "...in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God And the Word was God. Verse 14 says, And the Word was
made flesh. He was in the world. He came unto His own. The Word
was made flesh. And dwelt among us. For 33 years
He dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory. We saw what God looks like. The Word that was with God, the
Word that was God, the Word that is God. We beheld His glory. The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. We saw the Word of
God. We saw what He looks like, and
this is what God looks like. We beheld His glory. He looks
like the only begotten of the Father. The God of heaven looks
like the Son of God. Moses said, Lord, show me thy
glory. Show me thy glory. And he said,
all right, I will. I will be gracious on whom I
will be gracious. And I will have mercy on whom
I will have mercy. That's the glory of our Lord.
Verse 13 right here tells us three things that cannot save. And it tells us of the one and
only thing that can. The Lord of glory, the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's all of God. Until next Sunday,
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 at 10.30
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.