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
to Psalm chapter 24, and we're going to look at all 10 verses
in Psalm 24 this morning. It's going to tell us of three
things. And this will be our subject. First, it's going to
tell us of the true God. It's going to tell us of the
true elect of God, the chosen people of God. And it's going
to tell us of the true Redeemer, who the Redeemer really is. So let's look at these 10 verses
together. First, the true God. Verses 1
and 2 say, The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the
world and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the
seas and established it upon the floods. It says the earth
is the Lord's. The earth belongs to God. That's what it's saying. And
the fullness thereof. The earth belongs to God and
everything in it belongs to God. The world, the world itself,
the ball, and everything that makes up the ball, the minerals,
the things that are above, the things that are beneath, and
it says, they that dwell therein, every person in the world is
the property of God Almighty. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. Verse
2 says, For He hath founded it upon the seas and established
it upon the floods. God is the creator of all things. In Genesis 1.1, he wrote, In
the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. He is the
potter and I'm the clay. The true God is the creator of
all things. The true God is the owner of
all things. He said, all souls are mine. Every soul that's in the earth,
it belongs to me. I gave that soul. I created that
soul. He said, all the cattle is mine. He said, all the gold is mine.
He said, all the silver is mine. It's all mine. It all belongs
to him. Now listen to me as I read Job
chapter 41, In verse 11, the Lord says, "'Who hath prevented
Me that I should repay him?' Have I borrowed something from
somebody else that I owe back to him? Whatsoever is under the whole
heaven is Mine.'" That's what He said. "'Who hath prevented
Me that I should repay him?' Whatsoever is under the whole
heaven is mine. It all belongs to him. He's the
owner of everything. He's the owner of me. And hath
not the potter power over the clay? He can do whatever he wants
with me." That's what that means. The true God is the doer of all
things. Our text in Psalm 24 verse 2,
it says, for he hath founded it. He founded it and he established
it. Listen, as I read Colossians
chapter 1 for you, Colossians 1 verses 16 and 17 say this,
for by him were all things created. that are in heaven and that are
in earth, visible and invisible. Whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him
and for Him. And He is before all things. And by Him, all things consist. By Him, all things keep going. What that means is God is the
creator. God is the owner. God is the
doer. And man is nothing. nothing but His creation. That's all man is, is His creation. I'm nothing but His creation. I don't own anything. Man owns
nothing. A person can hear that and say,
what do you mean I don't own anything? I own a car, I own
a house. Well, no we don't. Actually we
don't. Everything we have, we bought
it with God's money, the money that's backed by God's gold.
Our cars are made with God's metal. Our houses are made with
God's trees. Our God, he sits on his throne
in heaven. And he looks down on men, watching
men draw lines and draw maps and grid and man drives stakes
in the ground and says, this piece of land is mine. It belongs
to me. Man lives a little while and
then he dies and he either leaves that land to somebody else or
Another comes along and he'll buy it. And then that man says,
this is mine. This belongs to me. And then
he dies and another man comes along and says, this is mine.
The scripture says, he that sits in the heavens shall laugh. Laugh,
watching men stake claim on what belongs to God. Man owns nothing. Man does nothing. Man decides nothing. Man says, well, you've got to
make a decision for God. Well, you can't. You just can't. Because the scripture
says, man by nature, all of us, all of us, are born into this
world spiritually dead. Spiritually dead. What that means
is, Man does not have a free will to do anything but what
God allows. Let me show you that. If you
have your Bible open, turn with me to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. I'm going to
read to you verses 16 to 20. It says, And he spake a parable. Our Lord spoke a parable unto
them saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself,
saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow
my fruits? And he said, This will I do. I will pull down my barns and
build greater. And there will I bestow all my
fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul,
thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease,
eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool,
This night, tonight, thy soul shall be required of thee. Then
whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?" Man cannot
do anything but what God allows him to do. God is God. It's almost as though sometimes
we lose sight of what the name God means. God is the king of
all things. God is the judge of all things. Man will answer to God. Man will bow to God because man
is subject to God. Now listen to what he said to
Job. This is Job chapter 38, and I'm going to read a little
bit through Job 38, 39, and 40. He said, The LORD answered Job
out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel
by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a
man, for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where was
thou when I laid the foundation of the earth? Declare if thou
hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof,
if thou knowest? Or who hath stretched the line
upon it? Whereupon are the foundations
thereof fastened? Or who laid the cornerstone thereof?
Who's coming to this council with knowledge? Were you there
when I laid the foundation of the earth? That's what he's saying.
He said in verse 34, canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds
that abundance of waters may cover thee? Do you have the ability
to speak and make it rain? Verse 35, canst thou send lightnings
that they may go and say unto thee, here we are, can you demand
the lightning to crash? Chapter 39, verse 1, he says,
knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring
forth, or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve? Do you know
when they deliver? Verse 26, he said, does the hawk
fly by thy wisdom and stretch her wings toward the south? Do
you command the birds which way to fly? Verse 27, doth the eagle
mount up at thy command and make her nest on high? Chapter 40,
verse 1, Moreover, the LORD answered Job and said, Shall he that contendeth
with the Almighty instruct him that he reproveth God? Let him
answer it. Then Job answered the LORD and
said, Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I will
lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will
not answer. Yea, twice, but I will proceed
no further." No further. That's the true God. That's our
God. And we love Him. We love Him
for who He is. We love the fact that He really
is God. Listen to this. A man said this
one time, The peace and rest a man enjoys depends on his confidence
in the God who controls the flight of an angel or a fly, who controls
the flash of lightning or the glimmer of a glow worm. There's
nothing too great for our God. There's nothing too small for
our God. That's the true God. All right,
now let's look at the true elect. Back in our text, Psalm chapter
24, Verse 3 says, who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or
who shall stand in His holy place? It belongs to Him. It's the hill
of the Lord. It's His holy place. Now the
question is, who shall ascend into it? The scripture says 27
times, that this great God has elected or chosen a people to
be with him forever in his holy place. And he told those people
in John 15, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. You may have heard this before.
There's a saying that says, God cast a vote for you. the devil
cast a vote against you, you decide. That is not election. That's not what election is.
The Lord said, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you. Election is of God. It's God's
election. It's who He chooses. Now the
question is, who are these people? Who are the true elect of God? Well, our text, Psalm 24, verses
4 and 5 say this, He that hath clean hands and a pure heart,
who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully,
He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness
from the God of his salvation. That's who shall enter into the
hill of the Lord, that whoever has clean hands, a pure heart,
not lifted up his soul into vanity, nor sworn deceitfully." Well, if that's the case, if
that describes who he chose, then he didn't choose me. I can
just tell you honestly that he did not choose me. As a matter
of fact, if that's the case, he didn't choose any of us. Because
I want to read something for you. Psalm 14 verses 1 through
3 says this, The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt. They have done
abominable works. There is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven
upon the children of men to see if there were any, any, that
did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside. They are all together become
filthy. not clean hands, filthy. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. Not one. Now I want you to listen to Isaiah
chapter 64 verses 6 through 8 say this, 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. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth
up himself to take hold of thee, for thou hast hid thy face from
us, and hast consumed us because of our iniquities. But now, O
Lord, thou art our Father, we are the clay, and thou our potter. and we all are the work of thy
hand." We all are the work of thy hand. Romans says, by one
man sin entered into the world and death by sin. And so death
passed upon all men for that all have sinned. All. If this is true, than as our
text says, who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who shall?
Who is worthy to walk through the gates of heaven? Is there
anyone worthy to stand in the presence of the true God? Is
there anyone of whom it can be said, I find no fault in this
man? Well, here's the gospel. Here's
the good news that we love to hear. There is one. There is
one man who knew no sin. There is one man who has perfectly
clean hands. There is one man who has a completely
pure heart. There's one man who has never
lifted up his soul unto vanity. And there's only one man who
has kept every promise he's ever made. He is the God-man, and
his name is Jesus Christ. Matthew 3 says, And Jesus, when
he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water. And, lo, the
heavens were opened unto him. And he saw the Holy Spirit of
God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And, lo, a
voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased. Now, I'd like for you to look
at something with me. This is very interesting. John chapter
3 in verse 13 says this, no man hath ascended up to heaven. No man hath ascended up to heaven,
but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man which is
in heaven, Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Well, no
man hath ascended up to heaven except for the one who came down
from heaven. There's only one man who is worthy. Now here's the question, why
did he come down? Why would he come down from heaven,
leave glory and come down here? Colossians chapter 1 says, It
pleased the Father that in Him, in Christ, should all fullness
dwell. And having made peace through
the blood of His cross by Him to reconcile all things unto
Himself, by Him I say, Whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven, and you that were sometime alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in
the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. That's why he came
down. to make peace through the blood
of His cross. And He made this peace for all
His true elect. All right, now, who are the true
elect? How can I know if I'm one of
the true elect? This is how I may know. Philippians
chapter 3 verse 3 says, we are the circumcision We are the elect
of God, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ
Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Those three things
are the result, that's the response, that's the evidence in a person
that God has chosen that person, elected that person to dwell
in Him. The elect worship God in spirit,
the true God with the whole heart. The elect rejoice in Christ Jesus
and in His work, only His work. He's the object and the desire
of all their happiness. It's not about heaven. They're
not waiting on heaven. They're not looking to heaven.
It's Him. They rejoice in Christ Jesus.
And the true elect of God have absolutely, positively no confidence
in the flesh. No confidence in the flesh. If
I honestly agree with and if I experience those three things,
maybe He's chosen me. Maybe He has. Well, our text,
Psalm 24, verse 6 says, This is the generation of them
that seek Him, that seek Thy face, O God of Jacob." How do
you know God's true elect? They seek Him. God's elect are
seekers. They seek His goodness. They
seek His mercy. They seek Him to call upon Him,
to come to Him. Well, I thought man could do
nothing. I thought he couldn't seek. That's right, he can't.
With man, it's impossible. The Lord said, I am sought of
them that asked not for me. They were never asking in the
first place. David said in Psalm 27, when
you said, seek my face, that's when my heart said, thy face,
Lord, will I seek. Seeking God is a result of God's
call. Psalm chapter 65 verse 4 says,
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach
unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts. Blessed is the
man whom thou choosest and causes to approach, causes to seek. The true God who has a true elect,
He truly saves. Many people in this world, they
talk about Jesus. Everybody's talking about Jesus.
They talk about baby Jesus. They talk about sweet 12 year
old boy Jesus. They talk about kind humanitarian
Jesus. They talk about weak Jesus, whom
they captured and they hung Him on a tree and they crucified
Him. But they have it all wrong. Call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sins. This is who the true Redeemer
really is. Our text, Psalm 24, verses 7
through 10, says this, Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The
Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of Glory? The
Lord of Hosts. He is the King of Glory. There's an old song that says,
a mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing. His death on that cross was no
failure. It was His entrance to the battlefield. Many, many people in this world
have no idea what he was doing on that cross. He was in battle
on that cross. Exodus 15 says, the Lord is a
man of war. He came for one reason only,
and that reason was to go to war with death. He said, Satan
will bruise my heel, but I'm gonna crush his head. And after
three days of battle, up from the grave he arose, victorious. And now that he's conquered all,
death has no sting. The grave has no victory. The victory is his. And now he
says, go unto all the world and tell my elect, tell all my seekers,
your warfare is accomplished. It is finished. The battle is over. It is finished. There'll be no more war. It is
finished, the end of all conflict. It is finished and Jesus Christ
is Lord. That's who the true Redeemer
is. Who shall ascend? The answer
is all whom He descended for. Who shall stand? All whom He
laid down in the grave for. Who has clean hands? all whom
he became filthy for, who has a pure heart, all who have his
heart, who has not lifted up his soul unto vanity, all who
have lifted up their soul unto him, who has not sworn deceitfully,
all who hold to and speak of His promise. That's the true
God, that's who the true elect are, and that's who the true
Redeemer is. May the Lord God 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 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.