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 Matthew chapter 5. And while you turn, I want
to ask you this question. It's a shocking question, but
I want to ask you, are you a sinner? Are you a sinner? I asked that
question to you and I asked that question to me. Am I a sinner? Now I want to ask you to take
a moment and just be honest with yourself. You're either in the
privacy of your own home right now, or you're in the privacy
of your own car and you have the privacy of your own thoughts.
So just take a moment and let's be honest. Be honest with yourself
and I'll be honest with myself. Are you and I sinners? Because our Lord said right here
in Matthew chapter five, look at verse 21 with me. You have
heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill
and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.
Whoever commits murder is in danger of the judgment. But I
say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without
a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment. Whoever's just
angry inside shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever
shall say to his brother, Rekha, that means vain fellow, shall
be in danger of the council. But whosoever shall say, thou
fool, you're a fool. Whoever says you're a fool, shall
be in danger of hell fire. Now look at verse 27 with me.
It says, ye have heard that it was said by them of old time,
thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you that whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with
her already in his heart. Whoever just looks on a woman
has already committed adultery in God's eyes. To think it is
to do it in God's eyes, just to think it is to do it. Now, let's both you and I be
honest with ourselves are all of our thoughts. Every one of
them. pure and good and right and holy. Every one of them. Or do we have the mind and the
thoughts of a sinner? Let's be honest. We need to be
honest because nothing is hid in God's eyes. He sees everything. He sees everything. He sees my heart. He sees my
thoughts. Let me show you that in Matthew
chapter 9. Matthew 9 verse 3 says, And behold, certain of the scribes
said within themselves, This man blasphemeth, and Jesus knowing
their thoughts. said, wherefore think ye evil
in your hearts? Why do you think evil in your
hearts? Let me show you another one. Go with me to Matthew chapter
12 and look at verse 22. Then was brought unto him one
possessed with a devil, blind and dumb, and he healed him in
so much that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the
people were amazed and said, is not this the son of David?
But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, this fellow does
not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. And Jesus
knew their thoughts. He knew their thoughts. He knew
what they were thinking. Our tongue, our mouth, the things
we say, whether it's under our breath or whether we say it out
loud in anger, honestly, do we have the tongues of angels or
is sin on our lips? We know what the true answer
is, don't we? If we are honest with ourself and we don't try
to put up a front to anybody else, we know what the true answer
is. Now what does that say about
our heart? Look right here in Matthew chapter 12 at verse 33. It says, Either make the tree
good and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt and his
fruit corrupt. For the tree is known by his
fruit. O generation of vipers, how can
ye being evil speak good things? How can you being evil speak
good things? For out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure
of the heart bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of
the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you
that every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account
thereof in the day of judgment." Every idle word. Verse 37 says,
for by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou
shalt be condemned. Now let's think about our idle
words, just the random words that come out of our mouth. Ours,
yours and mine. I'm not talking to you. I'm talking
to us. Let's think about our idle words. Are we sinners or not? Out of the heart, the mouth speaketh. So whatever corruption comes
out of the mouth, it started in the heart. Listener, are you
a sinner? Are you a real sinner? I'm talking
about a no good in you center. I'm not talking about a little
white liar. Is your heart sinful? Is the root sinful? Can you say with Isaiah, woe
is me. For I am undone, because I am
a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips. From the sole of the foot, even
unto the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores. Can you be that honest with yourself?
Can you say with David, I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin
is ever before me? Against thee, thee only, have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Can you say with the
Apostle Paul, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? Who shall deliver me from myself? Are you a center? If you are, if you can honestly
say, I am a center, I have wonderful news for you this morning. If
you're a real, true, honest center, I bring glad tidings of great
joy. If you have your Bibles open, turn with me to first Timothy
chapter one. This is wonderful news. This
is the gospel first Timothy chapter one and look at verse 15 with
me. It says, this is a faithful saying. That means this is true. This
is a true saying. What I'm about to read and what
you're about to hear is the truth. Have you been looking for the
truth? Have you been trying out religion,
looking for the truth, going place to place, searching, searching
for the truth? Well, this is the truth. This
is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. That means
this is worthy to be believed because God who cannot lie wrote
it in his book. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners." Dear sinner, did you hear that? This is a faithful saying. It's
worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Do you know what that means?
There's hope for you and me. There's hope for you and there's
hope for me. That's good news, isn't it? to
a real sinner, somebody who's gotten honest with himself or
herself and knows, I'm a sinner. I'm just a sinner. Now let's
take a look at this verse together and see if it'll tell us how
a sinner is saved. Verse 15 says, this is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that that what's about to follow
is the truth. What's about to follow is worthy
to be believed. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus, the whole thing
starts with Christ Jesus. It doesn't only end with him.
He's the author and the finisher. Let's make sure we know it all
starts with him. Now let's take note of this.
It does not only say, this is a faithful saying and worthy
of all acceptation that Jesus came. Jesus. That's where we're missing it
today. Most people think he's just Jesus. He's a good man. He's a good humanitarian. He
showed us the good way. Where they're missing it is this
man is Christ. Christ. Do we know what that
means? Can I fully enter into what that
means? This means he's the Messiah.
Matthew 1.21 says, Call His name Jesus, for He shall save His
people from their sins. And Matthew 1.23, two verses
later, says, Call His name Emmanuel, because God is with us. This is God, Christ Jesus. He's the God-man. Does anybody
want to know who the High God of Heaven really is? It's Jesus
Christ. He is God. He is the Word of God. John 1
says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. Now listen to this wonderful,
wonderful scripture. If you have your Bibles open,
turn with me to first John chapter five, first John five, and look
at verse 20 with me. It says, and we know that the
son of God has come and hath given us an understanding that
we may know him. That is true. And we are in him. That is true. Even in his son,
Jesus Christ, this is the true God and eternal life. Verse 12 in the same chapter
says, he that hath the son hath life and he that hath not the
son of God hath not life. This is the true God and eternal
life. In Hebrews 1 verse 8, God the
Father said to God the Son, Thy throne, O God, is forever and
ever. This is not just God's Son. This is God Himself. He said, I and my Father are
one. He said, if you've seen me, you've
seen the Father. This man, Christ Jesus, did not
begin 2,000 years ago. He did not begin when he chose
to be born into this world. He has no beginning. He is eternal. He is from everlasting to everlasting. Listen to this. This man, Christ
Jesus, said in John 5, verse 46, Moses wrote of me. Moses was writing about me. You know that fire on Mount Sinai? That was me. You know that voice
in the burning bush? That was me. You know that finger
that wrote on the tables of stone? That was me. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came. He came. He left glory willingly. And he came to this sinful, sinful
world. He came to accomplish a work
willingly. He said in John 17, four and
five, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the
work which thou gavest me to do. And now, oh father, glorify
thou me with thine own glory, which I had with thee before
the world was. Christ Jesus, God, came into
this sinful world Everything in this world has been tarnished,
every single thing. Everything in this world has
been ruined, ruined by sin. Every person born into this world
is born into sin. The scripture says, all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. We come forth of
our mother's womb, speaking lies. We know that so, don't we? 1
John 1 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. Christ, the word in the beginning
was the word. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make God a liar and Christ is not in us. Well, if that's the case, if
I am a sinner, if I can acknowledge that I'm a sinner, what is my
hope? What is my hope? If I'm a sinner
and I am, What hope do I have? Where is my good news? The gospel
means good news. Where's my good news? Well, listen
to this. God, Christ Jesus, came into
this sinful world on a mission from His Father to save sinners. You know, a person may hear that
and say, well, I'm not a sinner. I'm not a sinner. Don't lump
me into that category. Other people are sinners, but
not me. Well, then I'm very sorry to say, it
pains me to say that Christ Jesus didn't come for you. You see,
he came here for sinners, real sinners. He said, I'm not come
to call the righteous, righteous in their own mind, righteous
in their own heart. The scripture says there's none
righteous, no, not one. And he said, I'm not come to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He said, the whole
need not a physician, the well, the good in their own eyes. The
whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. Christ Jesus
came to save sinners. If you're a real sinner, you
can be very happy about this news. I am. Now let's ask this
question. Why do sinners need saving? Why do sinners need saving? Even
though the scripture says all have sinned, Do you know that
most people have no idea that they need to be saved? No idea
at all. Why do sinners need saving? It's
because the judge of the earth has said he will by no means
clear the guilty. He said he's angry with the wicked
every day. Sin must be punished. Sin, transgression against the
law, breaking the law, must be paid for. And the only thing
that will pay the debt is blood. That's the only thing. Because of sin, it is appointed
unto men wants to die. That's a key statement right
there. The Lord God told Adam in the day that you eat this
fruit and you break my law, dying, you shall die. You're going to
die physically. You're going to die spiritually
because of sin. It is appointed unto men wants
to die. They're sentenced to it. Sinners
face eternal death. They need to be saved from death. The problem for sinners is this
God is holy. He's just. He's right. He's good. This law is His law. The law came from Him. It's His
attributes. It's His character. God is holy. And He can't just sweep sin under
the rug and say, that's all right, I forgive you. He can't do that. Everything with God must be done
lawfully. And if there's sin on my record,
I have to die. Dear center, you're in the same
boat with me. You're in the same boat with
me and we need to be saved. How can a center sentenced to
die be saved? Let me try to illustrate this.
When I think of the word saved, I think of a person who's drowning
in water and then he's pulled out, saved. Now let's imagine
that I'm lost at sea. I'm totally lost at sea. I'm not in a boat. I'm in the
water. I have no life jacket, no life
preserver. There's no land in sight. I am
totally lost at sea treading water. I want to be saved. That's what I want. I desire
to be saved. Well, I'll just will it. I'll will to be saved. I'll exercise my will and just
will to be saved. Well, that didn't do me any good.
I'm still here. Well, I have decided to be saved. I decide to be saved. I've made my decision. I could
scream it at the top of my lungs and mean it. Be sincere about
it. I have decided to no longer be
in the current state I'm in. Well, that didn't do me any good
either. This is the honest reality. If I truly need to be saved,
it means I'm in a hopeless state. It means I can do nothing for
myself. If I could, I wouldn't need to
be saved. If I could just will myself to land, I don't need
anybody to come save me. As a dying, drowning man, what's
my only hope? It's that somebody will come
to me, where I am, in a boat and save me. My salvation depends
on the work of somebody else. Now, even if that boat comes,
my problem as a sinner doesn't stop there. Because I'm a sinner,
I've been sentenced to die. I'm a sinner. It's no accident
that I'm in the middle of the ocean. I was put there on purpose,
sentenced to die. And the holiness and justice
of God cannot clear the guilty. Not only do I need to be saved,
but my debt must be paid. My sentence must be carried out.
According to God's holy law, I can't just be pulled out of
the water. They can't just pull me out and
go as a real center. There would only be one way I
could legally and righteously and justly be saved. Only one
way someone would have to pull me out of the water safe into
the boat. And then that person would have
to get out of the boat and into the water. And the boat would
have to sail away and leave him there to die. He would have to
be forsaken. That's what Christ Jesus did
for every true sinner that the father commanded him to save. He was wounded. for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him." And here's the gospel. Here's the good news.
With His stripes, we are healed. Now, let me close with this.
If this is true, if what we have read straight from the Word of
God is true, If my only hope is that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners, then what is my plea? What should
I confess? What should I cry? By God's grace, I'll cry the
same thing the Apostle Paul cried here in 1 Timothy 1 15. I am
chief. I am chief. If Christ came to
save sinners, then my only hope and plea is I am chief. Ask a person who's only gotten
a hold of religion. Are you a sinner? He'll say,
no, I used to be, I was, you have no idea what I used to be,
but not anymore. I'm a good person now. I'm righteous
now. Ask a sinner whom Jesus Christ
has gotten ahold of, are you a sinner? He'll say, not only
am I a sinner, I'm the chief. I'm the worst. I always have
been, I always will be. There's an old song that says
a sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so. That's not saying the Holy Ghost
made him a sinner, but it's saying the Holy Ghost truly revealed
to him what he was. The first thing the Holy Spirit
does in this work of conversion is convince men and women of
their sin. Then the Holy Spirit reveals,
points men and women to the Savior of sinners. Are you a sinner? A real sinner? If you are, then
I'm very happy to say that Christ Jesus came into this world to
save you. Until next Sunday, 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.