Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, located at 2709 Rock Springs Road in Kingsport, Tennessee, would like to invite you to listen to a message of Sovereign Grace by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. For information and service times, visit www.ksgc.church. And now, Gabe Stoniker. I have a message that I'm very excited to bring to you from Psalm 138. Psalm 138. If you have your Bible there and would like to read along with me, Psalm 138.

The last verse in this Psalm is a verse that brings great relief to my heart every time I read it. such relief and happiness to my heart every time I read it. Verse 8, Psalm 138, verse 8, it says, The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. forsake not the works of thine own hands." That's a wonderful verse, isn't it? That truly is a wonderful verse.

What that verse is saying is, I don't need to do the work. That's what it's saying. That's what it says to my heart. It says, Gabe, you don't need to do the work. The Lord will perfect that which concerns me. That is such good news to my heart, and here's the reason why. I can't do the work. To hear that I do not need to do the work is wonderful news because I know I can't do the work, the work of perfecting. The Lord will perfect.

I am past the point, I really am, I am fully past the point of trying to fool myself into thinking that I have the ability to make something out of this flesh that would be at all pleasing to God, at all acceptable to God, much less perfect. I'm past that. I cannot make anything perfect out of this flesh. I cannot do anything to perfect the things that concern me.

But the good news of God's gospel is He can and He will. He is able and He is willing. You talk about good news. The Lord will perfect. The Lord will make perfect. Bring to maturity, bring to fullness, bring to completion. That's what it means, perfect. That which concerneth me. That's the amazing thing.

Me, sinful me. The Lord will do this for ruined me. I have ruined my life. I have ruined my flesh. And so have you. That's the condition of natural men and women. All have sinned, therefore all are ruined. That's what it means. Wretched, wretched, wretched me. That's the amazing part, wretched me. Over in Psalm 57, I love this verse also. Psalm 57 verse two says, I will cry unto God most high, unto God that performeth all things for me." The God who performs all things for me. He will do all things for me.

Do you enjoy hearing that declaration? the truth of God's word rather than the lie of man, the lie of false preachers who stand in pulpits telling people, now you need to do the work. Now you better get to work. You better start doing it or you're going to be lost. If I have to do it, I'm going to be lost because I'm sinful. I'm ruined. I'm wretched, but thanks be to God.

HE WILL PERFORM ALL THINGS FOR HIS PEOPLE. THAT'S THE TRUTH OF GOD'S WORD. THAT'S WHAT MAKES ME SO HAPPY TO HEAR. THAT'S WHAT BRINGS SO MUCH RELIEF TO MY HEART. PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW ALL THE TIME, WHAT MUST I DO? THAT'S WHY WE DIG INTO THESE THINGS OF THE SCRIPTURE TO FIND OUT THE TRUTH, THE BOTTOM LINE OF SALVATION. WHAT MUST I DO?

HERE'S THE ANSWER, NOTHING. EVERYTHING YOU AND I DID RUINED IT. What must we do to redeem ourselves? Nothing. The Lord will perfect that which concerns his people. He will do that. I will cry unto God most high, unto God that performeth all things for me. All things for me. Back in Psalm 138, verse eight says, the Lord, The Lord will perfect that which concerns me.

That is so restful. I've thought so many times that in true gospel churches we could just put beds in the auditorium and tell people just lay back and go to sleep. Just rest. Just rest. That is so restful. There's nothing for you to do. It's the Lord. The Lord. We're not just speaking of anyone. We're speaking of the Lord. Somebody says, well, I thought I had to do something. I thought I had to believe on Christ. I thought it was believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh, God will give you his faith. Don't worry. God will put his faith, the faith of Christ in you if he's pleased to do this for you. God will do that as the rivers of water. God will turn your heart in his good time. God will do that. You will believe on Christ.

Wait on the Lord. Rest. Just rest. Somebody will say, well, don't I at least have to come to Christ? Oh, don't worry. God will draw you. Don't worry one bit about that. Scripture says God will carry you. He'll carry you all the way to himself. He'll come get you and bring you to Himself. And He'll make you willing and happy for Him to do that for you. He'll make you so happy and so thankful that He would do that for you. He does this for all of His elect, all of His chosen people, every particular soul that was given to Christ and redeemed in Christ. Just wait on the Lord and rest. Wait on the Lord and rest. Lay back in the bed of God's word and rest. Lay your head down on the pillow of God's promise and rest. What do I need to do? Rest. Look to Christ, wait on Christ, rest.

Over in Philippians chapter one, Philippians 1 verse 6 says, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you, he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. The one who started the work, men, again, this is false religion, but men stand in pulpits and tell the lie that now God started the work, but you have to finish it. God began the work, but you have to perform it. God took the first step, now you have to take the second.

That's a lie. It does not say that one time in God's word. That is a lie. He which began the work, will perform the work all the way to the end. That's the truth of God's word. It's not my opinion. That's the truth of God's word. Everything that needs to be done concerning the child of God, he will do it.

He will do it. The father chose who he would do this for. If the father chose a man or woman, if he chose you or me, and if the father gave us to the son and the son redeemed you or me, I pray it's you and me. The choice was in the father's hand. The redemption was in the son's hand. We didn't help him redeem us. We didn't help him shed his blood to pay the debt of our sin. Christ did that alone. He by himself purged our sins. He didn't turn that responsibility over to us.

So if the Father chose us, and if the Son redeemed us, and if the Spirit has called us to the truth concerning Christ, the truth concerning the Godhead, the finished work of the Godhead, then he's the one who will perform all these things for us and we can rest. If he started it, he'll finish it. We can rest. We can trust him. We can trust his word and rest. Just listen to these scriptures. I'm going to quote some scriptures here. Psalm 37 verse seven says, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. That's what God's people need to do.

The Israel leaving Egypt out into the wilderness, they headed out and then Pharaoh changed his mind, sent his army after him to kill them. They got to the Red Sea, they were hemmed up and they said, Moses, what are we going to do? And he said, you're going to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. You just stand still and trust him. and rest. And what did the Lord do? He parted the Red Sea for him and then closed it up on the Egyptians.

Rest, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Psalm 116 verse seven says, return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. How has he dealt bountifully with us? How has he dealt bountifully with his people? Well, the next verse there goes on to say, for thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

You did all that. You did all that. So I could just rest. Matthew 11 verse 28, our Lord said, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Does that sound good to you? Sounds good to me. I don't know about you, but I like rest. I like it a lot. Over in Hebrews four, This is Hebrews 4, the first few verses here of Hebrews 4. It says, let us therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. He said, fear that you don't rest. For unto us was the gospel preached, the good news, as well as unto them. But the word preached did not profit them. They kept on working. They kept on trying to fulfill the law and do the works of the law. The word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest. We which have believed Do enter into rest. We're not working on a building for our Lord. Our Lord has finished the building. Our Lord has finished the work.

What is the evidence of faith? Everyone talks about faith. What is the evidence of faith? Here's the answer. Rest in Christ. That's the answer. What is the evidence of strong faith? Strong faith. Here's the answer. Complete and total rest in Christ. The answer is trust. Trust in the promised word of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the answer. All right, well, what is the promised word of the Lord Jesus Christ? If the answer is complete and total trust and rest in his word, what is his word? Here it is. He will perfect that which concerns you. He will do it. He perfected creation. He perfected salvation. What role did we have in creation? None. Well, that's the same role we have in salvation. None.

He perfected creation. He perfected salvation. He perfected redemption. In His blood, He perfected redemption. He perfected justification. He redeemed us from our sins. He paid the debt for our sins and he supplied everything that we needed for God to say, well done, justified. He did that with his own righteousness. He robed His people in His own righteousness. He perfected our sanctification. That means our holiness within, not just our good righteous deeds without, but our holy purity within. He did that. We don't make ourselves holy. We're holy in Him alone.

He perfected substitution. That is His changing of places with His people, standing in their place, dying on the cross. so they could stand in his place being accepted into glory. Christ perfected it all. Christ perfected it all. That's the word of scripture and that's the gospel. Christ perfected it all. That's the good news.

If we need wisdom, the scripture says, Christ will be our wisdom. If we need righteousness, Christ will be our righteousness. If we need faith, Christ will be our faith. If we need faithfulness and devotion, Christ will be our faithfulness and devotion. Christ will be all and in all. All and in all for his people.

Therefore, we can just rest. That's what we can do, rest. Right here in Hebrews 4 verse 9 says, there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that has entered into his rest, he that has entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from his. A soul who rests in Christ ceases from his own works as Christ has from his. God, Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 7 verse 19 says, Hebrews 7 verse 19, it says, for the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did, by the which we draw nigh unto God. The law made nothing perfect. People are trying to make themselves perfect through the law, by obeying the law. The law has made nothing perfect, no one perfect. But Christ did. He is the better hope. The hope of God's people is not in the law. It's in Christ, the one who actually fulfilled the law. He's the better hope.

Hebrews 10 verse 11. says, every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. All through the Old Testament, you had these priests and they were offering sacrifice after sacrifice, shedding blood. He said, it's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could put away sins. They just kept sacrificing and it never put away one sin. It never did.

Verse 12, but this man, Jesus Christ, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool." Who are his enemies? Me and you. And by his sacrifice, he brought his enemies to sit right there at his feet and hear from him, worship him. He made his enemies his footstool. Verse 14 says, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. He did it. By one sacrifice, the sacrifice of himself, he accomplished the work of salvation. He did it all alone. He did it alone.

Verse 10, it says, but the God of all grace who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while here on this earth. He'll make you perfect and establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. He will make you perfect. He will establish you. He will strengthen you. He will settle you. Just rest. He'll do it. Rest. Rest in Him.

Well, back in Psalm 138, It says in verse eight, the Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever." Why will the Lord perfect that which concerns His people? Why? His sinful people, His wicked people, His continually rebellious against Him people. Did you know that you still sin all the time and so do I? Why? Why will He perfect such undeserving sinners like us. Why? Here's the reason. It's because His mercy endures forever. That's the reason why. His mercy endures forever.

He does not change. If you ever hear a man tell you, well, now God changed his mind or God changes all the time or God changed from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Not so. I am the Lord, I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed." That's the reason why.

He is merciful. That's who he is. And therefore his mercy endures forever. He's the same. Forever. Verse 8 says, The Lord will perfect that which concerns me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. It endures forever. And he said, forsake not the works of thine own hands. The Lord will perfect. Why? Because his mercy endures forever. And this is our plea to him, Lord, please forsake not the work of your own hands.

You'll do it because you're merciful. We know that. We hope in your mercy. We hope in your graciousness. And our prayer, Lord, is that you would be pleased because you're the one who did it. We pray that you would be pleased to never forsake the work of your own hands. Our only hope is in the fact that you will not forsake the work of your own hands.

Listen to these scriptures. Deuteronomy 4, verse 31, it says, For the Lord thy God is a merciful God. Now, I'm telling you, this is the gospel. This is good news. This is who God is. He's a just God. He's a holy God. He must punish sin. and He did in His Son on the cross of Calvary for every person He chose to save. And therefore, this is the gospel to those people. The Lord thy God is a merciful God. He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers, which He swear unto them. Who is he saying that to? He's saying that to every soul who he has caused to hope in his word.

Faith is the evidence of salvation. Good works in the flesh is something that all of God's people desire, but they realize they cannot accomplish it in their sinful flesh to the degree God demands. So they're hoping in Christ. Faith is in Christ. Faith is in the promise of His Word. And every soul that God has accomplished this for, every soul the Father chose, and every soul that Christ redeemed, and every soul the Spirit has caused, will hope in the promise of this Word. If you can truthfully say, I'm hoping in His Word.

I'm not hoping in my works. I don't have any good works. There's none that do with good. No, not one. I'm hoping in Christ good works. If you can truly say that in your heart, he's speaking to you. If I can truly say that, my hope is in Christ alone. I'm looking to Christ alone. He's speaking to me. And if we do hope, if we do truly hope in that word, we didn't start that work. We are not performing that work. We are hoping in the word because he is the one who has caused us to hope in his word. He did that too. If he has caused us to rest and just look to Christ, he did that too.

First Samuel 12 verse 22, it says, the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you his people. He will not forsake for his great name's sake. What is his great name? The Lord that healeth thee. He did it. The Lord that redeemeth thee. He did it. The Lord that saveth thee. The Lord your God. THE LORD YOUR GOD. HE WILL NOT FORSAKE FOR HIS MERCIES' SAKE. HE WILL NOT FORSAKE FOR HIS GREAT NAME'S SAKE. HE WILL NOT FORSAKE BECAUSE OF THIS RIGHT HERE. I'M GONNA CLOSE WITH THIS RIGHT HERE, AND THIS IS SO CRITICAL.

PSALM 22, VERSE 1, THIS, THESE ARE THE WORDS OF JESUS CHRIST, AND HE SAID, MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME? The Lord Jesus Christ will not forsake his people because he was forsaken for his people on the cross of Calvary. He was forsaken by God in order to put away the sin of his people. The word forsaken means abandoned, deserted, left helpless. because he was forsaken on the cross in the very place of his people. For that reason, he said, I'll never forsake you. I was forsaken for you.

And that's what God's people are clinging to. That's what God's people are hoping in. And that's what God's people are resting in. The absolute, total, finished, perfect work of the Lord Jesus Christ. HE WILL PERFECT THAT WHICH CONCERNS US, BECAUSE HIS MERCY ENDURETH FOREVER, AND HE WILL NOT FORSAKE THE WORKS OF HIS OWN HAND. TO HIM BE ALL THE GLORY FOR THAT. AMEN.

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 call or write to the number and address on your screen, or visit www.ksgc.church. Tune in at this same time next week for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.