Things That God's People Know

You want to say something? No, I was going to look for my bottle. Did that surprise anybody? Look, Gabe, it never fails. Look, I'll lay it down and talk to somebody and they'll point it out to me. It's really good to be here. It's really good. I've been very excited to be with you. I'm very thankful for the opportunity to go up to Canada. And I pray that the Lord will truly make all of this to be a blessing. Bless it tonight and bless that trip and bless you all. Bless us. I pray the Lord will bless us.

Turn with me, if you would, to Matthew 26. I went through the book of Matthew a few years ago in Kingsport. And when I got to this portion of scripture, something stood out to me that was such a blessing. I have a topical type message tonight. I don't have a story and I don't have a line upon line, verse upon verse message. This came from me going line upon line through this and something stood out to me And it really blessed me, and I want to bring it to you.

You'll see what I mean once we get into it. Let me read a verse here. Look with me at Matthew 26, verse 2. Our Lord said, He's speaking to His disciples, and He said, You know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, And the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified. Those first two words in verse two are what stood out to me. Our Lord said, you know. You know.

We're gonna look at the subject tonight of things that God's people know. things that God's people know, God's elect people, God's chosen people. And the goal of this message is to hopefully give us some assurance that we are one of God's people. We're gonna look at things that God's people know. And in seeing this, hopefully we will be able to say, I believe I'm one of God's people. Verse two, our Lord said, you know that after two days is the feast of the Passover and the son of man is betrayed to be crucified.

You know this, you know this. Now they did know that. They did know that they kept forgetting it. It wasn't until Acts chapter 1 that Peter said, wait a minute. He told us all this was going to happen. And he did. He did. He told them many times. They didn't get it. But he told them. He told them many times.

Look with me at Matthew 16. Matthew chapter 16. Matthew 16 verse 21, it says, From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples how that He must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day.

In verse 22, Peter said, No, we don't want you to do that. They knew enough to know that they did not want Him to die. They didn't get it, but He told them. And they heard it. Now look with me at Matthew 17, verse 22. It says, And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of men, and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry." They understood enough about it to be depressed, but they didn't get what he was saying. They didn't really get what he was saying. It hadn't reached the conviction of their hearts yet.

Look with me at Matthew 20. Matthew 20 verse 17, And Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death. and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify him. And the third day he shall rise again."

They were told this. They were informed of this. And he said to them, you know this. You know this. I was so just intrigued by our Lord saying that. It made me think of things that right now, because of his word, we know. Because he has told us time and time again, we know. Things that we most definitely forget all the time, but we know them. And every time we see them in the Word, we're reminded of them. And that's what I want us to do for a minute. I want us to just be reminded from the Word of some things that we know.

Things that God's people know. I have people ask me questions all the time, and the only answer I can give is, I don't know. I don't know. But here are some things that God's people know. And in seeing this, I truly hope it'll be a great comfort that we can say, I believe I'm one of God's people. I know that. All right, things that God's people know.

Turn with me to Isaiah 59. Isaiah 59. Isaiah 59 verse 1 says, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

And in the next few verses, the Lord started listing what those sins are. If you continue on reading, He starts listing what they are. And in response, His people say in verse 12, Our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us.

For our transgressions are with us. And as for our iniquities, we know them. We know them. We know that we are sinners. That's number one. That's the first thing. We know that we are sinners. God's people know that they are sinners. They know it. We do not think there is a possibility we could be sinners. We're not hoping that we're not sinners. Let me just say that one again. We're not hoping that we're not sinners. Well, I just hope I'm not a sinner. We're not hoping we're not sinners.

We know for an absolute fact that we are. We know God's people are truly, I mean truly, the only people on earth. Go to the prison and ask around. See how many people are rightfully there, you know, rightfully guilty. We know beyond any shadow of a doubt that we're sinners. This is a tale tale sign of God's people. Every single one. I'm a sinner. I am a sinner. Some are blind to their actual condition. Some are delusional.

But we know. I mean, we really know that. We're sinners before God. We know it. That is something God's people know. Look with me at Romans 3. Romans 3 verse 19, it says, Now we know that what thing soever the law saith, It saith to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. All the world is guilty before God.

We know that. We know that this law only exposes the fact that we are sinners. That's all that the law does. It exposes that we're guilty sinners before God. That is the purpose of the law. That's the whole purpose of the law. That's what the law does. It exposes the fact that we're sinners.

The law was not given so I could measure my success by it. Let me see how I'm doing. Let me compare what I'm living to the law and see if I'm a child of God. No. The law was not given so I could compare my success. It was given to expose my sin. To show me my sin. Look at Romans 7.

Verse 14, it says, For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. Sold under sin. There's nothing wrong with the law. The law is good and holy and just and right. The problem is with me. I know that. I know that. We know that. We know number one. Here's number one.

We are sinners before God, period. You will never convince a child of God otherwise. You won't do it. No, you're a good person. Look at all those good things you've done. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear it. Never convince us otherwise. Number one, we're sinners against God. All right, turn to John 14. John 14, verse 4. Our Lord said, and whither I go you know, and the way you know. He didn't say a way, he said the way you know.

God's people know that there is only one way of salvation. There is only one way of salvation. God's people know that that one and only way is a person. A person. God's people know who the person is. It's not me. It is not me, not unto us, oh Lord, not unto us. Verse 5 right here, Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. The law is not the way. It's not the way. Christ said, I'm the way. I am the way.

Verse seven, he said, if you had known me, you should have known my father also. And from henceforth, you know him and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the father, and how sayest thou then, show us the father?

I heard a very famous interviewer ask a very famous false preacher, television preacher, and this was a long time ago. I was much, much younger. Very famous television interviewer was interviewing this very famous false preacher. And the question was, the interviewer asked, Is there only one way to God?

And this lying false preacher said, well, there's only one way to God and that's Jesus. But there are many ways to Jesus. Number one, that's not true. John 6.44 says, no man can come to Jesus Christ except There's only one way. The Father which sent him has to draw a man or woman to Christ. That is the only way. There is only one way to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is by the draw of the Heavenly Father.

So clearly this false preacher does not know the way to God. God's people do. But this particular false preacher did not. And clearly, he didn't have any idea who God is. God's people know. God's people know who God is, but to say that there's one way to God, but many ways to Jesus, is to say they're two separate people. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, I and my Father are one. He said, if you've seen me, you have seen the Father. Have I been so long time with you? Men and women outside of Christ naturally do not know that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one God. God's people know that. God's true people know that. They know that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in the person. of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is all. Christ is everything. Christ is all.

Our Lord told that woman at the well, he said, you know, not what you worship. We know what we worship. We know what we worship. What are we worshiping? A who? A person. A person. The Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty. Do you worship God? We sure do. Jesus Christ is his name. There was another false preacher that Hannah and I heard conduct a wedding one time. And he ended the wedding with a prayer with the words, to God, whoever he or she may be. He prayed it to God, whoever he or she may be. When I heard him say that, I thought, you literally have to be kidding me. You're a leader of religion and you don't know that? You would have to not open the two covers of this book. That's the only way you could not know. There's no way you could read one page of this book and believe that God is anything other than He.

I am He. I am He. Mankind naturally has no idea who he worships. But God's people know. We know. I say this because if there's anyone who does not know who we're worshiping, it's time to find out. We need to know this. This is life eternal that they might know thee.

The only true God. Jesus Christ whom He sent. The Apostle Paul said, I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able. I believe He's able. Look with me if you would at 2 Corinthians 8. 2 Corinthians 8 verse 9, it says, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might be rich.

We know that He gave all. We know that He gave all. We know that He emptied Himself. We know that we are sinners worthy of death. We know who our Savior and our God is. And we know that He gave His all. to save us. He gave his all to redeem us. He gave everything to us and for us. That's amazing isn't it? That is amazing. We know that he was rich and for our sakes he became poor. How poor? Dead poor. The grave poor. That we through his poverty through His emptying of Himself might become rich. We know that He completely traded places with us. He did that for us. He took our sin, He gave us His righteousness. He took our death, He gave us His life. We know that He did that for us.

Look with me if you would at 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1 verse 18, it says, For as much as you know, that you were not redeemed with corruptible things. What are corruptible things? You're looking at it. This is a corruptible thing. Anything that comes from this right here is a corruptible thing.

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, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God.

You know what you were redeemed with. Your faith and hope is not in you. It's not in you. You know what you were redeemed with. You ask the average person, what were you redeemed with? How are you going to get to heaven? What's your hope? My hope is that decision I made at the age of 13 years old. Not going to sin anymore. My hope is that baptism, you know. That's not your hope, is it? We know what we were redeemed with. We know what price was given. We know what had to be paid. We know how effectual the payment was.

You know, for so long I had it in my mind that, you know, we God's sinful people had a debt to God, and that's how much it was, that's how much God's people owed, and Christ paid every drop of it. He didn't leave one, I mean, to the fullest. Right there, He paid everything. That's not how it went. This is what God's people owed, and Christ's payment of blood was boom. Where sin abounded, grace did not. Much more bound. Much more bound. Oh, the success of His sacrifice. We know how successful it was. We're not trying to add to it. Well, now He died on the cross, but you're going to have to. Nope. No. We're not trying to add our works to His payment. We're not trying to add our works to His works. Why would we do that?

We know how valuable his payment was. We know how valuable his blood was. The most valuable substance in heaven. We know that the debt to God is satisfied. Completely satisfied. Totally finished. We know the debt, the payment is finished. We know that we are totally redeemed. God's elect people are totally redeemed.

I've said it, you know, I've said it here many times, I've said it so many times, and I'll keep saying it. For the longest time, I believed in my heart God had an elect people, Christ died for the elect people, and they were going to be saved. I just didn't know if I was one of them. God's people know that Christ saved His people. And then they come to know it was sinners. And then they come to know it was sinners whose only hope is in that pavement.

God's people know that if we are in Him, we are complete in Him. We're totally complete in Him. And we know what that means for us. If you know that, He said, you know these things, you know what it means for you. Look with me at 1 John 3. 1 John 3, verse 2. It says, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

Is that not about the most amazing thing you could possibly read? That's just, how do you fathom that? How do you? It's hard to process, but we know it. We know it. It's hard to process but we know it. Thank God we know that. He's caused us to believe it. Look at verse 5. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins and in Him is no sin. We know that in Him. We know that in Him. We know that as He is, so are we.

2 Corinthians 5 verse 1 says, We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God and house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. This is not our home. This is not our home. This is not our continuing city. We know that. We know that He has prepared a place for us. We know that we will be with Him. And He'll be with us for all eternity.

Look at 1 John 5 verse 20. 1 John 5 verse 20. It says, And we know that the Son of God is 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 in everlasting life. We know that Jesus Christ is the true God. And He is everlasting life, eternal life. We know that. And thank God we do. Thank God He has revealed to us these things from His Word. And thank God He's given us faith to believe Him. And thank God for this right here. Thank God for this right here.

I'm going to close with this, okay? Turn over to Romans 8. Romans chapter 8. Verse 28 says, And we know that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. We forget that all the time, but we know it. I tell everybody in Kingsport often, that is a light bulb verse for me. That is a revelation verse for me. Every time I truly read that verse and enter into it, it's like, I forgot about that. Because you can think about all the bad things, all the things you wish didn't happen, all the things you'd love to undo.

All things work together for good to them that love God. to them who are the called according to His purpose. We know that. Our Lord is going to have us here on this earth for some given period of time until He calls us home with that redeemed salvation. And in our time here, whatever happens is good. Whatever happens is good.

Henry Mahan, You know, he moved to Rocky Mount in 2008, and he at that point would have been 82. And I was there, we were there with him for five years before we moved to Kingsport. And by that point in his life, he was done with bad news. He did not want to hear bad news anymore.

And whatever it is you came to him with, or his answer was, but it's good, right? They were over at our house, and I had a music store, and he was asking me how things were going, and I said, well, you know, you know how people, ah, it's work, but it's good, right?

Well, you know, I got this going on, you know. But it's good, right? Well, you don't understand. You see, here's the problem. Yeah, but that's good, right? Yeah, it's good. And that's what it'll be. That's what this will be. Good. It will be good. In Christ, it will be good.

We forget this all the time. We forget it all the time, but we know it. Every time it comes back to us, we say, yep, we know it. You are not redeemed by the works of your flesh. Yep, that's right, we know it. That payment of blood was so sufficient, it'll last you all eternity. Yep, that's right, we know it. Everything's gonna be fine. Yeah. Yeah, we know it. We believe it. We know it, we believe it. And we're reminded of it every time we open this Word. This Word is life to us. Yeah, we know it. We know it is. Thank God. Thank God. I pray that that will be comfort and confirmation that we belong to Him.

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Things That God's People Know

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About Gabe Stalnaker

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