We're very happy to have with
us Gabe and Hannah Stoniker from Kingsport, Tennessee. Known you
all a long time. Gabe Stoniker is the pastor at
the Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church in Tennessee and is going
to be preaching the gospel to us. Gabe. Well, good morning. It's wonderful
to be with you. I'm very thankful to Brother
Todd for asking me to come. Very humbled. It's a serious
thing to ask a man to come preach in your pulpit. And I'm very
honored that he would ask me to be here. I'm very thankful
for this congregation. I have known you all for a long
time, and you've known me, and I love you in Christ, and thank
the Lord for you. You've been so good to us in
Kingsport, and I'm very thankful to you for that. Turn with me,
if you would, to 1 John 2. We're going to consider one verse
here in 1 John 2. It's verse 18, 1 John 2, verse
18. Little children, it is the last
time. As you have heard that Antichrist
shall come, even now are there many Antichrists. whereby we
know that it is the last time." In that verse, John gives a very
serious message of warning. A very, very serious message
of warning by saying these two things. He said, it is the last
time. And he said, there are many antichrists. That's a serious warning. That
is a very serious warning. What he's saying is there is
no time to spare. There's no time to spare. We are all about to go stand
before God. That reality is coming. It is
coming so quickly. We are all going to, in reality,
find ourselves standing before the judgment throne of God. And, he said, there are many
people out there lying to you about how you can stand there
justified, saved, spared from the wrath, spared
from the wrath of God, the wrath to come. Now John said it is
the last time about 2,000 years ago, almost 2,000 years ago he
said that. So there will be many people
scoff at that and say where is the promise of His coming? Time
just keeps going and it just keeps going and going. Turn back
a page or two if you would with me to 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter 3 verse 1 says, This second
epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both which I stir
up your pure minds by way of remembrance. He said, I'm writing
this to stir up your God-given, pure, new minds by way of remembrance. Verse 2, that you may be mindful
of the words which were spoken before, by the holy prophets
and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and
Savior, knowing this first, that there shall come in the last
days scoffers walking after their own lust and saying, where is
the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
For this, They willingly are ignorant of that by the word
of God, the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of
the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was being
overflowed with water perished. They willingly forget about the
fact that God said, I'm going to destroy this earth. And he
did with a flood. And verse 7 says, But the heavens
and the earth, which are now by the same word are kept in
store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition
of ungodly men. He said, Beloved, be not ignorant
of this. It is the last time. It's the
last time it's coming, it's coming, it is coming. It is the last
time in the sense that there is nothing left to be done but
for Christ to return. That's the last thing. It's the last time in the sense
that even if He does not return immediately, men and women go to Him every
day through death. Every single day. Men and women
are dying right now. Right now, it is currently the
last time. It is the last time. Get ready.
Judgment's coming. I want our children to know this.
Judgment's coming. Get ready. Judgment's coming. And be warned, many preachers
are lying to you about what will save your soul. They are pointing
you to another way other than Christ. And the man who does
that is Antichrist. Now, what does that mean? What
is Antichrist? Many people hear the word Antichrist
and they think that that is one being, one adversary, one physical
adversary of Christ. But that is not so. The Antichrist
is not one particular being. Antichrist is the message. Preaching, hearing, believing
the message that steals all of the work and all of the glory
in salvation away from Christ. That's antichrist. If a man adds
to the work of Christ, or if he takes away from the work of
Christ, if he tries to share in the work with Christ, if he says it's Christ's blood,
and you'll hear people say that. You'll hear men stand up in pulpits
all over Lexington and say, it's the blood of Christ. Christ died
on the cross to save people from sin. It's the blood of Jesus
Christ and my decision. If they add anything to it. Or
if they say, it's the blood of Jesus Christ, you better believe
it now, it's the blood of Jesus Christ and my baptism. Or if they say, now it's the
blood of Jesus Christ and my good living. If a man at all takes anything
away from Christ doing all the work, paying all the debt, satisfying
all the demands, and getting all the glory, that man is anti-Christ. That man is not just wrong. A
lot of men stand up in pulpits and they're just wrong. But he's
not just wrong. He's antichrist. Look with me, if you would, at
Matthew, chapter seven. Matthew, chapter seven, verse.
Verse 15, our Lord said, Beware of false prophets which come
to you in sheep's clothing. It struck me that He did not
say, which come to you in Arminian clothing. He did not say, which
come to you in free will clothing. He's given a serious warning.
Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing."
They look like they're of God. He said, but they're not. Inwardly,
they are ravening wolves. They are devouring men and women's
souls through the lies that they preach. Look with me at Matthew
24. Matthew 24, verse 11. And many false prophets shall
rise and shall deceive many. Many, he said. Many are going
to rise and deceive many. Verse 24. For there shall arise
false Christs. Not just necessarily that people
will come and say, I'm the Christ. There will arise many false messages
of Christ. Men preaching Christ, not as
He has revealed Himself to be in His Word. Let me tell you
who Christ is, not as He has revealed Himself in His Word.
Verse 24. There shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and
shall show great signs and wonders, in so much that if it were possible,
they shall deceive the very elect." He said, they're not going to
deceive my elect. I'm going to keep them by the
power of God. They are going to deceive many. And if it were
possible, they would deceive my elect. They would, but it's
not possible. And I'm so glad for that. I've
had men over the years hand me books and make this statement,
here, read this, about half of it's good. I'm not interested
in that. I don't trust myself to know
which half is good. And he said, if it were possible,
they would deceive my very elect. I said, it's not possible. It's
just not possible. Look with me at 1 John chapter
4. 1 John 4 verse 1 says, Beloved,
believe not every preacher. Spirit means preacher, but try
the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets
are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the spirit of
God. This is how you can know the
preacher that is of God. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Not just that Jesus is come in
the flesh. Every preacher declares that.
Jesus came in the flesh. Not just that this man Jesus
came, but Jesus Christ Jesus the Christ, whoever confesses
the Christ, whoever preaches the Christ. What does it mean
to confess and preach that the Christ came? That means the God
came. That means the Messiah came.
That means the one who was sent to accomplish the work came. And that's exactly what he did. To say that Jesus the Christ
came is to say that the successful Savior came. The finisher of
the work came. If he started the work, but he
has yet to finish it. If he is in the process right
now of trying to finish it, then he's not the Christ. If He has not finished it, the
Christ didn't come. To preach and say and believe
that He's done all He can do and now the rest is up to you.
He has no hands but your hands. It'd be really good of you if
you could let Him save you. He's trying and if you could
just help Him out, To confess that is to confess. It's to stand up behind a pulpit
and confess to everybody. He's not the Christ. Here's my
message. He's not the Christ. He hasn't
done what he said he would do. God Almighty did not come. If our salvation is ultimately
in our hands, if it lies in our hands, then that makes us the
Christ, and that's anti-Christ. Oh, God forbid, God forbid. Verse 2 says, Hereby know ye
the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that
confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of
God, And this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof you have
heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the
world. If you'll look with me at 2 John,
verse 7. There's only one chapter. 2 John,
verse 7. It says, For many deceivers are
entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ He has
come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. I would like now to expose the
message of antichrist by preaching the message of Christ. I'd like
to declare what and how Christ accomplished the salvation of
His people. In thinking on this subject of
Antichrist, this question, there's a verse of scripture that has
this question in it. This question came to my mind. Who is on the Lord's side? Isaiah said, Who hath believed
our report? Who is on the Lord's side? Only two messages are being
preached in the city of Lexington, Kentucky. Antichrist and the
Lord's side. All over this world, only two
messages are being preached. I'd like for us to finish out
this message entering into the Lord's side. Who He is, what
He did, and how He did it. That question is in Exodus 32. If you turn with me over there
to Exodus chapter 32, Now, in this account, Moses represents
the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to read through some
verses. And every time Moses is mentioned, think about the
fact that he represents Christ, the things that he says and the
things that he does. He represents the Lord Jesus
Christ. Very sadly, Aaron represents
a false prophet. And the children of Israel, they
represent you and me. Everything they wanted, everything
that they did, that's you and me. That's us. All right, Exodus
32 verse 1, it says, And when the people saw that Moses delayed
to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves
together unto Aaron and said unto him, Up, make us gods. which shall go before us. For
as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land
of Egypt, we know not what is become of him." They all said,
where is the promise of His coming? Where is He? We are tired of
looking for Him. We are tired of waiting for Him. We are anti-Him. We want our
own gods. And Aaron said unto them, Break
off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives,
and your sons, and your daughters, and bring them unto me. You bring
me the best you have." That's what he said. You bring to me
all of your glory. You bring your worth. You bring
your value. Verse 3. And all the people break
off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought
them unto Aaron. And he received them at their
hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a
molten calf. And they said, These be thy gods,
O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
He lied. He lied. In that moment, he was
a lying, deceiving prophet. He pointed them to another way
of salvation. And there's not another. There's
not another way. And when Aaron saw it, he built
an altar before it. And Aaron made proclamation and
said, tomorrow is a feast to the Lord. He did it in the name
of the Lord. And that's what Antichrist does.
This is a serious warning right here. And this is an eye opening
thing. Antichrist points men and women
away from Christ. In the name of Christ. That's
what it does in the name of the Lord. It points men completely
away from the work of Christ in the name of the Lord. Verse
six. And they rose up early on the
morrow and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings.
And the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play. They made their own sacrifices
and they thought they were OK with God. Everybody was happy
and. Just a good time. Verse seven. And the Lord said
to Moses, Get thee down, for thy people which thou broughtest
out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. He said,
You are going to have to go down to them. They have corrupted themselves
and this is their only hope. You're going to have to go down
to them where they are. Verse 8. They have turned aside quickly
out of the way which I commanded them. They have made them a molten
calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto,
and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought
thee up out of the land of Egypt. And the Lord said unto Moses,
I have seen this people." He sees everything we do. Everything about us. The Lord
said unto Moses, I have seen this people and behold, it is
a stiff necked people. Now, therefore, let me alone
that my wrath may wax hot against them and that I may consume them. And I will make of thee a great
nation. He said, Moses, my peace lies
on you. Remembering who Moses represents.
He said, my favor is on you. But he said, I'm going to destroy
them. Verse 11. And Moses besought the Lord,
his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against
thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt
with great power and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians
speak and say, for mischief did He bring them out to slay them
in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth?
Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy
people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and
Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swearest by thine own self,
and said unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven,
and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your
seed, and they shall inherit it forever." Moses, representing
Christ, the great intercessor, he said, would you please remember
your covenant? Would you remember the promise
that you made to this sinful people? I plead their life for
the covenant's sake. Verse 14. And the Lord repented
of the evil which He thought to do unto His people. That word
does not mean He changed His mind. A lot of times the word
repent means a change of mind. That one means He sighed, He
breathed strongly, He consoled himself. He had pity. Verse 15. And Moses turned and
went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony
were in his hand. The tables were written on both
their sides. On the one side and on the other
were they written. And the tables were the work
of God, and the writing was the writing of God graven upon the
tables. God's law. Verse 17, And when Joshua heard
the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses,
There is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, It is not
the voice of them that shout for mastery. It doesn't sound
like a battle's taking place and somebody's winning. Neither
is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome. It doesn't
sound like a battle's taking place and somebody's losing.
But the noise of them that sing do I hear. And it came to pass,
as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf
and the dancing, and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables
out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount." The first
thing that he did was he showed every single one of them, you
have broken God's law. That's the first thing that came
to him. You've broken God's law. Verse 20. And he took the calf
which they had made and burnt it in the fire and ground it
to powder and strawed it upon the water and made the children
of Israel to drink of it. He showed them this is what you've
done. You've drunk iniquity like water.
Just drunk it up like water. Verse 21, And Moses said unto
Aaron, What did this people unto thee that thou hast brought so
great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger
of my Lord wax hot. Thou knowest the people that
they are set on mischief. Moses said, You brought this
sin on them. And Aaron said, It's not my fault.
I just gave them what they wanted. And that's what the false prophet
does. He just gives the people exactly what they want instead
of God's commandment. We're just trying to make the
people happy, whatever they want. Verse 23, for they said unto
me, make us gods which shall go before us. For as for this
Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
we know not what has become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever
hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me. Then
I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf." I
just threw it in there and a calf came out. I don't know. Lies,
and they know they're lying. Lies, and they know they're lying.
Verse 25, And when Moses saw that the people were naked, for
Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies,
The lies of the false prophet cause all of the people to stand
before God naked. And if a sinner does not have
the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, that's how he will
stand before God in that same condition. He will not be covered
in the blood of Christ. He will not be robed in the righteousness
of Christ. He'll be naked. Verse 26, Then
Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the
Lord's side? Let him come unto me. And all
the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. God's priest,
God's called man, God's preachers, they all gathered themselves
unto him. Verse 27, And He said unto them, Thus saith the Lord
God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go
in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay
every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every
man his neighbor. That sword is the Word of God,
sharper than any two-edged sword. And with the sword of the Lord,
Through the preacher of the Lord, God slays his people, doesn't
he? Those people who were just taken up with sin, just eaten
up with sin, thriving in it, joying in it. God comes with
his own word and he slays them. And that's what happened to us.
God slayed us. Cuts all the way to the heart.
Verse 28, And the children of Levi did according to the word
of Moses, and there fell of the people that day about three thousand
men. That's a good thing when God
slays the heart. For Moses had said, consecrate yourselves today
to the Lord, even every man upon his son and upon his brother,
that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. Take the sword of the
Lord and slay, that the blessing may come. And here is the blessing. This right here is the blessing. This is the word of the Lord.
This is the gospel of our salvation. This is what it is to preach
Christ. Moses representing Christ is
about to preach Christ. Verse 30, And it came to pass
on the morrow that Moses said unto the people, You have sinned
a great sin, and now I will go up unto the Lord. Peradventure,
I shall make an atonement for your sin. I will go up and I'll
make a covering for your sin. Verse 31. And Moses returned
unto the Lord and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin
and have made them gods of gold. They've made them gods of their
own doing, gods of their own worth, gods of their own glory. Verse 32 says, Yet now. if thou wilt forgive their sin. And if not, blot me, I pray thee,
out of thy book which thou hast written." That's exactly what
Christ asked His Father to do. That's exactly what His Father
did. Christ said, they have sinned against you, And I know you can't
forgive them. I know that you are a holy God
who must punish sin. So would you please transfer
their sin to me and then blot me out? Verse 33. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my
book. Therefore now go lead the people
unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee. Behold, mine
angel shall go before thee. Nevertheless, in the day when
I visit, I will visit their sin upon them. He said, lead them
to the place. Because I'm about to deal with
their sin. Where was the place? What place is he talking about?
Look at chapter 33, verse 21. And the Lord said, Behold, there
is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock. And it shall
come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee
in a cliff to the rock. and will cover thee with my hand
while I pass by." The Father put His people safely in the
rock of Christ Himself. And once we were secure in Him,
the Father poured out all of His wrath on us. He dealt with our sin right in the place of Christ
Himself. Christ was wounded for our transgressions. Christ was
bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace,
what should have come directly to us, was upon Him. And with His stripes, we're healed. That's what it is to preach Christ. Moses preached Christ. Paul preached
Christ. Christ preached Christ. We preach
Christ by God's grace, by His Spirit, through His Word. We
preach the message that is anti-Antichrist. The total opposite of Antichrist. Only Christ. Only His work. only His blood, only His glory. We must bow to, we must believe
on, we must cling to Him and only Him. And the reason is because
it's the last time. It's the last time. And He's
our only hope. All right. Thank you.