Thank you, Brady. I love that
song. Only God could make something
so simple as Christ alone mean everything. I'm so thankful. For our last speaker this morning,
Pastor Todd Nyberg. Todd is so dear to me and every
preacher here tell you the same thing. He's just very special. I love him. I love his preaching.
And he is also very special to me, because he's the pastor of
those four sitting over there. And they just always tell me,
oh, Todd said this, Todd preached this, and what a blessing it
was. So Todd, we're delighted to have you. You come preach
the message God's given you. Delighted and honored to be here
with you. Would you turn to Hebrews chapter
12? I want to read the 25th verse of Hebrews chapter 12. see that you refuse not him that
speaketh. For if they escape not who refused
him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape
if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. Him who speaks from heaven. God does speak. Do you and I hear that? God does
speak he's not the deist god who created life and then just
kind of stands back and waits to see what happens he does speak
and since he does speak how foolish would you and i be to not hear
what he says god does speak. He speaks by creation. I loved
hearing you quote that Genesis 1-1 last night so many times. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. God speaks by creation. For somebody to think that out of some primordial stew,
some kind of chemical reactions happened, and all of a sudden
there was life. And all life evolves from that. You really expect me to believe
something like that? Talking about blind faith. That takes blind faith
to believe something that ridiculous. God speaks by creation. Romans 1 20 says the invisible
things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen. Being understood by the things
that are made even his eternal power and Godhead so that they
are without excuse. Creation says somebody made all
this and nobody made him. He is eternal. God speaks by his providence.
Now, providence is everything that takes place in time. Everything. Turn with me for just a moment
to Acts chapter 17. I'd like you to read this with me. Acts chapter 17, verse 22. Then Paul stood in the midst
of Mars Hill and said, Acts chapter 17, verse 22, ye men of Athens,
I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious, too
religious is the word, too religious. Can you be too religious? Absolutely. Or as I passed by and beheld
your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription to the
unknown God. Now what they were saying was,
just in case we've left out one, we're gonna put him in. Don't
want to offend him. So here is an altar to him, whom
therefore ye ignorantly worship him declare I unto you. God that made the world. and all things therein, seeing
that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples
made with hands, neither is worship with men's hands, as though he
needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all
things, and hath made of one blood all nations of men. Every continent, every country,
every person to ever live for to dwell on all the face of the
earth and have determined the times before appointed and the
bounds of their habitation that they should seek the Lord. God's given every one of us enough
light just from creation and his good providence, everything
that happens to you and I says we ought to seek the Lord. God speaks by his providence.
And everything that happens to you and I tells us that we ought
to seek the Lord. He speaks. He speaks by his providence. He's spoken to every one of us
by his providence. Now, I've never heard his voice
audibly. Not that very long ago, I got
a letter from a preacher And it was one of the kinds I usually
just throw in the trash. But the preacher said, God told
me to say this. And I wrote him back. I don't
know if he ever got it back. I said, you're a liar. God never
told you anything. And yet that's what he was saying. Most especially, God speaks by
his word. Second, Timothy chapter three,
verse 16. All scripture. All scripture. Everything from
Genesis 1.1 to Revelation 22.21, all scripture is given by inspiration
of God. God breathed. Oh, I'm so thankful
for this book. This is God's word and God speaks
by his word. Now in the context of this passage
of scripture, look in verse 24. Here's who we've come to, to
Jesus the mediator, verse 24 of the new covenant. And to the
blood of sprinkling that speaketh, better things than that of Abel.
Now, in the context of this passage of scripture, when he's talking
about, see that you refuse not him that speaks from heaven,
in the context, he's talking about the blood of sprinkling
that speaks. It has something to say. And
it's better, the blood of sprinkling is better than the things of,
let me read it. And to Jesus, the mediator of
the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling that speak of better
things than that of Abel. Now, will you remember the story,
Abel and Cain, they have an argument and that argument's about the
blood and Cain murders his brother Abel. And I suppose after he
murdered him, he tried to hide the body. I don't know, but it
doesn't say that, but it seemed reasonable. He didn't want anyone
to know about what he did and God says to him, Where's your
brother? He said, not my brother's keeper,
I don't know. And then God said, your brother's
blood cries to me from the ground. This can't be hid. What did it
cry? Vengeance. Condemnation. Justice beaded out to the murderer. Oh, the things that that blood
cried to God. But the blood of Sprinkler speaks
infinitely better things. The blood of Jesus Christ calls
for forgiveness, justification, reconciliation, pardon. I love the way he calls this
the blood of Sprinkler. Now, this is talking about the
great high priest who would come into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle
blood, the blood that was shed. Remember when God said, when
I see the blood, I will pass over you? Oh, I love that statement,
don't you? All my hope is in that. God said,
when I see the blood, I will, not am I, I will pass over you. The blood of sprinkling. And
this speaks of the application of that blood when the high priest
would take the blood and sprinkle it on the broken law and upon
all the vessels of the temple. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission of sins. Now, what does the blood of sprinkling
say? Complete salvation. The sprinkling of the blood has
something to do with the application of the blood. The priest sprinkling
it. You know, most religion, stuff
that goes under the name of Christianity, it has the sinner applying the
blood to himself. Christ died for you, he paid
for your sins, but it's up to you to make it work for you.
You've got to apply it to yourself. That's not right. God applies the blood. The blood of sprinkling speaks
of the death of Christ. Who died? It's Christ that died. That's what gives the power to
His blood. If it said Todd died, what good
would that do you? Absolutely nothing. Just even saying that
sounds like that would do anything, but Christ died, the Son of God. What did he accomplish by his
death? Well, he accomplished the eternal
purpose of God. He's called the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world, and God created the universe
for the Lamb to come in time and be slain. It speaks of the
accomplishments of his blood. I love what the Lord said in
John chapter 17, verse four. He said, Father, I've glorified
thee on the earth. I have finished the work thou
gavest me to do." What did His blood do? He glorified every
attribute of God. That's what the cross tells us.
Whoever God is is known in the cross and Christ glorified God
completely. Every attribute of God's justice,
His holiness, His love, His grace, His sovereignty, His immutability,
His independence is all made known. The sprinkling of the
blood. Doesn't it say better things
than that of Abel? Oh, the glorious word from the blood of sprinkling
speaks of justification. I hope you and I know what justification
means. It means I stand, if Christ justified
me, it means I stand before God right now in sinlessness. Purification. When he by himself
purged our sins. Reconciliation. All the things
we just heard. That's what the blood of Christ
accomplished. Now this book is a book with this one subject. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the one subject of this
book. And if we give an apology for
preaching on the blood of Christ, this is the only apology we ought
to give. We don't preach on him enough. Well, one of these days I'd love
to preach the gospel as it ought to be preached in its freeness,
in its power, in its fullness, the completeness of his salvation
through the shedding of his blood. Now, Look what the writer says
in Hebrews chapter 12, 25. See that you refuse not him that
speaketh. See to it that you do not do
this. Now this is speaking to me. This
is speaking to you. See that you refuse not him that
speaketh. speaker beware of this be aware
that you can easily do this giving all diligence to make sure that
i'm not refusing him that speaks how shall we escape if we neglect neglect so great a salvation now the
word here refused does not actually mean An open rejection. I don't believe any of this.
I'm not going to have this. Don't believe it. I'm going to
listen to something else. I've had it with this. It doesn't
really mean that. The word actually is usually translated excuse. Make excuse. Avoid. It means to decline. To shun. To beg off. Now, how do you go
about doing that? See that you don't make some
kind of excuse with regard to this word from heaven. I want you to turn to Luke chapter
14, and we're going to spend the rest of the time there. And
this is the first time this word is used with regard to seeing
that you refuse not him that speaks from heaven. Luke chapter
14. Here's the word in verse 18 of
Luke chapter 14. And they all with one consent
began to make excuse. That's the word. They hear this
word from heaven and they all with one consent began to make
excuse. Now look in verse 15 of Luke
chapter 14. And when one of them that sat
at me with him heard these things, he said unto him, blessed is
he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God. Yeah, I agree
with that. You do too. Anybody that eats
bread in the kingdom of God is indeed blessed, but I don't think
this is a lot different than Luke 11, if you'll turn there
real quick. Luke 11 verse 27, and it came to pass as he spake
these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her
voice and said unto him, blessed is the womb that bare thee and
the path which thou hast sucked. Indeed, Indeed, but look at how
the Lord replies to that. He said, yea rather, lesser they
that hear the word of God and keep it. That's better than what Mary
experienced. If I hear the word of God and keep it. Now this man who said it me heard
these things and he makes this kind of a generic statement.
That's a good thing to call it, I think it's a generic statement.
Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.
Then said he unto him, and this is who the Lord replied to, this
man who made this generic statement. Then said he unto him, a certain
man made a great supper and bade Now this is very similar to the
parable of the king that made a wedding feast in Matthew chapter
22, but it's not the same thing. But picture in your mind what
he says to this man who made this generic statement, a certain
man made, there's the emphasis, a certain man made a great supper. and made many. Now every aspect of salvation
is what he made. 2 Corinthians 5 21 says, for he
hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God. This is what He did. Of Him are
you in Christ Jesus. Look, God is made unto us. Look at the strength and the
power of that language. It's what He did. He's made unto
us by God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. When He had by Himself purged
our sins, No help from me, no help from you. He did this by
himself. This is what he made. The kingdom
of God is like this certain king that made a great feast for his
son. Here we have what the kingdom
of God is. A certain man made a great feast
and he bade many. He called many to this great
feast. feast verse 17 and he sent his servant
at suppertime now you think of this great feast that he made
and he sent his servant at suppertime to say to them that were bidden
come for all things are now ready
now understand this this is the gospel message come not go and
do not go and make yourself ready right now come to the lord jesus
christ now somebody may say well what does it mean to come to
christ it means to believe on him it means to trust him only
as all that's needed to make you you perfect before god The
spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth say,
come. Let him that's a thirst, come. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. And this is a command. The Lord
said, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest. That's a command. That's not
advice. That's a command. If any man thirst, these are
the words of the Lord Jesus, John chapter seven, verse 37.
If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. Forget going and doing or getting
yourself ready. The command for me and you right
now is to come to Christ as we are right now. Does he mean me? Yes, he means
you. Now, the call of the gospel,
not go and do. Come, let not conscience make
you linger, nor fitness fondly dream. The only fitness he requires
is to have a need. Now, do you have that? You're
commanded to come to him. And here's why. Look in verse
17. And he sent his servant at supper time to say to them that
were bitten, come. All things are now ready. You can't say I have nothing
to bring. Nothing is needed. You can't say I have nothing
to wear. He supplies the wedding garment. You can't say I have
nothing to recommend me. You need nothing. All things are now ready. Quit waiting. Quit procrastinating. Quit looking for excuses. All
things are now ready. Come and welcome to the Lord
Jesus Christ. All things are now ready. Because Christ is all, nothing
else is needed. There is no excuse we can fabricate
to not come. Jesus Christ is all. You don't need anything. You
don't want anything else. All things are now ready. Verse 18. And they all with one consent
began to make excuse. Now that's the word He used in
our text in Hebrews 12, 25 of refusing to hear him speak. It has something to do with making
an excuse, begging off. Now look at these frivolous excuses
they make. And they all with one consent
began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I've
bought a piece of ground and I must need to go see it. Would
you buy a piece of ground before you saw it? I wouldn't. I don't
want to see it at first. Find out what it is I'm getting.
I must need to go see it. I pray thee have me excused.
Another said, I bought five yoke of oxen and I go to prove them.
I'm going to find out if they're any good. Would you do that before
you bought them? You'd think so. And another said, I've married
a wife, therefore I cannot go. So that servant came and showed
his Lord these things, these excuses they made. Then the master
of the house being angry. Now don't miss that. If I make excuse to not believe
the gospel, the Lord being angry, That's
a scary thought, isn't it? The Lord being angry. And if I'm making an excuse with
regard to the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, it puts me under
the anger of God, the living God. I don't want to be in that
position, do you? Verse 21, so that servant came
and showed his Lord these things. Then the master of the house
being angry. He made this glorious feast.
And they. See no reason to come. What disrespect? What lack of reverence for the
living God? So he being angry. Said to his servant, go out quickly.
into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in hither
the poor and the maimed and the halt and the blind." Now he doesn't say call these
people, he says bring them in. Bring them in. The poor and the lame and the
halt and the blind. I love this description of who
he's called to bring them in. crippled, blind, poor, lame. I couldn't help but thinking
of David saying, from this position of power at this time, as the
most powerful man in the earth. The scripture actually says every
nation feared David. All of that, don't you? All the
nations feared David. He's the most powerful man in
the earth. And he said, is there any of the house of Saul that
I can show kindness to? For Jonathan said, That's what
God the Father says. Is there any of the house of
Adam that I can show kindness to for Christ's sake? And there
was a servant that said, yeah, there's one, but he's not worth
anything. He's lame on both of his feet.
He can't work for you. He can't fight for you. He can
just be carried. All he could do is be carried
by you. David said, he didn't say, well,
ask him if he wants to go. He said, no, go fetch him. Bring
him in. and they brought him in. Now this description of these
people, poor. You don't have anything to recommend
you to God. Not one thing, not one. You're nothing but sea and
you're poor. The maimed, the disabled, those
who are not able to come. The whole, that means literally
the deprived afoot. You don't have what it takes
to come. The blind, those who cannot see
one reason why God would look in favor toward them, he says,
bring them in, bring them in. Verse 22, and the servant said,
Lord, it's done, as thou has commanded, and yet there is room. Christ said, It's finished, and
it is. Yet there is room. What a blessed word. Yet there
is room. Verse 23. And the Lord said unto the servant,
go out into the highways and hedges and compel. That's a strong word. It means
force them. Urge them. Make them. Compel them. To come in. my house might be filled. For I say unto you that none
of those men which were bitten shall taste of my supper." Compel
them to come in, force them, urge them. Let me give myself and you some
very compelling reasons to come to Christ. And let me remind
you, To come to Christ and to believe on Christ, to trust Him
to save you, is the same thing. The Lord said, He that cometh
to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. It's the same thing. To come
to Christ is to believe on Christ. When you believe on Christ, that
means you actually trust Him to save you. You know you don't
have anything else. That's all you've got. You trust
Him to save you. Now let me give you some compelling
reasons for you and I to come to Christ. First of all, he commands
us to. This is not advice. This is not
even an invitation. When he says, come unto me all
ye that labor and are heavy laden, that's a command. You are commanded
to come to Jesus Christ. And here's a second reason. We
will be received in coming. He said, him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out for no reason. There is no reason
why he'd cast you out. Incoming. He gives that promise. Here's a third good reason. We'll
go to hell if we don't. Perish eternally. Here's a fourth reason. It's
crazy not to. The only thing that prevents
me from coming to Christ is me. I'm the problem. If you don't
come, you're the problem. And what joy we will have in
coming. He said, compel them to come
in that my house might be full. Now in obedience to God's command,
I want to compel us all to come in to him. I think of the Lord
saying to Noah and his family come you and all your family
into the ark. Now, what about the excuses we
make not to come? Somebody says, I fear I'm not
one of the elect. You ever thought that? I fear
I'm not one of the elect. If I'm not one of the elect,
I can't come. Election's true. I love the God of election. It says God is God. That's what
I love about election. God is God. He controls everything.
I love election, but listen to me. I'm not called upon to come
to Christ because I know I'm elect. I'm called to come to
Christ because I'm a poor, needy sinner that I need him. That's why I come, not as elect.
Well, I'm elect, therefore I could, no. I come as a bankrupt, poor,
needy sinner who needs Him. Are you that? Then you're commanded to come. Somebody says, well, I've tried
to believe, but I can't. You're fooling yourself when
you say that. You don't try to believe. You believe something
because it's true. You don't try to believe. One in one is two. Well, I just
can't make myself believe that. Yeah, you can. You believe something
because it's true. That's why you believe. You don't
believe because you've decided to. Now, if you believe something
wrong, you decided to believe something wrong. If you believe
something that's contrary, you said, well, I don't believe that.
I'm going to believe this. That's a decision. There is a decision involved
in unbelief, but you don't decide to believe You believe because
you have no choice. It's just true. It's the truth. Do you believe the Gospel is
the truth of God? Do you believe Jesus Christ is
the Son of God? Do you believe He's the Creator
of the universe? Do you believe He has the power
to save you without any help from you? I do. Somebody says, I'm so discouraged
with religion. There's so much hypocrites. Well,
you ought to feel right at home. The door's open. I'm so discouraged by the way
people live. Well, that means there's folks like you can come
into Christ. I fear I'm just too sinful to
come. Paul asked that in 1 Timothy
1.15 when he said, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom
I am the chief. Chief's already been saved, so
you can't say that. You can be too good to be saved, but you
can't be too bad to be saved. You can't be too sinful to be
saved. I don't care how sinful you are. Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners of whom I am the chief. Well, don't I first need to get
my life straightened out before I come? Don't I first need to
quit my sinning before I come? Don't I need to do something
first? No. That's works. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Not try to get your
life straightened out first. That's just salvation by works.
It's like I'm making myself ready. No, the command is to believe. on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved. When that fella said, sirs, what
must I do to be saved? Well, get your life straightened
out first. And then you can, no. Right now, just as you are,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Well, I'm afraid I won't persevere.
Well, you'll perish if you don't. And if you believe, he'll enable
you to persevere. There's only one reason you'll
persevere because you're kept by the power of God through faith
and salvation. So you don't need to worry about
that either. That excuse is gone. You will continue in the faith
if you ever truly believe. But I don't feel my sin as I
should. I don't feel my need as I should. I'm past feeling. My experience
isn't good enough. Salvation is not feeling, it's
believing. The Lord healed them, not that
felt their need of healing. He healed them who had a need
of healing. Do you have a need of healing? I'm afraid I'm not invited. Well,
you're correct there. You're not invited, you're commanded.
You're commanded. I'd like to close by looking
at a passage of scripture in Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear
them record that they have a zeal of God. They're very religious,
but not according to knowledge for they being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness.
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believe it. For Moses described the righteousness,
which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things
shall live by them. If you keep all 10 commandments
nonstop perfectly, you'll live. Where does that leave you? But, verse six, The righteousness
which is of faith speaketh on this wise. You know what it tells
us to do first? It tells us what not to do. What
not to say. The righteousness which is of
faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thine heart, who shall
ascend into heaven? That is bring Christ down from
above. Don't say in your heart, what
can I do to get Christ to come down here and do something for
me? Ask that. Quit thinking that way. Don't
say that in your heart. It's wrong. Don't think about,
what do I need to do to get him to come down here and do something
for me? That's it. Verse seven, or who shall descend
into the deep? That is, bring up Christ again
from the dead. Don't say, what can I do to get what he did work
for me? What can I do to make his dead
work for me? Don't say that. But what sayeth it? Verse 8,
the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that
is the word of faith which we preach, that thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. That's strong language, isn't
it? The Lord Jesus, you confess he
is the Lord. Understand this faith isn't what
you believe about yourself, it's what you believe about him. I
hope I understand that. Somebody read Acts chapter eight.
You remember that Ethiopian eunuch? He didn't say, I believe I'm
saved or I believe that I'm one of the elect. He said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the son of God. I do too. I really, I
really do. I believe he's the God man. I
believe he's the creator of the universe. I believe he's the
only savior of sinners. I believe that. I believe he's
Lord. That's not an empty title. That
means he's Lord of Creation. He created the universe. He's
Lord of Providence. That means that everything that
happens, he's in control of everything. Everything. He's the first cause.
He's the Lord. He's the Lord of salvation. If
you're saved, it's because he saved you. You believe that? He's the Lord. He's the Lord. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth, the Lord Jesus, the Savior. and believe in your heart that
God raised him from the dead. That doesn't mean simply to believe
that he was raised from the dead, but you believe that God was
so satisfied with what he did, he raised him from the dead.
All of God's satisfaction is in what Jesus Christ did. Confess
with your mouth the Lord Jesus, believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead. Oh, that word's so nigh. He says
it's in your heart right now. That's how close this is. Confess
with your mouth the Lord Jesus. Believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved, for with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. Now, with the heart, man, believe. unto righteousness." Now what
in the world does that mean? Well, your heart is your understanding, it's your
affections, it's your will. That's what's meant by the heart.
It's the whole man, your understanding, your affections, what you love,
your will. Now, with my heart, I understand
as much as You can't understand something like that. It's that
Jesus Christ is my righteousness before God. You understand that?
The only righteousness you have, the only righteousness there
is, is the righteousness and merits of Jesus Christ the Lord. I have no personal righteousness.
His righteousness, I understand that. Now, not only do I understand
that, I love His righteousness being the only way I can come
into God's presence. I love that. I love having his
righteousness. And here's how much I love it.
Let's talk about the will. You want to be saved by your
own righteousness or Christ? Christ! That's what I want. I want to be saved by the righteousness
and merits of Jesus Christ the Lord. With the heart man believeth. unto righteousness for the scripture
saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. I'm
not ashamed of my hope and I'm not gonna be put to shame. I'm
gonna stand justified before God. For there's no difference
between the Jew and Greek for the same Lord over all is rich
unto all that call upon him for whosoever. I love that word. I'm one of them. Are you a whosoever? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. If I'm not saved, guess whose
fault it is? It's all mine. May God give every
one of us grace to be with that number right now who call upon
the name of the Lord. Pastor. Well, I don't know about you, but I've come to Christ again today.
Peter said, to whom coming? I'm coming to Christ. I'm calling
on him. I'm depending on him. Todd, that
was just thrilling. That's such a great message.
Thank you. Now, after we sing a closing hymn, the ladies have
prepared some food for us. The males set up some tables
in here, and we'll go through the line, get something to eat,
and enjoy a time of fellowship together. And if you're sticking
around for the evening at 5 o'clock in Simpson Valley, we're going
to have a get together. have another time of food and
fellowship. Nobody's going hungry tonight, are they? And after
we sing the closing song, before we go get in line, Paul, would
you come and lead us in prayer? Thank God for what he's given
to us this weekend. So Isaac, you can lead us in
a closing hymn. Our great God and our Father,
In the name of thy great son, our great savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, we thank you, our God, for all things, thy great creation
and thy so great salvation. Your great word, your great redemption,
thou art great, has done all things wonderfully. We thank
you, Lord. Thank you for your kingdom, your
church, this church, every church, represented here. Thank you for
your great word, your great gospel, for sending men to preach it.
Ask your blessings upon this word today. Lord, we call upon
you to call men to yourself. We cannot do it, but your word
is great power. We ask that you would exert that
power in the hearts and minds of those who don't yet know you.
We ask your forgiveness of our sins and we thank you for the
food we're about to eat and all things in Christ's great name,
amen.