Jesus. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. In Acts chapter 26, verse 8,
Paul says to the heathen king Agrippa, with regard to the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ, why should it be thought a thing
incredible with you that God should raise the dead? Now this is man's objection.
How can the dead be raised? People mocked when they heard
of the resurrection of Christ. And here is Paul's response to
Agrippa and man's unbelief. Why should it be thought a thing
incredible with you that God should raise the dead. The Lord Jesus Christ died. On the cross, he died. He was nailed by his hands and
feet to the cross. The cross was lifted up in the
stand And he hangs there in indescribable physical pain, nailed to this
cross, and spiritual pain that cannot be measured. He hung on
the cross for six hours before his death. And at noon, all the
world became dark. Can you imagine how that terrified
people? The whole earth, the scripture
says, was covered with darkness. I think this lets us know that
we really can't see what's going on at this time. This is a transaction
between the father and the son. And from the darkness, he cries,
my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? While He was on
the cross in utter darkness, He was completely forsaken by
God His Father. He really was forsaken. And just before His death, He
cried with a loud voice, It is finished. the most glorious words ever
spoken. It is finished. And then he said, Father, into
thy hands, I commend my spirit. Even when he was in the darkness,
he never quit believing his father. Father into thy hands, I commend
my spirit. He bowed his head and the scripture
says he gave up the ghost. Do you know he's the only one
to ever do that? At this time, He gives death permission to
come and take Him. That's how glorious this One
hanging on the cross is, who's in darkness, forsaken by His
Father. Death could not take Him until
He gave it permission. And there hanging on the cross
now was a dead, lifeless corpse. Jesus Christ died. Now Joseph of Arimathea, we read
from the scriptures, came and took him down from the cross.
He was given permission by Pilate to do this. I don't know how
long the Lord had been dead. You can remember when He died
before the two thieves, one of the soldiers came and pierced
this side through with a spear. He did it to make sure He was
dead, and He also did it because Scripture said He was going to
do that. It was written that that's what He was going to do.
Now remember everything that took place at this time. Whatever
was done was done according to the determined counsel and foreknowledge
of God. Every move was under God's complete
control just like everything else is. And Joseph of Arimathea
brings him down from the cross. I don't know how he did this,
if he pulled the nails out. We don't know. And another man,
Nicodemus, helped Joseph prepare him for burial. And he's given
a rich man's funeral. They spent much money on what
they did to prepare him for death, the grave clothes and the spices
and so on. And they put him in a tomb. And
there he lies dead. That's so amazing to me. It's
not amazing to me to think that I should die or you should die,
because we're going to die. We're weak, sinful creatures. But how does the Son of God die?
I don't know, but He did. There He lies dead. Three days. You know, he told
his disciples on at least four different occasions, I'm going
to be slain. Three days later, I will rise
from the dead. Now he lays in that dark tomb,
dead. Three days later, his lungs begin
to heave. His heart begins to beat. He
opens his eyes. He lives. He's been raised from
the dead. He gets up and takes off his
grave clothes. That stone, I guess angels rolled
it away. And he walked out of that tomb
as him who liveth. Now, do you know that his body,
while he laid in that tomb, never went through the process of decay?
He's the only one to ever do that. The moment we die, we'll
begin the process of decay, our body breaking down. The Lord
said with regard to himself in the Psalms, thou will not suffer
thy holy one to see corruption. He never went through the process
of decay, and here's why. The moment he died, God was satisfied
with what he did. and everybody he did it for.
He never went through the process of decay. When he was raised,
the scripture says he was delivered for our offenses and raised again
for our justification. Now, Paul asked this question
to Agrippa, why should it be thought a thing incredible with
you that God should raise the dead? God, is anything too hard
for the Lord? You think of God in creation,
the power he demonstrated when he created the universe as an
act of his will from nothing. What power! That's who God is,
all powerful. He created the universe from
nothing. Now why should it be thought
a thing incredible to you that God should raise the dead? If
he can create the universe from nothing, He can raise the dead.
I think of Adam. The Scripture says, God breathed
the breath of life into Adam. He was formed from the earth.
God breathed the breath of life in him, and he became a living
soul. A living, breathing soul. You know, I think it is I don't know what word to use
for this, but there are many people that believe that life
resulted from some chemical reaction that took place in some primordial
stew, where you have a one-celled, I guess, life, and that all forms
of life come out of that, and that somehow along the evolutionary
process, consciousness comes into being. Why, that's a Talk about blind faith. Talk
about a leap into the dark. Talk about grasping at straws.
But oh, it's natural to believe that God created man in his own
image. God created Adam and gave him
life. Now, he that breathed life into
Adam in the first place, he was created from the dust of the
earth and God breathed life into him. He that breathed life into
Adam and made him a living soul cannot God raise the dead. Why would you think it incredible
that God should raise the dead? I love it when the women went
back to the tomb early that Sunday morning and saw that the stone
had been rolled away, and they saw two angels. And the angels
said unto them, why seek ye the living among the dead? He's not
here. He is risen. Now, the fact that he was raised
from the dead tells us that he did die. The Son of God, the
God-man, did die. Question, why do men die? One reason, sin. The wages of sin is death. Romans 5.12 says, by one man,
sin entered the world, talking about Adam's fall. By one man,
sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so that death passed
upon all men in that all have sinned. Now, he's not only talking
about physical death. In Genesis 2, verse 17, God said with regard to Adam
eating of the forbidden fruit, in the day you eat thereof, you
shall surely die. He didn't say if you eat. He
said when you do. This was all a part of God's
sovereign purpose to manifest Himself In the day you eat thereof,
you shall surely die. Now, we realize that Adam didn't
die physically that day, but he died spiritually. And we are
all born spiritually dead. Now, this thing of death, there
is spiritual death, the way we're born, born sinners, born with
no love for God, born believing in salvation by works, there's
physical death, and after that, there is eternal death. That
is talking about hell, where the wages of sin are paid for,
but hell is eternal because no one can satisfy God. You see,
if someone murdered your child, and then they said, here's $10
million, would you be satisfied? You'd say, no. Now, I could never
be satisfied. The only thing that could satisfy
me is if my child is brought back from the dead and someone
has to pay the price for killing her. Now, the death of a sinner,
a sinner in hell can never pay for his own sins. He can never
make satisfaction. Only the death of Christ, God
can be satisfied with. Now, this man, the Lord Jesus Christ,
never sinned. Remember I said the cause of
death is sin. This man never sinned. I've heard people describing
as being innocent. Well, I think that that's a wrong
description. Adam was innocent before he fell. The Lord Jesus
Christ was more than innocent. He's incapable of sin. He's impeccable. Under no circumstance could he
sin, yet he died. Why? Second Corinthians chapter
5 verse 21 tells us, for he hath made him, the Lord Jesus Christ,
God the Father, hath made him to be sin for us. who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him." Now think about
that statement. That's the very heart and soul
of the gospel. He, God the Father, made him
to be sin. Now, what all that means, I do
not know. It's more terrible than any of
us can ever experience. He never sinned, but he was made
sin. You know, the Lord made water
into wine. Now, it didn't, it wasn't water
that smelled like wine. It wasn't water that tasted like
wine. It was not water that looked like wine. It was wine. Christ was made sin. All the sins of all of God's
elect were made to meet upon Him. He was made sin. And that's why God forsook Him.
That's why God's wrath was poured upon him because he was made
sin. And that perfect righteousness
that he worked out is given to every believer so that we can
say, or that the Bible says, for he hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we, every believer, might be
made the righteousness of God in him. Now, I want us to think
about this for a moment. This is talking about Christ
on the cross, when he was on the cross. When he died, the
sin debt of everybody he died for was paid for. Now, most of
what goes on under the name of Christianity says this about
the death of Christ. Jesus Christ paid every man's
sin debt. He paid the price, but it's up
to you as to whether or not you'll accept what He did. Now, under
this teaching, this false teaching, it's possible for Jesus Christ
to die for your sins and you wind up in hell anyway if you
don't do your part. Now, may I say that that is false. That is repugnant. That makes
Jesus Christ a failure. If He intended to save you and
didn't save you, guess what? He failed in His intentions,
and that can never be. You see, the only hope any sinner
has is that Christ died for them. And if He could die for me, And
I end up in hell anyway because there's something I didn't do.
I know this, I'll end up in hell. Because if salvation is dependent
upon anything in me, me doing something before he can do anything
for me, then I will not be saved, nor will you. But thank God his
death was a success. That's what is meant by it is
finished. Everybody that I died for is
saved. Oh, how we love the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. When he was raised from the dead,
God said, I am satisfied. I'm not looking for anything
else. I'm not looking for anything outside of Todd Nyberg. His salvation
is complete. Satisfaction. Now, if he lived
this perfect life and went back to heaven, what good would it
do me? None. If he lived this perfect life
and died, but wasn't raised from the dead, what good would it
do me? Absolutely none. But the fact that he was raised
from the dead, the scripture says he was delivered for our
offenses and raised again for our justification. Because of
his resurrection, everybody he died for stands before God justified. without guilt, without sin—perfect. Peter speaks in I Peter 3.21
of the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. Now, the only thing that satisfies
my conscience is the resurrection of Christ. That's it. Anything
else I feel guilty, sin will accuse me, but only the resurrection
of Christ tells me that before God I have no sin because of
Him. In Hebrews chapter 6, The writer
to the Hebrews gives the six fundamentals of the faith, and
one of those is the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. There is no understanding of
the gospel apart from the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. Now, not only was Christ physically
raised from the dead, but there are two other resurrections.
There is spiritual resurrection. That's what happens when someone's
born again. They're dead in sins, God gives them life. They're
raised from the dead, and you hath he quickened who were dead
in trespasses and sins. And then there's the final resurrection
the Lord spoke of in John chapter five, verse 28. Marvel not at
this, for the hour is coming in which all that are in their
graves, everybody that's ever died, how many billions of people
That would be, we don't know. But everybody that is in their
grave shall hear his voice and shall come forth, they that have
done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done
evil to the resurrection of damnation. Now, here's the gospel. Every believer, this is the summary
of their life. They've done good. Well, what
about their sin? It was put away. There is no
sin. All they have is the righteousness
of Christ. And all that can be said of them
is they have done good. They will hear, well done, thou
good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord. All that have done evil. They
don't have Christ's righteousness. All they stand before God is
in their sin. They're going to be raised under
the resurrection of damnation that will last eternally. Now, what is meant by spiritual
resurrection? Well, I've already alluded to
the fact that God said to Adam, in the day you eat thereof, you
shall surely die, and he died spiritually. Just as a dead man
cannot perform the functions of physical life, a spiritually
dead man cannot perform the functions of spiritual life. He can't believe.
He can't repent. He can't love. He cannot come
to Christ. It's true, he will not, but he
will not because he cannot, and he cannot because he will not.
The Lord said, no man can come to me, except the Father which
has sent me draw him. And because of this spiritual
death, here's what evidence is it. A man is spiritually dead
if he believes he can be saved by his works. Now that is the
mark of spiritual death. Somebody says a spiritually dead
man is wicked and think of all kinds of different sins he could
commit. Well, I certainly wouldn't deny that, but here's the true
mark. You're spiritually dead if you believe that you can be
saved by anything you do. If you believe that God cannot
save you unless you first do something that will enable Him
to save you, you are spiritually dead. You believe in salvation
by works. You think salvation is dependent
upon you. Now, when I think something like that, here's demonstration
of my spiritual death, I'm totally ignorant of the character of
God. If I think God could accept my works, I bring God to a very
low place, and I put such a high opinion of myself if I think
God could accept something that I've done. I demonstrate a complete
ignorance of how He saves by Christ. Now, if I believe that
salvation is in any way to any degree dependent upon something
I must first do, I am spiritually dead. And the only way I can
live is if God gives me life. That's what the new birth is. God giving me life, being born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible. And when he gives me life for
the first time, I see who God is. For the first time, I see
who I am. You see, you can't even understand
sin unless God gives you life. And for the first time, I see
that salvation is what He does and not what I do. There's repentance toward God
and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ where there is spiritual
life. And the third resurrection is
the final resurrection. where everybody to ever live
is going to be raised from the dead. Those in Christ will be
accepted. The sheep, those who have trusted
in their own works, the goats, they will be rejected. I think of that scripture in
Revelation 22, verse 11. We read, he that is unjust, let
him be unjust still. That's how he will spend eternity.
And he which is filthy, let him be filthy still. The way I die,
I'm going to spend eternity. He that is righteous, let him
be righteous still. This describes every believer
having the righteousness of Christ. And he that is holy, let him
be holy still. In conclusion, Why would you
think it incredible that God should rise, raise the dead? In Mark 9, we read of the Mount
of Transfiguration, where the Lord appeared to His disciples,
John, Peter, and James, and was transfigured before them. His
face did shine as the sun. His clothes were glistening and
white. All they could do is hit the
dirt. And when they were coming down from the mountain, the Lord
said to them, don't tell anybody about this until after the son
of man is risen from the dead. And the scripture says they began
to question among themselves what the rising of the dead should
mean. So I want us to close with these
thoughts on the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
resurrection of Christ is God's eternal purpose accomplished. You see, Christ is called in
Revelation 13, verse 8, the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. Before time, before there was
ever a sinner, there was a Savior. But not only is He the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, He's the Lamb raised from the
foundation of the world. And all of God's people have
always been viewed in Him. And this is why God created the
universe, that His Son might come and die on Calvary's tree
and be raised from the dead to manifest all of His attributes
and to save His people from their sins. This is God's eternal purpose
being done. Here's my second observation
on the resurrection of Christ. He lives. I serve a risen Savior. He lives, reigning and ruling,
seated at the right hand of the Father in absolute control of
everybody and everything as Lord of lords and King of kings. He lives. Here, thirdly, is the singular
ground of salvation. There is no other ground. Listen
to what Paul says in Romans 8, verse 33. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that can condemn? Who
can bring something against my charge? It's Christ that died. That's the only answer needed.
It's Christ that died. Now, if He can die for you and
you wind up in hell in any way, that won't do you any good, will
it? But everybody He died for must be saved. It's Christ that
died, yea, rather, that's risen again. who's even at the right
hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. And fourth,
the resurrected Christ still bears the scars of his death. And everybody in heaven is going
to know that the only reason they're there is found in his
scars. I'm gonna look at his scars and
I'm gonna know the only reason I'm in heaven is because of him.
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