Lord. 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. I want to preach this morning
on this subject, the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew chapter
3, verse 12, we read with regard to John the Baptist in his preaching. In those days, John the Baptist
came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, repent ye,
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now, these were the
same words as the Lord Jesus when he began his public ministry. We read in Matthew 4, verse 17,
from that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, repent, For
the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Now, when John came preaching,
he came preaching in the wilderness. And for you to hear a word from
God, you weren't going to hear from the temples of man's religion
or the halls of human learning. You were to go to the wilderness. You see, John was not going to
be identified with human religion. And that's all religion had become,
the temple, the human, man's religion. And you know, I do
not want to be in any way identified with what is called Christianity
in this day. I'm ashamed of it. I don't want
to be identified with man's denominational religion, salvation by works.
To hear the gospel, you'd have to go to the wilderness where
John was preaching, and it's the same message his master preached. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand. Repent. That means change your
mind. You see, everything we believe
naturally about God is wrong. I'm saying that about my own
natural thoughts and your natural thoughts. That's why repentance
is needed. You see, if you or I believe
that salvation is by works in any form, conditioned upon something
we must first do before God can do something for us, if we believe
in salvation by works, we demonstrate a complete ignorance, first of
the character of God, that He could accept something we did.
We demonstrate a complete ignorance of our own character, thinking
there's something we could do that could please God. and we
demonstrate a complete ignorance of salvation. We think it's something
we do. And John the Baptist came with
the same message of the Lord Jesus Christ, repent, change
your mind for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The kingdom of heaven. A heavenly kingdom as opposed
to an earthly kingdom. The kingdom of God is opposed
to the kingdoms of men. Now, I love the way it said,
the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It's very near. I love what Paul
said, the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy
heart, the word of faith, which we preach. This is not something
you can put off or ignore. It's very near. And the Lord
said with regard to his kingdom, my kingdom is not of this world. And the kingdom of heaven, this
heavenly kingdom, John the Baptist speaks of, that the Lord Jesus
Christ speaks of, is not of this world. It is other. That's what holy means, other,
separateness. It's not of this world. And when
men try to bring politics in, It is no longer a heavenly kingdom. It's worldly. It's fleshly. It's manipulative. Is the Lord
on our side? That's not the issue. Is the
Lord backing our political brand? That's not the issue. When Joshua
saw the man with the drawn sword, which was a pre-incarnate vision
of the Lord Jesus Christ, he said to him, Are you for us,
or are you for our adversaries? And the man said, neither. I
don't take sides. I'm the captain of the Lord of
hosts. Now, when we make this kingdom
a political kingdom and try to espouse our political views through
what we call the kingdom of heaven, it is no longer the kingdom of
heaven. It's earthly, it's sensual, and
it's devilish. Understand this. Don't try to
use politics to promote the kingdom of heaven. The Lord said in Luke
17, verse 20, the kingdom of heaven cometh not by observation. Now listen to what he says. The
kingdom of God Kingdom of Heaven, it's not something you can empirically
view and touch tangibly and say, here it is. This must be the
Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of Heaven cometh
not with observation. It's not something that can be
observed where men would say, lo, here it is, or lo, there
it is. It's a spiritual kingdom. It's not something you can see
physically. It's a spiritual kingdom. As
a matter of fact, you can't see it unless you're born again.
No man can see the kingdom of heaven except he be born from
above, the Lord said. It takes a new nature, a spiritual
nature to be able to behold the kingdom of heaven. It's not something
the natural man can see. Here's the kingdom of heaven
on earth. No, it's not. No, it's not. It's not something
that a man can observe. Now listen to this scripture.
This is the key to understanding the kingdom of heaven or the
kingdom of God. In Matthew chapter six, verse 33, the Lord said,
seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and his righteousness. And all these things shall be
added to you. Seek ye first the kingdom of
heaven and his righteousness." Now, notice he doesn't say, seek
ye first the kingdom of heaven and seek to be righteous like
those in the kingdom of heaven are. Now, I want to live in a
way that honors the Lord, but that's not what he said. He said,
seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and his righteousness. Not your own righteousness, His
righteousness. Now this is the key to understanding
the kingdom of heaven. It has something to do with His
righteousness, the righteousness of God. Now the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested. being witnessed by the Law and
the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by the faith
of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe."
You see, if you're in the Kingdom Heaven, You have a righteousness
which is the righteousness of God. Now you can't see this righteousness. This righteousness, the righteousness
of Jesus Christ, is seated at the right hand of the Father.
That's your righteousness if you're in the kingdom of God.
His righteousness. Listen to Paul's words in Philippians
chapter 3, verses 8 and 9. Now listen to Paul's words. He says, when God comes looking
for me, I simply want to be found in him. So that all God sees
when he sees me is he sees me in him. Not having my own righteousness. If my fingerprints are on it,
I don't want to have anything to do with it. I don't want to
stand before God in my own righteousness in any way Oh, that I may win
Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, which is according to my works, my personal
obedience, which is nothing more than filthy rags. That's what
Isaiah 64, 6 says, our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. But oh, I
want to be found in Christ, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God. by faith. Now, if I stand in Christ, I
have the very righteousness of God. Somebody says, how can you
say something like that? Because it's what the Bible teaches.
Listen to this scripture, 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. And if I don't have
the Bible to back up what I'm saying, what I'm saying is not
so. My only appeal is the scriptures. But listen to this scripture
from 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. Paul said, For He, God, hath made Him, the
Lord Jesus Christ, to be sin. For us, who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God, in Him. Now, do you hear that? He made
Him sin. On Calvary's tree, Christ never
committed a sin. Don't misunderstand me. Christ
is incapable of committing a sin. He's the Son of God. He's impeccable. There's no way He could ever
commit a sin. But God made him to be sin. He took the sins of God's elect,
and Christ took them on himself and became guilty of the commission
of those sins, and God's wrath fully and completely came upon
him. He was judged for sin, he was
punished for sin, and he did something that you or I could
never do. He satisfied God. His payment was a sufficient
payment to satisfy God where God can say, I can ask for nothing
else. I'm completely satisfied with what he did. I'm completely
satisfied with everybody he did it for. For he hath made him
to be sin for us who knew no sin, He never sinned that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him. Now, this is what the Lord is
speaking of when he says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and
his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
Now, what does it mean to have his righteousness? Well, listen
to this scripture. I hope this will shed more light
on it. Romans 4, verse 5, Paul says, To him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. The same righteousness that we've
been speaking of, the righteousness of God, the righteousness of
Jesus Christ. Now, have you ever learned that
you can't be saved by your works? To him that worketh not. If salvation
is dependent upon me to do something before God can do something for
me, I will not be saved. I cannot be saved by my works. I have some understanding of
how sinful I am. If I do it, it's sin because
I did it. I don't care what it is. Have
you ever learned that you're a sinner and that you can't be
saved by your works? If salvation is dependent upon
something you do, you're toast. You have no hope. to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly."
Now, think of that term, him that justifieth the ungodly,
the ungodly, the sinful. He justifies those people. That
means they're counted as perfect, holy, someone who has never sinned. How can God do that? Because
the sins of the ungodly, Christ bore them in his own body on
the tree and put them away, and he gives his righteousness to
everybody he died for, and now they are nothing less than the
righteousness of God. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Now this is the righteousness
spoken of when the Lord said, to His disciples, except your
righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,
you shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven." Now, the
Lord said, seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness. Now, if I, in my personal experience,
am not seeking this first, this comes above everything. to simply
be found in Him and to have His righteousness, not my own, but
His, I will not enter the kingdom of heaven. I'm not in the kingdom
of heaven in the first place. Now, have you and I learned this?
We're to seek first the kingdom of heaven and His righteousness. Now, I'd like to read a passage
of scripture from Matthew chapter 19. This is after that rich young
ruler, after he was called upon by the Lord to give away his
riches. Give them all away and come and
follow him. We read in verse 22 of Matthew chapter 19, but
when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful,
for he had great possessions. He was a rich man, and he did
not want to part from his riches. Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the
kingdom of heaven. And again, I say unto you, it's
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for
a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Now before we
get into what that means, what about all these preachers who
tote a health wealth gospel? It's God's will for you to be
rich and it's God's will for you to be healthy and it's God's
will for you to whatever they say and send me your money and
it'll happen for you. Wondering what they think about
this scripture where the Lord says it's easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter
the kingdom of heaven. In other words, it's impossible. How much
possibility is there for a camel to get through the eye of a needle? It is impossible. Now, here's
the disciples' response to this. When his disciples heard, They
were exceedingly amazed. They saw this man's a good man.
Sure, he has riches, but he's a good man. He's a moral man.
If this man can't be saved, who can be? When his disciples heard
it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, who then can be saved?
But Jesus beheld them and said unto them with men, this, salvation,
is impossible. Now, do you hear that? If salvation
is dependent upon me, my salvation is impossible. If your salvation
is dependent upon something you must first do before God can
do something for you, your salvation is impossible. Has that ever
been made known to you? That if salvation is dependent
upon you, You're about as likely to be saved as a camel walking
through a needle's eye. It's not going to happen. With men, this is impossible,
but not with God. Our Lord didn't end there. But with God, all things are
possible. Now, why is it impossible for
a man to save himself? S-I-N, sin. Because that man
is a sinful man. Everything about him is sin.
There's nothing he can do that can please God. There's nothing
he can do that God can accept. He is a sinful man. His sin is his own fault. My
sin is my own fault. I can't blame somebody else.
But why can't a man enter the kingdom of heaven? Because of
his sinfulness. If it's up to men, salvation's impossible,
but thank God, with God, all things are possible. It's possible
for me, a sinful man, to stand before God on judgment day as
one who has never sinned. That's the gospel message. That's
what Jesus Christ accomplished on Calvary's tree. He put away
my sin so that I have no sin. He gives me his righteousness
so when I stand before God in judgment, I'm going to be judged
as one who had never committed a sin, one who has kept God's
law perfectly. With God, all things are possible. And it's all about His ability. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that
which I've committed to Him against that day. Now, he didn't say,
I know what I believe. Somebody says, I know what I
believe. Well, OK, but I like what Paul said better. I know
whom I have believed. You see, what we believe is determined
by who we believe. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed and I'm persuaded he is able. That's my persuasion
that he is able to do whatever he intends to do because who
he is, he's the son of God, he's the God man, he's the second
person of the blessed Trinity. I'm persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed to him. What have you committed
to him, Paul? the entire salvation of my soul. It's completely dependent upon
Him saving me. I have no strength to save myself,
but I am relying on Him to save me. I'm persuaded He is able
to keep that which I've committed to Him against that day, speaking
of the great day of judgment. Now, I would like to read another
passage of Scripture about the kingdom of heaven and the Lord
Jesus Christ from Matthew chapter 25. This is talking about Judgment
Day. And listen to the words of the
Lord, beginning in verse 31. When the Son of Man shall come
in His glory and all the holy angels with Him Then shall he
sit upon the throne of his glory. How I love the majesty of this
statement. And before him shall be gathered
all nations. That means me and you are going
to be at this great tribunal. Before him shall be gathered
all nations, every man, woman, boy, and girl to ever live. Before
him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one
from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." Now
here we have the two kinds of people, sheep and goats. The sheep are the people he died
for. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. Sheep are the people who follow
him. My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. And let me remind you to follow
Christ is not so much to imitate him. Although we want to imitate
him is to keep your eyes on him. You look to him only. Now he
divides all these people into two groups, the sheep and the
goats. And he should set the sheep on
his right hand, but the goats on his left. Then shall the king
say unto them on his right hand, come ye blessed of my father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. That is what every believer is
going to hear. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you before time
began. Oh, what a glorious thought! And then he went on to say, for
I was a hungry, and you gave me meat. I was thirsty, and you
gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took
me in. And this is talking about the believer's union with the
Lord Jesus Christ. But every sheep will be brought
in, and the goats will be separated, and they will be destroyed eternally. Now, the kingdom of heaven has
a king. We just read of him. He's called
the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And the Kingdom of
Heaven has some subjects. When the Lord gave the Beatitudes,
it's important to remember that the Beatitudes are what a believer
is, not what a believer should be, but what a believer is. Blessed
are the poor in spirit. Blessed are they that mourn.
Blessed are the meek. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed
are the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers.
Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness' sake. But
in the Beatitudes, in two of them, The first and the last, when
the Lord comments on these two, he says, theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And blessed are they
who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven." Now, let's consider the first and last Beatitudes
as the description of the subjects of His kingdom. Number one, they're
poor in spirit. They have nothing that could
recommend them to God. They are poor and they are needy. They have no personal righteousness. They have no personal merit.
They have no personal ability. They are poor in spirit. They have nothing. What's the
promise to the poor in spirit, those who have nothing? Theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. You see, when the Lord said,
straight is the gate, narrow is the way that leads to life,
this gate is so straight that if you have anything more than
Christ. You can't get in. You see, the
poorest in spirit are those who only have Christ. Somebody once said, Christ is
all you need. No, Christ is all you have. If
you're going to enter the kingdom of heaven, if you have anything
other than Christ, you won't get in. Only the poor, those
who have no personal merit, those who have no personal righteousness,
their only hope is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Theirs is
the kingdom of heaven. If you have something other than
Christ, you're not going to enter in. You can think of all these
good things about yourself, but you're not getting your end if
you have anything other than Him. And then the last beatitude
is, blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness
sake. Now, this is not talking about
these people being persecuted because of the righteousness
of their lives. Now, a believer ought to have
a righteous life. ought to live in a way that glorifies
God, ought to be generous, ought to be nonjudgmental, ought to
be zealous of good works. They are, but that's not what
this is talking about. Those in the kingdom of heaven
maintain before the world that the righteousness of Jesus Christ
is the only righteousness there is. And if you preach that, somebody
who's trusting in their own righteousness are going to hear, he's saying
my righteousness doesn't count. He's saying my righteousness
is no more than filthy rags. He's saying the only way I can
be saved is by the righteousness of somebody else. Now, people
don't like that message because they're trusting in their own
righteousness. But I tell you when you will like and love this
message is when you have no righteousness. If you have no righteousness,
it's easy to receive his righteousness as the only righteousness. Now, the kingdom of heaven, what's
the key to understanding? The Lord seek ye first the kingdom
of heaven and His righteousness. Oh, may God give me and you the
grace to seek to have His righteousness, to be found in Him, to preach
His righteousness, and to rest in His righteousness. I pray
that God will give me and you the grace to do just that, for
Christ's sake. Amen. To receive a copy of the
sermon you have just heard, send your request to todd.neibert
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