Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nybert. 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'm reading from the book of
Matthew chapter one, verse 21. And this is one of my favorite
scriptures. Let me read it to you. Matthew
chapter one, verse 21. This is when the angel has appeared
to Joseph in a dream and told him that his wife would conceive
and bear a child. And look what it says in verse
21, and she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. I've entitled this message, His
People Saved From Their Sins. Now this is what I need to be
saved from. I need to be saved from my sins. I hope the Lord will teach us
what that means through this message. This He is not like any other
He. He is utterly unique. The God-Man. The Son of God. God manifest in the flesh. Fully God, just as if He were
not man at all. Fully man, totally human, just
as if He were not God at all. He, the God-Man. shall save, not he'll attempt
to save, not he'll offer to save. He shall save, not he'll make
men savable. He shall save. Who does he save? His people. Now, whoever these people are
that are designated his people, and we're going to consider what
that means, he saves every one of them. He shall save his people
from their sins. And my dear friend, that is what
I need, that is what you need, to be saved from our sins. Now, in verse 18 of this same
chapter, we read, now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise. This had been foretold in the
Old Testament. Isaiah 7.14 says, Behold, a virgin
shall be with child. And Isaiah 9.6 says, Unto us
a child is born, and to us a son is given. Now notice that son's
not born, that's the eternal son, but he became a child. He became conceived in Mary's
womb. This is when his humanity began,
but this was prophesied in the Old Testament. Now, the birth
of Jesus Christ was on this wise. And it appears that the Lord
first came to Mary and told her about this. That which is conceived
in you is of the Holy Ghost. You found favor with God. She
was a young virgin. She found this out. You see,
the Lord had to be born of a virgin, because if he was born of Adam's
seed, he would have a sinful nature like you and I do. But
he was born of a virgin, not being contaminated with Adam's
fallen nature. Born of a virgin. And the angel
came to Mary first to tell her, her about this, and I'm sure
when she came to Joseph and said, I'm pregnant, and I'm still a
virgin, and that which is conceived of me is of the Holy Ghost, I
feel quite sure Joseph didn't believe that. I wouldn't believe
it, you wouldn't believe it. If your fiance came up to you
and said, I'm pregnant, but I'm still a virgin, I've been faithful
to you, that which is conceived of me is of the Holy Ghost. Joseph
did not believe this. Now let's go on reading. Now
the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, when as his mother
Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she
was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband,
being a just man, not willing to make her a public example,
was minded to put her away privileged, to divorce her in a secret fashion
so as not to expose her to public shame. He was a fine man, but
he did not believe her. He was going to divorce her.
And I understand that. I wouldn't have believed her
either. But, verse 20, while he thought on these things, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream. Now, I presume
it was the same angel that had previously appeared to Mary and
said, you're going to have this child of the Holy Ghost. He now
comes to Joseph, and he says, Joseph, thou son of David, fear
not to take unto thee Mary, thy wife, for that which is conceived
in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus. Now, the word Jesus in
the Greek is the Old Testament word Joshua. Thou shalt call
his name Jesus, Joshua. The name means Savior. Now, this
is very significant. In the Old Testament, Moses,
the representative of the law, could not bring the children
of Israel into the promised land. You may remember how he disobeyed
God, smote the rock twice that God said to speak to, and God
said, you failed to sanctify me before the people, and you're
not going to be able to bring the children of Israel into the
promised land because of that. Moses was not permitted in. He
represented the law. Only Joshua, Savior, could bring
them in. It was Joshua who brought the
children of Israel into the promised land. And this is the significance.
This is why his name is Jesus. The law can never bring us into
heaven. If salvation is dependent upon
me first doing something before God can do something for me,
I won't be brought into heaven because I'm a sinful man. The
law, salvation by works, can never bring somebody into heaven.
It's only Jesus that can bring men and women into heaven. Now,
that's why I call his name Jesus. And here's why. For he shall
save his people from their sins. Now let's consider that statement.
He shall save his people from their sins. What I need to be
saved from is my sins. and let me emphasize my sins. You know, people are bemoaning
what a terrible time we're living in and how there's moral decadence
and so on, and I agree with that. I'm not disagreeing with that
by any means, but what I need to be saved from is my sins,
not somebody else's. from my sins, because my sins
and my sin is against God. If God sends me to hell, it's
because of my sins. Now, there is a place called
hell. I don't like to talk about it. I can't stand to hear a hellfire
brimstone preaching where he's almost trying to scare people
out of hell and threaten them and so on. That's not true preaching. But there is a place called hell,
a place where God punishes the wicked. And if I'm sent to hell,
it'll be because of my sins. If you're sent to hell, it will
be because of your sins. He is a just God, and his justice
demands the punishment of sin. Now, if a judge here on earth
had someone who is guilty of murder brought before him, and
there's no doubt he's been caught, and if the judge says, well,
I'm a merciful judge, I'm just gonna pardon you, we'd get rid
of that judge. That would be an unjust judge.
As the just God, he must punish sin. If he doesn't punish sin,
he would not be just. I repeat, if I go to hell, it's
because of my sin. Now, without doubt, the Bible
teaches predestination. Let me Give you a scripture,
somebody says, do you believe in predestination? Of course
I do, the Bible teaches it. Listen to this scripture. For
whom he, this is Romans 8, 29. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. If I'm saved,
it's because God predestinated me to be saved before time ever
was. And what is so glorious about
that is it lets me know that salvation has nothing to do with
my works. It has wholly to do with His
grace, whom He did foreknow, know beforehand, love beforehand. He said to Jeremiah, before I
formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. Jeremiah 31 three says,
I've loved you with an everlasting love, a love that had no beginning,
therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. I love predestination. I love the Word because I love
the God of predestination. All predestination says is God
is God and salvation is of the Lord. And predestination is a
reminder to us that salvation is not of our works. But there
are some who hold what is called double predestination. It's human
logic. Well, if God predestinated some
to be saved, He predestinated others to be damned. And that
seems logical. Well, the scripture does not
teach that. Now, here's the logic. If God
predestinated us to be saved, it didn't have anything to do
with our works, but His choice, His purpose. If God did that,
He also predestinated people to be damned, and it doesn't
have anything to do with their works. It's just God's choice
as a sovereign God to predestinate them to be damned. Now, the Bible
teaches no such thing. I have heard people say, well,
you believe God predestinated people to hell. Men go to hell
because of their sins. I understand that. God's just.
Men go to hell because of their sins. And people think, well,
I'm defending God's sovereignty and believing this thing of double
predestination. No, you're not. You're using
human logic. You can't get that from the Bible. All six times,
the word predestination is used in the New Testament. It's with
regard to salvation. every time it has something to
do with salvation. If I'm saved, it's because of
God's predestinating grace. But if I'm judged for my sins,
it's because of my sins. My sins deserve his wrath. Now, there are three scriptures
in the New Testament that, let me read them to you, that teach,
some would use this to teach double predestination. There's the vessels of wrath,
Romans 9. Vessels of wrath fitted to destruction. And they say, see, God predestinated
them to hell. Well, they're vessels of wrath
because of their sin. And they're going to be destroyed
by God. And then there's another scripture
in 1 Peter chapter 1, he speaks of those, or 1 Peter chapter
2, he speaks of those who stumble at the word being disobedient
whereunto also they were appointed. Well, they stumbled at the Word.
And God's in control of everything, but the reason they're appointed
to wrath is because they have stumbled at the Word, being disobedient,
whereunto also they were appointed. Amen. I don't understand that,
but whatever God says is right and just and holy and true. What about those people Jude
spoke of? He said there were certain men
crept in unawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation. Ungodly men turning the grace
of God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God that
bought them. Once again, this has something
to do with sin. Now, I don't claim to understand that, but
I believe it. and I bow to it, like I bow to everything the
Word of God says. But when we're talking about
being saved from sins and sins, if God gives me what my sins
deserve, I will be condemned. Oh, I need to be saved from my
sins. Now, there is such a thing as
sin. I want to give you what the Bible
says about this thing of sin. There is such a thing of sin
and sins that I need to be saved from and that you need to be
saved from. Here's the scriptural definitions
of sin and sins. Now, sin is my nature. David
said, in sin did my mother conceive me. sins are the things I do
by that sinful nature. Now, John tells us in 1 John
3, verse 4, that sin is the transgression of the law. If I break any of
the Ten Commandments, it is sin. Then Paul tells us in Romans
14, whatsoever is not of faith is sin. That's a broad statement. Whatsoever is not of faith, is
not born of faith. The gift of God is sin. And Paul tells us in Romans 3.22,
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Sin is coming
short of the glory of God. James says, to him that knoweth
to do good, and does it not, to him it is sin. Now sin is
not only what you do, but it's what you fail to do. The wise
man in the book of Proverbs says, the thought of foolishness is
sin. Can God condemn me for my thoughts?
Yes, he can. And he goes as far as to say,
the plowing of the wicked is sin. Now you think of that statement,
plowing. Let's say a wicked man goes out
into his field and plows in order to feed the poor. Everything
that he is going to harvest from that crop he's plowing for, he's
going to use for the good of man. What a wholesome activity. And yet the scripture says, the
plowing of the wicked is sin. And the reason it's sin is because
of who did it, that wicked man. If we say we have no sin, John
says, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we say we've not sinned, we
make him a liar and his word is not in us. I need to be saved from my sins
and my sins. Thank God he came to save his
people from their sins. Now, what does that mean to be
saved from your sins or be saved from your sin, your sinful nature
and the sins you've actually committed? Well, first of all,
There is such a thing called the condemnation of sin. That's God's justice punishing
sin. And Jesus Christ saved all of
his people from the punishment due to their sins because he
took it for them. There is therefore now No condemnation
to them that are in Christ, to them who are called according
to His purpose. There's no condemnation to those
people because Christ took their punishment for them. Now somebody
says, how can that be just? I've got a daughter. If she commits
a crime, I would take the punishment for her, but that wouldn't be
just. She's the one who did it. She must be punished. How is
it that Christ, who did no sin, who knew no sin, could be punished
for sin because God took the sins of His people Those people
he saved, his people that are to be saved from sin and place
them in Christ. That's what happened when Christ
drank that cup in Gethsemane's garden, the cup of his sins.
He bare our sins in his own body on the tree. He was punished
for those sins and I'm never going to have to be punished
from them. He saves his people from the
condemnation of sin. But secondly, he saves his people
from the guilt of sin, not only the punishment. He makes it to
where his people have never committed those sins. They stand before
God not guilty. They stand before God perfectly
just, having never sinned. Now that is how he, what a salvation
from sin. Not only am I saved from the
punishment due to my sin, I'm saved from the guilt of the commission
of that sin. Now here's the great mystery
of the gospel. how God can be just and yet justify
someone who is not just. My sins, Christ took them. He bore them in his own body.
He was punished for them. And he gave me his perfect, sinless,
holy obedience. So I stand before God as one
who has never sinned. It's called in the Bible justification. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect, it's God that justified them. Who is he
that can condemn? It's Christ that died. Now, not
only are we saved from the guilt of sin, I'm saved from the dominion
of sin, the power of sin. Romans 6, verse 14 says, sin
shall not have dominion over you. It shall not have lordship
over you, for you're not under the law, but you're under grace. Now, what does that mean? Somebody
may interpret it like this. Well, I used to be controlled
by sin, and I no longer have the same problems with sin. I'm
a much better person. I don't have the same desires.
I'm just a better person. I'm changed. I don't have the
same relationship. that I once had with sin. It
doesn't bother me anymore. I can choose not to sin. I've
been saved from the power and the dominion of sin. Now, what
I got to say to that person is, no, you haven't. You're making
a big claim, but that's not really what this scripture is speaking
of. Now, when you're under the dominion
of sin, you don't even know it. You think there are certain things
you can do to make things right if you choose to do them. When
you think that way, you are under the complete dominion of sin. It has absolute control over
you. You're blind to it. Now, when
someone is saved from the dominion of sin, here's what happens.
God gives them a new heart. God gives them a new nature.
God gives them eyes to see, ears to hear, and they can now do
what they could not do. I can now believe the gospel.
There was a time when I couldn't. I now am in a state of repentance.
There was a time when I was in a state of complete hardness
of heart. I now love God as he is. I love his gospel. There
was a time when I did not. Why? Because I've been saved
from the dominion of sin. And one of these days, I'm going
to be saved from the very presence of sin. I'm going to stand before
God without sin, without guilt. I'm going to stand being perfectly
conformed to the image of Christ. Now, in order for Christ to save
His people from their sins like that, no condemnation, actually
safe from the guilt of sin, safe from the power of sin, and safe
from the presence of sin. And that's what it is to be safe
from your sins. These eight things, let me give you in closing, must
take place. For him to do that, first of
all, he's got to be able to do that. He's got to be able to
take me, a guilty sinner, a sinful man, a man who by nature is dead
in sins, and make me stand before God without sin. Is he able to do that? What Jude
said now unto him that's able to keep you from falling and
to present you faultless before his presence with exceeding joy. As Paul said in Colossians 1.22
that he'll present us holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. He shall save His people, the
elect, those the Father gave Him before time began, those
who were predestinated to salvation. He will save His people, His
sheep, from their sins. He's got the ability to do it,
but it would do no good if He's able to do it, not willing. But
He's willing. Listen to me, he's more willing
to save you than you are to be saved. I love what that leper
said when he came to Christ and said, Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. He believed his ability, but
he wasn't all that sure about his willingness. And the Lord
said, I will. Be thou clean. Now, if you want to be saved
from your sins, don't imagine He's not willing to save you
from your sins, because He is. He is a willing Savior. He delights in mercy. Don't think
He's not willing to save me. If you come to Him as a sinner,
Coming to Him for mercy, yes, He's willing to save you. He's
able and He is willing. Now for Him to save me, He has
to keep the law perfectly in my place. And he said to John
the Baptist, thus it becometh us. Everything he did, he did
as an us. Thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. You see, he was able to do that.
He didn't have a sinful nature, so he could fulfill all righteousness.
And he did it as an us because he's the son of God and the representative
of all of God's elect, all of his people. And for Him to save
me from my sins, He has to be able to deal with the absolute
justice of God and the punishment of sin. Now, on the cross, Christ
bore the full equivalent of an eternal hell and put away the
wrath of God to where there is no wrath for everyone He died
for. He suffered the full equivalent
of an eternal hell. Now, for Him to save me from
my sins, He has to be able to defeat my adversary, the devil. You know, I hear preachers sometimes
say, we bind you, Satan, we bind you. And I'm thinking, do you
have any idea how ridiculous it is to say something like that?
The only one who can bind Satan is the Lord Jesus Christ. And
he indeed did. Now, in order for him to save
me, he has to be able to not only do something for me, paying
for my sins, but he has to do something in me. He has to give
me a new heart. He has to give me a new nature.
He has to create life in me and give me this new nature that
believes and repents. That's the only way I can be
saved from the dominion of sin. He's able to do that. For Him
to save me, He has to do something about my daily walk, because
I sin daily, and He needs to wash my feet daily. And for Him to do something for
me, I need somebody that's going to raise me from the dead. I
sure can't do that for myself. to raise me from the dead and
present me before His Father without fault. He's going to
have to be able to change my vile body, as Paul said, and
fashion it like unto His glorious body. Now, I shall call His name
Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. Am I
one of His people? Let me ask you two questions.
Are you a sinner, needing this? You can answer that with a yes
or no. And secondly, do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God? Do you believe He is who He said
He is in His Word? Now, if you can say yes to these
two questions, do you believe you're a sinner? And do you believe
He is who He said He is in His Word? Yes, you are one of His
people. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to todd.neibert at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
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