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've entitled this morning's
message, Caesar's King. Our text is found in Acts chapter
17, beginning in verse five, but the Jews, which believed
not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of
the baser sort, and gathered a company and set all the city
on an uproar. and assaulted the house of Jason,
and sought to bring them out to the people. They thought Paul
and Silas were there after this preaching. And when they found
them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers
of the city, crying, these that have turned the world upside
down are come hither also whom Jason hath received. And these
all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there
is another king, another to be king, one Jesus. Caesar is not the king. Jesus Christ is the king. Now let me remind you, the king
is the one whose will is done. King Jesus. Jesus Christ is Caesar's king. He's my king. He's your king,
whether you know it or not. Jesus Christ is King. He's King of Kings. He's Lord
of Lords. That means His will is always
done. If His will is not done, He's
not the King. But as the King, God's King,
His will is always done. He is sovereign. He is the first cause of everything. Caesar, as powerful as he may
seem to be, is nothing more than a pawn in the hands of King Jesus. Jesus Christ is Caesar's king. Now the biggest issue that you
and I face is who Jesus Christ is. All other issues are trumped
in comparison to this issue, who Jesus Christ is. And notice I didn't ask who is
Jesus Christ. It's a declaration of who he
is. Now, if an unbeliever, religious
or unreligious, would come into the Todd's Road Grace Church
and listen to what we are saying, what we're actually declaring,
the content of our preaching, what would they conclude? What
would they say here is what they are saying? Well, I hope they
would have the same conclusion that these people had through
Paul's preaching. Here was their conclusion. These do all contrary to the
decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king, literally Caesar's
not king, Jesus is King. Jesus Christ is Caesar's King. Caesar is in the hand of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He does with him whatever he's
pleased to do. Now, that statement does not
promote civil rebellion against government. I don't have to obey
Caesar. Do you remember when the Lord,
the Pharisees gave him the question, should we have to pay taxes?
And he said, bring me a penny. And they bring him a penny. He
said, whose image is on that? And they said, Caesar's. He said,
render therefore to the Caesars the things that are Caesar's,
and to God the things that are God's. This is not talking about
political rebellion. But I know this. Caesar and everybody
else, me and you, are in the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ
because he is king. King of kings and Lord of lords. There's another king, and it's
not Caesar. It's the Lord Jesus Christ, verse
eight, and they troubled the people and the rulers of the
city when they heard these things. This always does trouble people.
to find out that Jesus Christ is absolutely sovereign. You see, the only one who's sovereign
is God. Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ is the creator.
He's the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. Now, I hope when people
would hear the preaching that goes on at Todd's Road Grace
Church, this would be the conclusion that they would draw, that Caesar's
not really the king. Jesus Christ is King of Kings
and Lord of Lords. Now, what took place? What was Paul preaching that
made them draw this conclusion? Well, we read in verse one of
Acts chapter 17, now when they had passed through Amphipolis
and Apollonia, they came into Thessalonica, where was a synagogue
of the Jews and Paul as his manner was. went in unto them and three
days reasoned with them out of the Scripture. Now here's where
every message must begin. The Scripture. That's the authority,
not because some preacher said it, but the Scripture. All Scripture
is given by inspiration of God. God breathed. If we don't have
an inspired book, all we have is my opinion and your opinion,
and both of which are worthless. What saith the Scripture? Paul began with the Scripture,
reasoning with them out of the Scripture, opening and alleging
that Christ must needs have suffered. and risen again from the dead,
and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ." Now, he
begins with the scriptures that Christ must, needs, have suffered. It was necessary that Jesus Christ
be nailed to a cross and suffer this ignomious death, this horrible,
painful death. Now, why was it necessary? You know, I don't hear this answered
by most preaching that goes on in this day. Why was this necessary?
Number one, because God purposed it. This was the eternal purpose
of God. Christ is called the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. When Peter began that great message
on the day of Pentecost, he began with these words, him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have
taken and with wicked hands have crucified and slain. This is
the reason for the creation of the universe, that Jesus Christ
would come into this world and suffer. Why must he suffer? Here's the second reason, not
only because God purposed it, because he was guilty. How can
he be guilty if he never sinned? because He willingly took my
sins upon His own body on the tree." Scripture says, "...for
He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him." You see, it wasn't
the innocent being punished on the cross. He was guilty. When He willingly took my sins,
He became guilty of the commission of them, and the wrath of God
came down upon Him for sin. Why must needs He have suffered? Well, do you remember in the
garden when he said, if it be possible, let this cup pass from
me? Was it possible? Not if you and
I are going to be saved. For me and you to be saved, he
had to suffer on Calvary's tree and put away those sins and make
satisfaction with God and be raised for our justification. I said, he must needs have suffered. And he also said, he must needs
have risen from the dead. Why must he be raised from the
dead? Because when he died, he made
complete satisfaction. He put away the sins of everybody
he died for. When he was raised from the dead,
it was God's declaration that all he died for are justified.
You see, he made the way. for God to be just and justify
ungodly sinners. Oh, the glory of his death. And then he said in this sermon,
this Jesus, which I preach unto you, this one who suffered, this
one who was raised from the dead, it was necessary that he suffer,
and it was necessary that he be raised from the dead. This
Jesus, whom I preach unto you, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of
Mary, the carpenter, the friend of publicans and sinners, this
Jesus that I preach unto you is Christ, God's Messiah. God's anointed prophet, the very
Word of God. He's a prophet like no other
prophet. Every other prophet said, thus
saith the Lord. He never said that. He said,
I say unto you, speaking with the very authority of God, God's
prophet bringing us God's Word. He's God's priest, God's anointed
priest, the priest after the order of Melchizedek, who if
he represents you, you must be saved. He's God's King. Yet have I set my King, God said,
on my holy hill of Zion, God's King, the one whose will is done. The sovereign of the universe,
the one who has the power as King to make sure his will comes
to pass. If he wills your salvation, you
must be saved. This Jesus that I preach unto
you is the Christ. And then we read in verse four,
and some of them believed. Oh, I want to be one of those
people, don't you? Some of them believed and consorted with Paul
and Silas and of the devout Greeks, a great multitude, and of the
chief women, not a few. But the Jews which believed not.
You're always going to have those who believe, and you're always
going to have those who believe not. The Jews which believed
not moved with envy. took upon them certain lewd fellows
of the baser sort, unprincipled men, and gathered a company and
set all the city on an uproar and assaulted the house of Jason.
They thought Paul and Silas were in his house and sought to bring
them out to the people. And when they found them not,
they drew Jason and certain brethren under the rulers of the city,
crying, these that have turned the world upside down have come
hither also. They've turned the world upside
down with their preaching. Everything they say contradicts
everything we believe. They take everything we hope
in and they say it's worthless. And they say the only hope there
is, is the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation that's in Him.
They take everything out of our hands. They don't leave us with
a will. They put us in the hands of the
sovereign will of Him who is King of kings and Lord of lords.
They've turned the world upside down. We hate their preaching.
We hate their message. whom Jason has received. And
he says, these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar. Now let's remember who Caesar
was. Caesar was the most powerful
man in the world. Whether you were prospered or
whether you were brought to poverty, whether you lived or whether
you died was in the hands of this man. That is how powerful
he was. Caesar. And they're saying Jesus
Christ is Caesar's king. Now, you think of Tiberius Caesar
at that time, the head of the Roman Empire, the most powerful
man in the world. This man, Caesar, and we have
a hard time understanding this because we don't know what it's
like to be under a complete autocrat, someone who doesn't have to,
a dictator, someone who doesn't have to ask men's permission
or thoughts, whatever he says goes. We don't understand that,
but that's the way it was then, Caesar. They said, this is what they
concluded from Paul's preaching. Caesar is in Christ's hands for
him to do whatever he wants to do with him. Christ is not in
Caesar's hands. Caesar is in Christ's hand. Christ is Caesar's King. Christ
is Caesar's Lord. Christ is the King of Kings. I love that passage of scripture
in 1 Corinthians 6, where he's called the blessed and only potentate. the Lord of Lords and the King
of Kings. Now, a potentate is the one who
has the power. You know, men think, well, they're
a powerful man. Or you look at somebody and say,
they're a powerful man. No, they're not. All power belongs
to the Lord. Whatever position of authority
they have was designated by Him. He's the one who has all power.
power. He's the blessed and only potentate,
the king of kings and the Lord of lords. Now he is king by God's
eternal decree. In Psalm 2, yet have I set my
king upon my holy hill of Zion. Christ is God's king. He said,
I will declare the decree Thou art my son, this day have I begotten
thee. Now that's God's decree. We have
Caesar's decree and it won't take place unless God wills it.
But God's eternal decree with regard to his son, this day have
I begotten thee. And that day is not a calendar
day. This is the eternal decree of the living God. He is the
sole representative of the being and the character of God. He's the express image of His
person. The only thing we're ever going
to see of the living God is Jesus Christ, His Son, King by eternal
decree. You know, when He came into this
earth, He came born king of the Jews. You remember Herod heard
of this and it frightened him. He said, where is he that's born
king of the Jews? Why did he want to know? He was
afraid. He wanted to have him put to
death. You see, men don't fear Jesus as a healer or as a provider,
but as king of kings. That's where men don't want to
have anything to do with him. You see, Tiberius, Julius Caesar,
Augustus Caesar were all pawns in the hands of the Lord Jesus
Christ performing His will. In Luke chapter two, verse one,
I love this. The scripture says that Augustus,
Caesar, Augustus, decreed that all the world should be taxed.
Now, did he have any idea that he was only doing God's will
when he made that decree? He was thinking, I'm going to
add to my coffers, I'm going to add to my power, I'm gonna
make sure everybody in this world is taxed to enrich the Roman
Empire and to enrich me. But he didn't know that the only
reason he made that decree was because Jesus Christ, who lived
in Nazareth, would have to go back to Bethlehem. His mom and
dad lived in Nazareth. They were pregnant with him at
the time. And they would have to go to Bethlehem to pay the
tax. And that's where the Christ would
be born, as the scripture said. Augustus Caesar didn't know this,
but he was a pawn in God's hand performing his will. You see,
even the free and uncoerced actions of men, like Caesar's, are under
the complete sovereign dominion of Jesus Christ. He is King of
Kings. You know, one time during his
earthly ministry, after the people witnessed him feeding 5,000 men,
not including women and children, probably upwards of 20,000 people,
with two sardines and five biscuits. He fed them to the full, 12 baskets
of fragments were taken up over with, food was created, brought
into existence, matter was created that had never been there before.
The people from their full belly said, we need to make this guy
king. I mean, we'll have a welfare state. We'll have all we have
to eat. We won't have to work. Everything
will be good. We need to make this man king." And the scripture
said when Jesus perceived that they would come by force and
make him king, he departed. He's not going to have anybody
make him king. He's not going to be elected
king by the people. He's not king by popular vote. He's king of kings. He's lord
of lords. He's not going to have somebody
make him king. He departed from that because he knows that he
is king of kings, king by God's decree. You know, when he was
arrested, what was he arrested for? What was the accusation
brought against him? His kingship. What was the accusation written
over his head? Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. You will
remember when the soldiers mocked him, they gave him a crown of
thorns. They put a robe on him and a
reed scepter and mocked him and hit him in the face saying, hail,
king of the Jews. That's why they were so enraged
by him that he would presume to call himself king. When he
called himself king, he's saying, I'm your king to these men. They
said, no, you're not. Well, they're going to find out
one day he is. You see, he's everybody's king,
the scribes and the elders. mocked Him. He saved others.
Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel,
let Him come down now from the cross and we will believe Him.
They mocked Him as King. Now I'd like to read a passage
of scripture from John chapter 19 beginning in verse 12. And from thenceforth Pilate sought
to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying,
If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend, whosoever
maketh himself a king. Now that's what the accusation
was. Whosoever maketh himself a king
speaketh against Caesar. If he's king, he's Caesar's enemy.
When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth
and sat down in the judgment seat in the place that is called
the pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation
of the Passover and about the six hour and he said unto the
Jews, behold, you're king. Now, he said this in sarcasm. He said this in hatred toward
the Jews. He brings out the Lord, who you
couldn't even recognize His face. He'd been beaten and bloodied.
He'd had His beard plucked out. Behold your King. But they cried, Away with Him!
Away with Him! Crucify Him! Pilate said unto
them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, We
have no king but Caesar. Now if they would have answered
what they should have answered, they would have said, God is our king.
But they said, We have no king but Caesar. Then delivered he
to them therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus
and led him away. And he, bearing his cross, went
forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called
in the Hebrew Golgotha, where they crucified him. Two other
with him on the either side, one and Jesus in the midst, and
Pilate wrote a title." Now, Matthew and Mark call it an accusation. This is what you're accused of.
Luke called it a superscription. John calls it a title. Jesus of Nazareth. the king of the Jews. Now, this was written in Latin,
Greek, and Hebrew. Greek, the education of the common,
or the language of the common man. Latin, the language of the
educated. Hebrew, the language of the religious. And they all heard the same message. Jesus of Nazareth, the king of
the Jews. Now, this was his accusation. This is why they crucified him,
because he is king. Jesus of Nazareth, the king of
the Jews. Now, let me say this first. He's
everybody's king. but he's most especially the king of the Jews. Now he is your king. Whoever's
listening to this, he's your king. He's my king. So I said,
he's not my king. Yes, he is. You may not know
it right now. You may have contempt for that,
but one day you won't. You see, every knee is going
to bow and every tongue is going to confess that He is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father. He is God's King. And He's your
King. He's my King, whether we're aware
of it or not. You see, to this end, He both
died and revived that He might be Lord, both of the dead and
the living. He's the King of those who are
dead in sin. He's the King of those who live before Him, have
His righteousness. He's King, but He's most especially
the King of the Jews. Well, who are the Jews? Well,
He's not a Jew which is one inwardly. one outwardly. Neither is that
he whose circumcision is the flesh, but he is a Jew that is
one inwardly, whose circumcision is of the heart and of the spirit,
not of the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. You
see, in circumcision, something's cut away. And what's cut away? Any hope of salvation by works.
That is the true Jew. His hope and salvation is by
works have been cut away and they look to Christ only. Now, Jesus Christ is King, not
Caesar. Jesus Christ is King. He's King
by God's eternal decree. He was born king. He ruled himself
while he lived on this earth as a king, having complete control,
never sinning, never disobeying God. When he lived, he lived
as a king. When he died, he died as a mighty
reigning king. Death couldn't even take him
until he gave it permission. When He was raised from the dead,
He was raised as a mighty King. When He ascended up into heaven,
He's called the King of Glory in the Ascension Psalm in Psalm
24. Right now, He reigns as King,
His will being done. He intercedes as a King. If He prays for you, you must
be saved. Hebrews 7.25 says, Wherefore He is able to save
them to the uttermost that come to God by Him, because of who
He is, seeing He ever liveth to maketh intercession for them.
And He's going to return as a mighty reigning King. Now, if I'm preaching
the truth, This is the conclusion that you'll draw from my preaching.
Why, that fellow is saying that Jesus Christ is the absolute
sovereign Lord of Lords, King of Kings, the one who controls
everything. Now, if we believe this, we would
be so wise to be like the thief on the cross. He looked at that
Lord, the Lord hanging on the cross, seemingly so helpless,
and he said, Lord, He knew He was the Lord. Remember me when
you come into your kingdom. You're not going to stay dead,
but you're going to come back as a mighty reigning King of
Kings, Lord of Lords. And the only hope that I have
is that you will represent me before your Father. Remember
me when you come into your kingdom. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to todd.neibert at gmail.com
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