At Todd's Road Grace Church,
we'd 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 1 Corinthians 1, verse 13,
Paul asks this question, is Christ divided? Are there divisions and different
denominations within the body of Christ? The answer is no. Was Paul crucified for you? No. Were you baptized in the
name of Paul? No. He said in verse 14, I thank
God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius, lest any
should say that I baptized in my own name. And I baptized also
the household of Stephanus, besides I know not whether I baptized
any other, for Christ sent me. Not to baptize, but to preach
the gospel. Not with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. Now the Apostle Paul had been
dealing with the divisions and the contentions within the church
at Corinth, and there were a lot of them. This church, like really
any other church, was filled with many, many problems. If you find a perfect church,
don't join it, you'd ruin it. This church was filled with problems
and Paul was addressing those, but all of a sudden he digresses
from this and he doesn't return. until the third chapter, and
from here to the end of chapter two, we're given one of the clearest
and most glorious declarations of the gospel found in all of
Holy Scripture. I love this passage of Scripture. And Paul prefaces this glorious
declaration of the gospel with these words, Christ sent me. Not to baptize, but to preach
the gospel. Not with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. Now Paul
makes this statement, Christ sent me. There is such a thing
as a God sent preacher. It's such a problem, many preachers,
their seminary sent them, their churches sent them, their mother
sent them. But there is such a thing as
God sending a man. There was a man sent from God
whose name was John. Now, who I want to hear is someone
God. That's the only credential that
I care about, is that God has sent that man. I don't care about
his seminary experience. Did God send him? Paul said, Christ sent me. You know, the Lord himself said
the spirit of the Lord is upon me for he has sent me to preach
the gospel to the poor. Well, this one who was sent to
preach to the gospel to the poor sent Paul to preach the gospel
to the poor. For Christ sent me not to baptize. Now there are people who think
that this is the negation of Christian baptism at this time.
It's no longer in operation because Paul's saying it's no longer
necessary. Christ sent me not to baptize. That's not what Paul
is saying at all. Baptism is important. The Lord said, whoso believeth
and is baptized, the same shall be saved. Now, does baptism save? Of course not. Going down under
the water and coming back up never saved anybody. But it's
the believer's confession I'm confessing in baptism that my
only hope of being saved is when He lived, I was in Him and I
lived. When He kept the law, I kept
the law. When He died, and this is what I'm signifying by going
underwater, when He died, I died with Him. I was buried with Him.
My sins were paid for. When He was raised from the dead,
when I come up out of the water, I came out with Him because I
was in Him. That is our hope. Oh, I love
baptism. What a glorious, simple picture
of the gospel. Paul said, Christ didn't send
me to baptize. He's not talking about baptism
is no longer relevant or not important, but baptisms has to
do with what God does. Baptisms has to do with results,
and that's God's business. I can't save anyone. I might
talk someone into being baptized, but it doesn't mean anything
unless God reveals it to them, and they want to confess Christ
in believers' baptism. Responsibility, Paul said, is
not to get results. It's not to grow a church. It's
not numbers. My responsibility before God,
this is what Christ sent me to do, to preach the gospel. And then he added this statement
to that, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should
be made of none effect. Wisdom of words means marketing
the gospel, making the gospel more appealing to the flesh,
making the gospel less offensive so the natural man can more easily
receive it. Now, Paul said, if I use wisdom
of words in marketing the gospel, and that goes on so much in our
day, If I use wisdom of words in marketing the gospel and trying
to remove the offense and trying to make it more appealing to
the flesh, what do I do? I make the cross of Christ of
none effect. No one is saved through that
kind of preaching. God does not use that kind of
preaching. Now, Christ sent me not to baptize
and he didn't send me to market the gospel. He sent me to preach
the gospel. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching the declaration of the message to save them that
believe. Now, the first thing that I would
notice is the word the. definite article, the gospel,
not a gospel, not one among many gospels, but the gospel. He said in the same book in chapter
15, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached
unto you. The gospel I'm preaching now
is the same gospel I first brought to you. The reason being there
is only one gospel and that gospel never changes. It's always the
same message. It was the same message when
Abel brought the blood the gospel never changes. As a matter of
fact, it's an eternal message. Christ is called in Revelation
13, 8, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Paul
said in II Timothy 1.9, He saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to His own
purpose and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. It's called in Revelation 14.6,
the everlasting gospel, the gospel that never had a beginning, the
gospel that will never have an end. THE GOSPEL. I declare unto you THE GOSPEL. It is what it always was and
what it always will be. It is the eternal gospel. It knows no changes. It knows
no amendments. I declare unto you THE GOSPEL. Now we read in Ephesians 6, verse
19, of the mystery of the gospel. I like that term. The mystery
of the gospel. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2,
verse 7, we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. Now what
is a mystery? A mystery is something we would
never have known had not God made it known. Here's a real
simple example of that. The Trinity. God is one God in
three distinct persons. Now, would you have ever woke
up one morning and said, I'm going to try to figure out what
God's like. And then you'd come up with, well, God's one God
in three persons. Well, that would never happen. The only
reason we know it is because it's revealed in the scripture,
the mysteries of the gospel. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
Now understand this about a mystery. A mystery is not so much something
you understand and comprehend, but it's something you believe.
And you believe it because it's been revealed in the scripture. The mystery of the gospel. And the gospel is called numerous
times the gospel of God. Not the gospel of men, the gospel
of God, the gospel whose origin is in God. Paul said in Galatians
1.11, I certify you, brethren, that the gospel was preached
to me was not after man. It was not derived from any human
source. It's God's gospel. It's not the
invention of men. It's God's gospel. gospel that has Him as its source. The gospel is called twice the
glorious gospel or the gospel of the glory of the blessed God. Now understand this, the gospel
is about God's glory. When somebody thinks God's chief
end is to save men, they've got it wrong. God's chief end is
to glorify himself. Now thank God men are saved through
his chief end. But God's great purpose is to
glorify himself. That's the reason of the cross.
It's to make known his character, his glorious character. God does what he does for his
own glory. Now in my salvation, I know this.
He gets the glory. I'm not saved because of anything
I do. I'm not saved because of anything I intend to do. I'm
saved because God saved me. And in my salvation, he gets
all the glory and all the credit. The gospel is the gospel of the
glory of the blessed God. I love the way Mark begins his
gospel. Let me quote this. the beginning
of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. There's the gospel. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ,
the gospel of Christ, the son of God, who he is. I love what
Paul said in first Corinthians one 23, we preach Christ crucified.
We preach the person and the work of Christ. The gospel is
the person and the work of Jesus Christ. It's the gospel of Christ. And then. Peter spake in the
council at Jerusalem in Acts chapter 15 verse 7, and he spoke
of the word of the gospel. The word of the gospel. You see, the gospel has a specific
content. There are specific words that
are used, and if they are not used, the gospel is not preached. That's why Paul said to Timothy,
preach the Word. Now, the Word is everything from
Genesis 1-1 to Revelation 22-21, and it's got one message, the
Word. Does the Word declare that God
elected a people? Then preach it. Does the Word
declare that Christ is a sufficient Savior and that what He did is
all that's needed? Preach it. Does the Word declare
salvation by grace? Preach it. Preach the word, the
word of the gospel, the actual content of the gospel. The Lord
said, the words that I speak unto you, they're spirit and
they are life. Now the gospel is called many
times the gospel of the kingdom. I love this. The gospel of the
kingdom. That's the rule of his jurisdiction.
He's the king, and he's the king over all. The gospel of the kingdom.
I love the way he said, my kingdom is not of this world. It's not
a political kingdom. We're not trying to... put the world under the rule
of God. He said, my kingdom is not of
this world. It has nothing to do with politics or governments
or nations. He said, my kingdom is not of
this world. It's the kingdom of which Daniel said, he doeth
according to his will in the armies of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth. And none can stay his hand or
say unto him, what doest thou? Oh, the gospel of the kingdom. And Paul called it in Acts 20,
verse 24, the gospel of the grace of God. The gospel, the good
news, the gospel of the grace of God. Now let me save us a
lot of time. Do you believe in salvation by
grace? If you would ask any church in Lexington, Kentucky this morning,
do y'all believe in salvation by grace? I bet every one of
them would say yes. We believe in salvation by grace. Well,
Paul spoke in Romans 11, verse 5 of the election of grace. Now, what is the election of
grace? Well, that's God electing, selecting,
choosing who would be saved before time began. And that choice was
not because he foresaw they would believe. That choice was simply
because He willed to do it. For the children, being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand, not of works. but
of him that calleth. Now, if I do not believe electing
grace, and I'm talking about what the Bible says about electing
grace, I don't believe in grace, period. And if I'm right, as
far as my understanding of what the Bible teaches with regard
to electing grace, I'm right on the rest of grace. The gospel
of the grace of God. Now, on three different occasions
in the New Testament, we read of the truth of the gospel, the
truth of the gospel. And on two of those occasions,
it was in Galatians chapter two. Now let me give you the setting.
When Paul used this word, Peter, the apostle Peter was eating
with Gentile believers at the church of Antioch. All the distinction
between Jews and Gentiles and all fleshly distinctions are
abolished in the gospel. There's no black or white. There's
no male or female. There's no rich or poor. There's
no educated or uneducated. There's no social distinctions.
We're all one in Christ Jesus. And Peter was eating with the
Gentiles. And some people came from James
Church, the church in Jerusalem where James was the pastor. And
Peter got nervous. He knew that they would look
at him critically for eating with the Gentiles. So without
saying a word, he got up and moved from the table of the Gentiles
and sat down with the table of the Jews and began to eat. And
you know what Paul did? Paul rebuked him publicly. And he did so that the truth
of the gospel might remain. You see, if what Peter did was
allowed to go unreproved, it would be saying, well, it's true,
these Gentiles are saved, but the Jews are more saved. The
Gentiles are accepted, but the Jews are more accepted. They're
more pleasing to God by these traditions that they keep. And
what that would be saying, it would be saying that Christ is
not all in salvation. There's something you can add.
There's something you can do to make yourself more pleasing
to God. And Paul says that's a denial
of the truth of the gospel. that Jesus Christ is all. And then we read in Ephesians
1.13, these wonderful words, the gospel of your salvation.
You see, when God saves you, you find out God has saved you. You have some language that many
religious people use that's so contrary to the gospel. I got
saved. You need to get saved. No, you
need God to save you. You need for the Lord to do something
for you. And if you are saved, you didn't get saved. God saved
you. the good news, you find out God
has saved you. It's kind of like when you're
forgiven, you find out you've been forgiven. You don't do something
to become forgiven, you find out you've been forgiven. Salvation
begins with the complete forgiveness of sins. And then we read in
Ephesians 6.15 of the gospel of peace. The gospel of peace. What a word. Peace. What a wonderful
feeling. Peace. Colossians 1.20 says,
having made peace through the blood of his cross. The gospel
made it, the blood of Christ made it to where God is at peace
with me. He's satisfied with me. He's
not looking for anything else. You see, when Christ was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification, I was
justified. I was brought into a sinless,
state before God. That's what justification means.
I have no sin. I'm perfect in Christ Jesus. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
He is our peace, the gospel of our peace. And that comes from
what Paul called in Colossians 1.23, the hope of the gospel. Now remember, hope that's seen
is not hope. For what a man seeth, whiteth
he yet hope for. You hope for what you do not
see. Now, I do not see that I stand before God perfectly just. I don't see that in my body.
But I believe I am because of what Christ did. I have a hope
that when I stand before God on Judgment Day, God is gonna
look me over and say, well done, thou good and faithful servant. And it won't have anything to
do with me in myself being good and faithful, but because of
the righteousness and merits of Jesus Christ, my Redeemer. And I have a hope that everything
between now and then is working together for my good. Because
the Bible says, and we know that all things work together for
good. To them that love God, to them who are thee called according
to his purpose. What a hope. What a hope. The hope of the gospel. Now this
hope is not the hope of mathematical probability. Now when I get on
a plane, I did some research on this. chance that I'll die in a plane
crash. That's how many flights there
are a day. That's how many people board flights every day. In a
year's time, there's a 1 in 20 million chance that I'll die
in a plane crash. Now, those are pretty good odds.
I get in the plane, and I don't worry much about it. But I know
there's a chance I'll crash. But in the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, I am so secure that I'm already in heaven. 1
John 4, 17 says, as he is, so are we in the world. Is he in
heaven? So am I in him. We're seated
together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. That's not a mathematical
probability. That's an absolute certainty
because of the work of Christ in my behalf. Paul spoke in Philippians
1, 17, I'm set for the defense of the gospel, the defense of
the gospel. Well, what's that all about?
Does the gospel need me to protect it? No. No. But Peter put it
this way, always be ready to give an answer. That's the same
word, a defense. To every man that asks you a
reason for the hope that's in you with meekness and fear. I want to be quick to give the
reason for the hope that is in me. You see, Paul warned us of
those who would pervert the gospel of Christ and change the gospel
of Christ, to preach the gospel in such a way that the gospel
is not preached. Now, in that sense, the gospel
needs defended. There are men, Paul called them
angels of light, ministers of righteousness, who are actually
the servants of Satan, and they come using the same words. They
use words like grace, faith, blood. They use the name of the
Lord. They'll talk about repentance.
They'll talk about atonement. They'll use those words, the
same words, but they change the meaning of the word. And if I
believe the message of a false prophet, I will have the end
of the false prophet. I will perish with him. Hence the importance of, here's
the way you defend the gospel. Preach it clearly so that people
can see the difference between the true and the false. You know,
I was a bank teller. many years ago, and when we studied
how to tell the difference between a counterfeit and the real, What
you did, you didn't study the counterfeit. You studied the
real. So when you really were familiar
with the real, you could see the obvious counterfeit. It becomes
obvious. How do I defend the gospel? I
preach the gospel. And Paul said to Timothy in 2
Timothy 1.8 to be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel.
Now, if I preach the gospel, I'm not going to win any popularity
contests. I don't expect to. You know,
the Lord said, blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness'
sake. And I expect that. But oh, by
the grace of God, I want to stand for the gospel just like Paul
did in Romans 1.16 when he said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth. to the Jew first and also to
the Greek. And how blessed it is to call
the gospel my gospel. The gospel that saved me. The gospel you believed you were
saved by. is the gospel you believe. Now, Paul said, Christ sent me
not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of
words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. I'm not trying to dress up the
gospel, try to sneak it in so you don't really hear what I'm
saying. I want you to understand exactly what I'm saying. And
I don't want to try to remove the offense to make you more
likely to believe. I am to preach the gospel and
trust God the Holy Spirit to take care of the results. He'll
take care of the who believes. There'll be baptisms in the preaching
of the gospel, but if I make my aim anything other than simply
the declaration of the gospel, I will most assuredly and most
certainly accommodate the message to that end. And what I will
do is remove the power from the gospel and make it of none effect,
and no one will be saved by that message. All here was Paul's
mission statement, and I trust it's my mission statement too.
Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not
with wisdom of words, as the cross of Christ should be made
of none effect. May God bless this message to
my heart and to yours. 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 church at the information provided
on the screen. Hmm.