Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neiberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 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 Hebrews chapter 3, verse 1,
the writer to the Hebrews says, Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of
our profession, Christ Jesus. I've entitled this morning's
message, Our Profession. Consider the apostle and high
priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. Now what does that word
mean when the writer to the Hebrews speaks of our profession? Well, there are two things that
are important for us to understand about this word. It means literally
to speak the same thing. Agreement. It's what all of God's
people are in complete agreement on. All of God's people believe
this. This is the profession of every
believer, the church. The next thing that's important
for us to remember is this word is also translated confession. Same word. When we confess something,
we plead guilty. This I confess to thee. Paul said, after the way which
they call heresy, so worship I, the God of my fathers, believing
all things which are written in the law and in the prophets.
Now, what I profess is what I'm willing to take the consequences
for, for believing it. I am, by the grace of God, willing
to die for this. This is how important this is
to me. I'm willing, by the grace of God, to die for what I'm professing. That gives us some idea of the
importance of this. Now, remember, In the Bible, there are not denominations. There are no denominations. There
are no Catholics and Presbyterians and Baptists and all these man-made
things that we've made. All believers are one in what
they believe. There's one Lord, there's one
faith, there's one baptism. They're not denominations, they're
not divisions. This is what all believers are
agreed on, this profession. Now, when he says our profession,
he identifies who they are. This describes every believer,
wherefore holy brethren. partakers of the heavenly calling.
Consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ
Jesus. Now our profession is a person. It is not a carefully crafted
document written by men to safeguard the truth. We have these confessions
of faith and creeds and so on, but they're all man-made documents.
I don't care how accurate they are, I'm not interested in a
man-made document. The truth does not need to be
safeguarded. I do not need some document written
by men to interpret the Bible for me, so I can only look at
it through that lens of that particular document. It's man-made
any way you look at it, when I hear people talk about the
Reformed faith. What comes to my mind is truth never needed
reformed. Reformed from what? And when
I hear of the reformers, now I respect the men who the Lord
has used in the past, but to make it sound like they have
reformed the faith and they've rescued it to keep it pure, no.
God's truth never needed rescued, it never needed reformed, it's
always been. Now, it is from Genesis 1-1 to
Revelation 22-21 to the written document, the Bible, that the
Bible is our only rule of faith and practice, nothing else. But understand this, our profession
is a person. Everything we believe is predicated
on who we believe. Now, let me show you that from
the scripture. First, I've already read our profession, Christ Jesus. He is our profession, Christ
Jesus, who he is. We read in Hebrews 4.14, saying
that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens
Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Our profession is Jesus, the
Son of God. Now I'd like to read a passage
of scripture from Luke, chapter one, when Luke is opening up
the gospel of Luke, and he says in verse one, For as much as
many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration
of those things which are most surely believed among us, even
as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were
eyewitnesses and ministers of the word." He's talking about
the apostles. It seemed good to me also, having
had perfect understanding of all things from the very first,
to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that
thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou
hast been instructed." The certainty, the things that are most surely
believed among us. Now, like I said, It's the Bible,
Genesis 1-1 through Revelation 22-21, written by over 40 different
authors over a period of some 1,500 years. It has one message. But if I would pick out a passage
of scripture that I believe would be the passage that most clearly
identifies what every believer believes, what every believer
professes, I would go to the thief on the cross. And this
was a man who was saved in the 11th hour. But we know he was
saved because the Lord said regarding this man, verily, verily, I say
unto you, today you'll be with me in paradise. There's no question
that this man was saved. And he was saved the 11th hour.
He's a man who would give us an example of the man who had,
for lack of a better way of saying this, the least amount of knowledge
and still be saved. We know he was saved. We know
he was saved in the 11th hour. We know he was only alive for
a few hours. before he died. He only spent
a few hours as a believer. He actually saw the Lord die.
The Lord died before him and he heard the seven sayings of
the Savior from the cross. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing
by the Word of God. But we know this man was saved. What did this man believe? Now I repeat This man believed
all that every believer believes. This man had the same profession
as every other believer. What did this man believe? Well,
it begins with who this man believed. Now, he went to the cross not
knowing who Christ was. When he was nailed to the cross,
He did not know who Jesus Christ was. He was insulting him, railing
on him like the other thief, but something took place. He
went from railing and blaspheming and cursing Christ to becoming
strangely silent. All of a sudden, the truth had
been revealed to him. who this man was. Now, he had been cursing Christ,
railing on him, and he's listening to the other thief railing on
him. And we read beginning in verse
39 of Luke chapter 23, this is the story of the two thieves.
And one of the malefactors, which were hanged, railed on Christ
saying, if thou be Christ, Save thyself and us. But the other
answering said unto him, Dost thou not fear God? Now here is where saving knowledge,
for lack of a better word, begins. the fear of God. Now, when that thief was first
nailed to that cross, he had no fear of God. The Scripture
says regarding every natural man, there is no fear of God
before their eyes. Now, understand this. The fear
of God is not the fear of punishment. It's not the fear of hell. It's
not the fear of loss. It's not the fear of mistrust
and unbelief. Everybody has that kind of fear.
That is not the fear of God. The scripture says the fear of
God is the beginning of knowledge. It begins with his fear. The
fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Now the fear of God
is bowing before who he is. When the Lord made his name known
to Moses, in Exodus chapter 34, here is what Moses did. And Moses made haste, no indecision,
and bowed his head to the earth and worshiped. When God made
himself known to Moses in the burning bush, and that burning
bush says so much, Moses saw this bush that could not be consumed. It kept burning. It didn't need
the energy of the wood to continue the burning. And the bush could
not be consumed. The fire couldn't consume it.
And in this we're taught who God is, who Jesus Christ is. He's independent God. The wrath
of God could not consume him. He is Independent God. He didn't need the wood to cause
the fire to continue. He is God. He's the man who consumed
God's wrath. He's the one who teaches us in
this glorious miracle how God can be just and justify the ungodly. Now this is the God who appeared
to Moses And when he made himself known to Moses, his name in Exodus
chapter 34, Moses made haste, hit the dirt, and worshipped.
Now with regard to every attribute God reveals in his word, a believer
bows. God is holy. He's other. He's
a part. The believer bows. God is absolutely
just. There's no unrighteousness in
him. The believer bows. God is absolutely sovereign.
He's the first cause of everything. The believer bows. God is all-powerful. The believer bows. God is independent. He has no needs. The believer
bows. Here's the fear of God. You bow
before every one of his attributes in awe and reverence, not in
disagreement, not in anger, not in resentment. but you bow willingly
before who he is as he's revealed in his word. Now here's the clincher
on whether or not somebody fears God. If you fear God, you're
afraid to look anywhere but Christ alone as all your acceptance
before God. If you don't do that, you don't
really have fear of God. You don't really respect God.
You don't have that awe and that reverence of the greatness of
His person. If you do, you're afraid to look
anywhere but Christ alone as everything in your salvation. The first thing he says to that
man who was cursing, don't you fear God. Now, the next thing
that I would notice is he knew who that one on the cross was. He's God. Don't you fear God? He knew that Jesus Christ is
God Almighty. Somebody says, well, how could
he have possibly known that? the same way you know it if you
know it. He revealed this to you. The only way you and I really
know anything comes from the revelation of God. God revealed
this to him. Now you take that other thief
that was cursing. God never revealed himself to
him. That man was dying as he lived with no love for God, no
hope in God. But now this other thief, he's
He knows who He is now. Don't you fear God? He knew,
I believe, a little bit more than Philip did. When Philip
said, show us the Father and sufficeth us. And the Lord said,
have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known
me? He that has seen me hath seen the Father. Jesus Christ
is God. God manifest in the flesh. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah,
flesh and blood didn't reveal this to thee, but my Father,
which is in heaven. He knew that Jesus Christ is
God and everybody who knows him. This is our confession. Jesus
Christ is God. Now let's go on reading. Verse
40, but the other answering, rebuking, saying, does not thou
fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we
indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds."
This man understood that he was a sinner and he was getting exactly
what he deserved. We're receiving the due reward
of our deeds. This man believed in God's justice
in condemning and damning them. Now, think about that. He believed in the justice of
God. in the damnation of himself and
anybody else because God's just, because God's holy. I am sinful. Now, whenever I hear someone
making objections to the gospel, they think there's some lack
of fairness on God's part. They hear of election. They say,
well, how could that be fair for him to choose one and not
choose another? Or they hear of Christ's redemption for sheep,
and they say, how could that be fair for him not to die for
everybody and just die for sheep, just die for the elect? How could
that be fair? I know that person does not really
believe in the absolute sinfulness of themself. Because if they
saw how sinful they were, they wouldn't say, how could God be
fair to condemn me? They would know God would be
absolutely just in condemning them. And this thief knew that. He justified God in whatever
he did. He said, we indeed justly for
we receive the due reward of our deeds. He saw his own sinfulness
and he understood that he had to have Christ do something for
him because he couldn't do anything for himself. He understood that. And he looked at his other buddy
on the cross and said, we're receiving exactly what we have
coming. But then next he says, but this
man hath done nothing amiss. He knew that the Lord Jesus Christ
is the man, this man. Christ Jesus not only is God,
He's God manifest in the flesh. He came as a man. And beloved as a man, He did
what He came to do. No failure on His part. He is
the man Christ Jesus. And look what he says with regard
to his humanity. He says, this man hath done nothing
amiss. Now I want you to think about
what he said. He'd only known the Lord Jesus a few hours, yet
he could say with regard to this man, he's done nothing amiss.
He's never sinned. How do you know this? because
he knew who he was. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ,
you know him as the God-man who can never sin. If you believe in a Christ who
could sin, you've got the wrong Christ. The Christ of the Bible
is he who could never sin. This man hath done nothing amiss. You see, in the flesh, he worked
out a perfect righteousness. keeping the law of God perfectly,
and he did not even have the potential to sin because of who
he is. I've heard people talk about
his obedience, and they say, well, he didn't give in to temptation.
There wouldn't be any virtue in his obedience if he lacked
the ability to sin. Well, that's foolishness. If
he could sin, he's not God. If he could sin, he could change.
God cannot sin. God cannot lie. Jesus Christ
is God. He hath done nothing amiss. And
understand this, it's his perfect obedience that is the only hope
the believer has of being obedient before God. His righteousness,
his having done nothing amiss, being my righteousness before
God. This man hath done nothing amiss. He knew of the perfect obedience
of Christ, and then he looked at that one hanging on the tree,
and he said, Lord. He knew Jesus Christ was the
Lord because he knew who he was. You see, if you know who he is,
you know he is the Lord. Now, what is meant by that? That's
not an empty title. That means He's Lord of creation.
He spake the world into existence as an act of His will. He's Lord of providence. That
means everything that takes place, takes place according to His
will being done. There's nothing outside of the
control of His sovereign will. He really is Lord. Not just an
empty title. He's the Lord of providence.
Most especially, He's the Lord of salvation. That means salvation's
up to Him. If you're saved, it will be because
He willed your salvation. The leper understood this. He
said, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. He is the Lord. Now, he looks
at that one nailed to a cross, seemingly so helpless you couldn't
even see his countenance. His visage was more marred than
the sons of men. And he said, you're the Lord.
How did he know? Because he knew who he was. Remember, our profession is a
person. He's the Lord. He believed what
Peter came preaching, peace by Jesus Christ. He's Lord of all.
The thief knew that. How did he know it? It was revealed
to him. He said, Lord, remember me when
you come into your kingdom. Now I want you to think about
what this man said. He was looking at the Lord nailed
to a cross. And he actually was a witness
to the death of the Lord. He was still alive when the Lord
died. Remember when the soldiers came to break the legs of the
thieves so they would die, suffocate? When they came to the Lord, they
didn't bother to break his legs because they saw he was already
dead. And the Bible prophesied, not a bone of him shall be broken.
But they saw he was already dead. These two thieves saw him die. And yet he looks at this one
who you couldn't even recognize, and he says, Lord, remember me
when you come into your kingdom. Whatever you do must be successful
because of who you are. You're not going to stay dead.
You're not going to stay in the tomb when they put you there.
You're going to come back. You're going to be raised from
the dead, and you're going to come back as a mighty reigning
king. Now, anybody who knows who he
is knows that so because of who he is. He can't fail. The scripture
says he cannot fail or be discouraged. Now, if he died for you, If He
intended to save you, you must be saved. You can't run the risk
of the hazard of the possibility of being anything but saved if
he represented you, if he kept the law for you, if he died for
you, because he cannot fail because of who he is. Now, a lot of folks look at his
death, they think, well, he died for everybody, he wanted to save
everybody, but everybody he wanted to be saved is not saved. Now,
if you believe that, you believe he's a failure. If you believe
that he can fail to do what he intended to do, but no believer
believes that. That thief with the most rudimentary
faith, the most simple faith, he knew that Christ would return
as a mighty reigning king. And this is what every believer
believes. Why? Because they know who he is.
Now, listen to these words. Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. Do you know if the Lord simply
remembers me as one he represented, nothing else will need to be
said? Lord, remember me. I can't make any claims. I can't
talk about the things I've done or haven't done. I can't make
any promises of what good I will do. The only hope that I have
is if you remember me. And if you remember me, I'm saved,
I'm secure, I'm in heaven. Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. And the Lord said to this man,
he gave him more assurance than he gave anybody else in all the
Bible. He said, verily I say unto you
today, thou shalt be with me in paradise. And he was with
the Lord that very day in paradise. The Lord said he would be. Now,
our profession, our profession is a person, who he is. And everything a believer believes
is predicated on who he is. He's the Lord. He's God. He's man. He cannot fail. He's done nothing amiss. He's
coming back as a mighty reigning king. He can't have a failure
in what he does. Lord, remember me when you come
into your kingdom. Now the faith of the thief. is the faith of every believer. This is the profession of our
faith. This is the faith of every single
believer. They all believe the same thing
because they all believe Him. Who He is what he did, and where
he is now. That is our profession. Now we
have this message on DVD and CD. If you call the church, write
or look on our website, you can get a copy there too. This is
Todd Nyberg praying that God will be pleased to make Himself
known to you.