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 Mark chapter 16, after the
Lord had given the disciples the commission to go into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature, he said this,
and these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they cast out
devils. They shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents. And if they drink any deadly
thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick
and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken
unto them, he was received up into heaven and sat on the right
hand of God. And they went forth and preached
everywhere. the Lord working with them and
confirming the word with signs following. And he is talking
about those five particular signs. Now think of what the Lord is
saying. I've entitled this message, These
Signs Shall Follow Them. He does not say these signs will
usually follow them. He does not say these signs will
sometimes follow them. They shall follow them that believe. And that's talking about all
the time. If they do not follow them, there
is no evidence that God is at work. These signs are proof that
this is the work of God and not the word of man. Now, the Lord
says, these signs shall follow them that believe, people who
believe the gospel. There are those who believe,
and there are those who do not believe. These signs shall follow
them that believe, and these signs shall follow them that
believe. What comes out front is the preaching
of the gospel. Preach the gospel to every creature. That's what comes out in front.
And these signs follow those who believe. And he says in verse
17, these signs shall follow them that believe in my name,
they shall. cast out demons and so on. This
is done in the power and the authority of Jesus Christ. These things are done in his
name. Now I want you to think about
what the Lord says. You'll cast out demons. You'll speak with new tongues. You'll take up serpents. rattlesnake,
copperhead, cobra, you pick them up, they will not hurt you. You can drink deadly things and
it'll kill anybody else, but it won't kill you. They can drink
a bottle of Drano. and it wouldn't hurt them. And
they would lay their hand on the sick and they would be healed. And the Lord confirmed their
word working with them. Now I've got a question. Why
am I not doing this? It's a good question, isn't it?
Why am I not doing this? There are some who claim all
of these things, even today. Some who claim to have all of
these gifts. Now, I've never heard of anyone
who claimed to have the gift of drinking deadly poison. I've
never run across somebody who tried something like that. If
you had these gifts, that means you could chug a bottle of Drano
and it wouldn't hurt you a bit. I've never seen anyone try that,
but I do not possess any of these gifts that the Lord said would
follow. I'm not an exorcist. I cannot speak in new languages. I'm scared of snakes. Can't stand
to even look at them. I'm sure not going to pick up
a poisonous snake. I'm not going to drink poison if I can help
it. I cannot heal the sick, nor does God use me to heal the sick
through the laying on of my hands. He did this with the apostles.
And they went all over the globe with these miraculous gifts.
Now, when he said, go preach, go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature, they had to know. All kinds of,
I mean, they had to be able to speak all kinds of different
languages. That's what the gift of tongues is. If I had the gift
of tongues, it's not the way so many of the people present
it now, some kind of heavenly language, heavenly gibberish
that you don't know what you're saying, but God knows and you're
edified through it. That's not what's being taught
at all. The gift of tongues, if I had the gift of tongues,
I could walk into China, having never learned their language,
and preach the gospel in perfectly fluent Chinese. That's what the
gift of tongues is. It's not some kind of heavenly
gibberish. But they literally could cast
out demons. they could pick up snakes. And we have the example that
happened in Acts chapter 28 when a viper bit Paul and they were
waiting for him to swell and die and it never happened because
it had no effect on them. They could drink poison, it would
have no effect. and they could heal the sick.
And unlike their counterparts of this day, if I had the gift
of healing, you know what I'd do? I'd go into hospice where
people are dying and I'd heal them. And I would go into the
cancer ward. I'd go into the Markey Cancer
Center at UK and I would lay my hands on people and their
cancer would be gone if I had the gift of healing. And these
people who claim this are phonies because if they could really
do it, They would go into cancer centers. They would go into hospice
and heal people. But I've never seen one of them
do that. But you'll say, well, I healed
somebody miraculously. Somebody had one leg shorter
than another. Let's talk about true miracles. Somebody dying
of cancer and all of a sudden they're made miraculously. healed,
whole, full strength, somebody that is in a wheelchair with
their spine severed and they'll never walk again and all of a
sudden they get up and walk straight. That's the kind of stuff that
would happen if someone really had the gift of healing. Now, why is it that I can't do
that? Good question. In Acts chapter
eight, I wanna read you a passage of scripture. In Acts chapter
eight, this is when Philip preached the gospel in Samaria, and many
of them believed. And we read, beginning in verse
13, then Simon himself believed also. Simon Magus, and when he
was baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered, Beholding
the miracles and the signs which were done Now when the Apostles
which were Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word
of God they sent unto them Peter and John You see Philip could
heal people He could speak in other languages. He could take
up snakes and poison and cast out demons. Scripture says that
happened during that time, but he could not transfer the gift
to others. He could do these things, but
he couldn't transfer it to others. So they call for Peter and John,
the apostles, who when they were come down, prayed for them that
they might receive the Holy Ghost. Now that's talking about these
supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. For as yet he was fallen
upon none of them, save they were baptized in the name of
the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on
them and they received the Holy Ghost. When the apostles did
this, these people received the Holy Ghost. Philip couldn't do
it. Only the apostles could do it. And when Simon saw that through
the laying on of the apostles' hands, the Holy Ghost was given,
he offered them money saying, give me also this power that
on whomsoever I lay my hands, he
may receive the Holy Ghost. Now, did you notice what that
said? When Simon saw that through the
laying on of the apostles' hands. It was only through the apostles
that these gifts could be given. No one but the apostles could
lay their hands on someone and they would receive these gifts. The people who received the gifts,
they couldn't lay their hands on somebody else. So when all
the apostles were dead, this gift had ceased. It no longer
was. Now that's the teaching of scripture.
And as far as that goes, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13, verse
10, when that which is perfect has come, that which is in part
shall be done away with. What is perfect? The full canon
of scripture. It hadn't come yet, but when
that which is perfect has come, that which is in part will be
done away with. And now we have the scripture,
we have the full canon of the gospel, and we don't need to
perform miracles to enable men to believe. As a matter of fact,
nobody has ever believed by seeing a miracle. There's all kinds
of folks. When our Lord walked upon this earth that saw what
he did, but they still didn't believe. Now, faith comes by
God the Holy Spirit taking the word preached and creating life. And when someone is looking for
these miracles, it's because they don't believe that the word
of God is sufficient and God the Holy Spirit is the one who
gives life. Miracles are needed. They're
not needed. They were used in that day. They
are no longer. So when someone claims these
supernatural gifts, I just do not believe them. They are claiming to have something
that they do not really have. And if they did, they would be
going into hospitals and so on. But all that being said, Those
five things do indeed accompany the gospel. When the gospel is
preached, demons are cast out. A new language is now understood
that was not understood before. The effects of the serpent, Satan,
are not an effect when someone believes the gospel. No deadly
thing can kill. You can't kill a believer. You
can't kill the spiritual life. And the sick are healed through
the preaching of the gospel. The sin sick are healed through
the preaching of the gospel. So these things still accompany
the preaching of the gospel. Let's consider them one at a
time. The first thing that the Lord
says will happen is, in my name they shall cast out devils. Listen to this scripture from
Ephesians chapter two, verse one. And you hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins. Dead in trespasses and sins. You walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit who now worketh in the children of disobedience."
Every man is under the control of the devil that is not saved. That's what the scripture teaches.
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in
the lusts of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath, just like everybody else. You know, the
Lord said to the Pharisees, you're of your father the devil. and
the lust of your father you will do. Now I don't care how religious,
I don't care how moral the person appears to be, anyone who is
not a believer, somebody that God has saved by his grace is
under the power of the devil. And they can't get themselves
out from under that power. I love what the Lord said to
Peter. He said, thou art Peter and upon this rock This confession
of me, I'll build my church. Now, what was that confession?
Whom do men say that I am? Well, they say some good things.
Whom say ye that I am? Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah.
Flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you, but my Father. which
is in heaven. I say unto you, thou art Peter,
and upon this rock this confession of me." This is not talking about
building the church on Peter. Heavens, no. Peter was a sinner
just like I am, just like you are, a sinner saved by grace.
He's talking about this confession of Christ. He's the Christ. He's
the Son of the living God. Upon this rock I'll build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Now the battering ram of the gospel will knock down the gates
of hell and rescue every sinner for whom Christ died. And they
are delivered from the clutches of Satan and the dominion of
Satan. This is the work of the gospel. They are saved by his grace. And you have he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. You walked according to the course
of this world. You were under the control of the devil, and
he saved you. Indeed, demons are cast out. Now, the second thing that he
mentions is a new language. You know, when you're unsaved,
if a man is unsaved, he cannot understand the language of the
gospel. All he hears is rules and regulations
from the Bible, what he must do in order to save himself. And the Lord put it this way
in John chapter five, verse 39. He said, you search the scriptures
for in them, you think you have eternal life. You think, if I
can just keep these rules, and if I can obey these commandments,
and if I can do what God says to do, I'll have eternal life.
He said, they are they which testify of me. Christ is eternal
life. And you hear the gospel of grace
until God gives you hearing ears. You know, the Lord said, to him
that hath ears to hear, let him hear. But if you don't have ears
to hear, you can't understand the language of the gospel. It
doesn't make sense to you. But when God gives you ears to
hear, you hear. You hear a new message that you
did not hear before. You hear a message of grace. How the salvation is all of grace. You hear a message of Christ
being a complete Savior and how He's all that is needed to make
you perfect and accepted before God. You didn't hear before.
You now do. You begin giving ears to hear
this language of the gospel that no natural man can hear. Oh, what a blessing it is to
be able to hear the gospel of grace. Faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. And it's just a foreign language
unto you. It might be somebody listening
to me right now. It just sounds like a foreign
language. Oh, but if God gives you ears to hear, You hear with
hearing ears, and you hear the joyful sound. Now, those who
believe, thirdly, are not affected by the effects of the serpent,
the viper. Now, Satan came in the form of
a serpent, didn't he? And it was He who led our first
parents into rebellion against God. And they fell. They became sinners. They became
dead in sins. Self-salvation was impossible. But here is the gospel. The person that Christ saves,
they're not affected by the effects of the serpent. And let me read
you this verse of scripture. I believe this'll give us exactly
what that means. Matthew 121, thou shalt call
his name Jesus for. He shall save his people from
their sin. Now, Satan tempted our parents
to sin and to become dead in sins, and all of that is reversed
and taken away by the Lord Jesus Christ, Him saving His people
from their sins. Now, He saved me from the penalty
of my sin, and listen to me, there is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. I'm not going to have to pay
for my sins. Christ paid for my sins. And I stand before God because
of what Christ did. I stand before God justified. Justified. There's nothing to
condemn me for. Now that's salvation from sin.
There is nothing to condemn me for. I stand before God without
guilt and he saved me from the power of my sins. How'd he do
that? By giving me a new heart. Now
there was a time when I could not believe. There was a time
when I couldn't understand the language of the gospel. There
was a time when repentance was a mystery to me. I thought, what
does it mean to repent? And then God gave me a new heart. And now I do believe the gospel
with that new heart that He gave me. I've been saved from the
power of sin. There was a time when I couldn't
believe. There was a time when I could not repent. There was
a time when I had no love for God. I do now because I have
been saved from the power of sin by Him giving me a new nature,
a new heart. And beloved, one of these days,
it hasn't happened in my experience yet, but I'm going to be saved
from the very presence of sin. When I die, my sinful body is
going to be laid in the grave and my sin will be no more and
I will be raised incorruptible just like the Lord Jesus Christ
without even the presence of sin. I won't even remember what
it's like to be a sinner. When I enter glory, I'll be saved
from the very presence of sin, and even when I'm in heaven,
I'll know the only reason I'm there. Even though I can't remember
being a sinner, I'll know the only reason I'm there is because
of the Lord Jesus Christ when I look upon the scars on His
hands and His feet, and I'll know the only reason I'm there
is because of what He did. Now, He saves from the effect
of the serpent. And then the scripture says no
deadly thing would destroy them. They could drink anything deadly
and it wouldn't destroy them. Now here is the point. When God
gives spiritual life, that spiritual life can't die. It can't die. I can't, I'm gonna follow Christ
all the way to the end because I have a new heart that will
continue and it's the life of God in the soul that cannot be
killed. Now that's how powerful this
salvation is. I cannot be killed. I will continue
all the way to the end. Now if I could fall away, I would
fall away. but I cannot fall away because
the scripture says, now unto him that's able to keep you from
falling and to present you faultless before his presence with exceeding
joy. No deadly thing can kill the
believer. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
No deadly thing can be brought to their charge. God justified
them. Who is he that can condemn? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. No deadly thing can kill
them. And then last, it said that they
shall lay their hands on the sick and they shall recover.
Now this is what happens when God uses the preaching of the
gospel The sick are healed and they're healed through the laying
on of hands. They shall lay their hands on
the sick and they shall recover. Now, most people, they think
of some preacher putting their hands on somebody's head and
something happens and people fall backwards. That's not what
that's talking about. This thing of laying on of hands
is found in the Old Testament in Leviticus chapter three. This
is on the great day of atonement. I want to read these verses of
scripture to you. Then you'll understand what this
thing of laying on of hands is about. It's called one of the
first principles of the gospel in Hebrews chapter six, verse
two. It says in verse 20, and when he had made an end of reconciling
the holy place and the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar,
he shall bring the live goat. This is what's known as the scapegoat.
and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live
goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children
of Israel, and all their transgressions, in all their sins, putting them
upon the head of the goat. Now that's what happened in the
laying on of hands. This symbolically pictures the
transfer of sins, the sins of the children of Israel to the
live goat. And he shall send him away by
the hand of a fit man into the wilderness and the goat shall
bear upon him all their iniquities. unto a land not inhabited, and
he shall let the goat go in the wilderness." Now, in the laying
on of hands, what this signifies, here's how I'm healed. My sin,
my disease, was transferred to Christ on Galilee's tree. God can do this, and God did
this. Who his own self bear our sins
in his own body on the tree by whose stripes you were healed. Now, the Lord took my sin away
from me and bore it himself. And not only did he do that,
he took his perfect, complete righteousness and gave it to
me and I am healed by what he did. I am saved completely. You see, there's true healing
that takes place in the gospel. This healing is a lot, is infinitely
better than a physical healing. Listen, something's going to
get you. Let's say you would get healed
of some kind of sickness. You're still going to die. Something's
going to get you. There's going to be some kind
of disease that will kill you. But this is an eternal healing
that he gives every one of his people. I love that scripture
in Luke chapter nine, verse 11. He healed them that had need
of healing. Now these things spiritually
and much more powerfully than physically. accompany the gospel
that is preached under the power of the Holy Spirit and they accompany
every time. What a glorious gospel is the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that does this. Now we have this
message on DVD and CD if you call the church, right? Email,
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