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've entitled this message, Calling
on the Name of the Everlasting God. In Genesis chapter 21, verse
33, we read, and Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba and called
there on the name of the Lord. the everlasting God. Now Abraham, some 40 to 45 years
after the Lord first appeared to him, is still doing the same
thing. He's calling upon the name of
the Lord. Now, the passage we read was
some, as I said, 40 to 45 years after the Lord had first made
himself known to Abraham. And here perhaps he has a bit
more light. He calls upon the name of the
Lord, the everlasting God. the eternal God, the God that
had no beginning, who had no starting point, the God that's
always been, and the God that always will be. Now this is the
first time in the scripture we read of the eternal everlasting
nature of God. God does not dwell in time the
way you and I do. There is no past. There is no future. All is in
the eternal now. Somebody says, I don't understand
that. Well, I don't understand it either, but I believe it.
God is everlasting. God is eternal, and everybody
is born with that knowledge. Now somebody says, what do you
mean by that? Well, the Scripture says the invisible things of
Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen Even His
eternal, that's the word, power and Godhead, so that they are
without excuse. Now everyone, by the light of
creation, can tell somebody all-powerful made this. And nobody made Him. He is eternal. Now somebody says that's deep.
Well, I'll not deny that it's deep, but it's just so. This is who God is. He is the eternal, everlasting
God. Now in Exodus chapter 3, when
God first revealed himself to Moses, We read, now, Moses kept
the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he
led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the
mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him, Moses, in a flame of fire, out of the midst of a bush. And he looked, and behold, the
bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed." Now,
the angel of the Lord is the Lord Jesus Christ, the uncreated
angel of the Lord. And he appeared to Moses in a
bush that burned and was not consumed. And the Lord spake
to Moses out of that bush, and there is so much in that bush
that burned with fire and yet could not be consumed by that
fire. That bush gives us a beautiful
illustration of who Jesus Christ is. Now the first thing that
I would notice about that bush is it did not need the energy
of the wood for the fire to continue. This represents the deity of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He has no needs. Unlike you and I, he has no needs. He did not need the energy of
that wood for the fire to continue. He is independent God, the self-existent
One. He does not need to look outside
of Himself for anything. Now you think of how needy you
and I are. We're dependent upon Him for
our next breath. We may not realize it, but it's
true nonetheless. We're utterly dependent creatures,
and He is the independent Creator. Now, the next thing that I would
notice about that bush, the fire could not consume the bush. That lets us know something of
the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. When the fire of
God's wrath came down upon him on Calvary's tree, it did not
consume him. He consumed the wrath and put
it away. This is the perfect humanity
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's how he appears to
Moses. And we read beginning in verse
13 of this same chapter, And Moses said unto God, Behold,
when I come into the children of Israel, and shall say unto
them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they
shall say to me, What's his name? What shall I say unto them? And
God said unto Moses, I am that I am. Now that's his name. I am that I am. Jehovah the self-existent one. He never was. He never will be. That would imply a change. He is always I am that I am. Thou shalt say unto the children
of Israel, I am hath sent thee. Now he goes on to say with regard
to his name, I am, and God said moreover unto Moses, thus shalt
thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord God of your
fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob has sent me unto you, This is my name forever. This name of I am that I am. This is my name forever, eternally. And this is my memorial unto
all generations. Now, I love to think of his eternal
isness. He never was, and now he's this
way. Whatever he is, he's always been
and always will be. He is immutable. He is incapable of change. I am that I am. That is his eternal
name. When Abraham was calling upon
the everlasting God, he was calling upon the name of the eternal
I am that I am. Never I was, wanna be, should
be, will be, could be, used to be. I am that I am." Now, all
that can be said of God the Father, the everlasting God, is said
of the everlasting Christ, the second person of the Trinity,
the Son of God. We read in Hebrews chapter 13,
verse 8, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Thou art the same, and thy years
shall not fail. What is said of God the Father
is said of God the Son to this extent. When Philip said, Show
us the Father, and it sufficeth us, he said, Have I been so long
time with you, Philip, and yet hast thou not known me? He that
hath seen me hath seen the Father. And do you hear what the Lord
said? If you've seen me, you've seen the Father, you see in him
dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Now being eternal, he is immutable. If he could change, he would
not be eternal, but he's not bound by time the way you and
I are. There's no yesterday or tomorrow
with him. All things are in the eternal
present. That's why he sees all things. He's not bound by time or space
the way you and I are. We can't be two places at once.
He's everywhere at once because he is omnipresent. He does not
have limitations. Now, if you would want to call
the limitations of His attributes, He can't be unjust. Scripture
says He cannot lie. He cannot be unfaithful. He cannot
be anything less than all-powerful. He is bound by the limitations
of His nature. I wouldn't call that limitations,
though. To say that he cannot lie, would you call that a limitation?
No, that's glorious. This glorious person, his attributes
are not going to be denied in any way, but he is not bound. He does not have limitations
like you and I do. He is omnipotent. Whatsoever the Lord please, that
did he. He has no limitations to His
power. He has no limitations of knowledge. He's omniscient. He knows everything. He's never
learned. He has no limitations of needs. He's independent. He has no needs. He has no limitations of indecisiveness. 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?
His glory is such that he never worries, he never responds. And listen to this, he never
does anything because it's the right thing to do. It's right
because he does it. That's what makes it right. He is God, and beside Him there
is no else. Isaiah chapter 46, verses 9 through
11, God says, remember the former things of old. That's talking
about eternity. I know we can't remember eternity,
but we can have some vague idea of what He's talking about. Remember
the former things of old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there is none like
me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times
the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand. I will do all my pleasure." Now,
this is the everlasting God that Abraham called upon. Now, we read in the Scriptures
of in eternal salvation, eternal redemption, eternal judgment. You see, everything God does
is eternal. We even read of the eternal gospel.
There is no new gospel. It didn't begin 2,000 years ago
when Christ appeared. It is eternal because God is
eternal. Everything He does is eternal. Hebrews 4.3 says, the works were
finished. All the works were finished,
were completed from the foundation of the world. Why, even on Judgment
Day, when the Lord calls in His sheep, He's going to say, come
ye, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. Christ is called the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Now that name Abraham called
upon was the name of the everlasting God. I love what Moses said with
regard to the everlasting God. He said, before the mountains
were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth, even
from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God for a thousand years,
or but yesterday when it's passed, and as a watch in the night. The preacher said in Ecclesiastes
chapter three, verse 14, I know that whatsoever God doeth, it
shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, nothing
can be taken from it. salvation is God's work. It can't be added to, it can't
be subtracted from, and Abraham called upon the name of the everlasting
God. Now, I want to spend the remainder
of our time considering what does it mean to call upon His
name. It doesn't do you good to call
upon His name if you don't know who He is. He's the everlasting,
eternal, immutable, holy, sovereign, faithful, just, whatever other
attribute you want to mention concerning Him, God. Now, you
first got to know who he is before you call on his name. It's impossible
to call on the name of one who is unrevealed to you. But what
does this thing of calling on the name of God mean? Now, in
Romans 10, verse 13, Paul makes this statement. For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Now, how
important is that? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord, this God I've been speaking of, shall be saved. Now let's look at what led Paul
to quote that verse of scripture. In Romans chapter 10 verse 1,
second chapter, Paul begins with these words, Brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. Now there are two things that
are very clear from that verse of scripture. These people that
Paul is praying for were not saved. And the second thing that's
very clear is Paul wanted them to be saved. He greatly desired
the salvation of these people who were not saved. He says in verse two, for I bear
them record that they have a zeal of God, They're very religious,
very zealous with regard to what they believe, very sincere, but
not according to knowledge. You see, my dear friend, there
is no salvation apart from knowledge, the knowledge of God, the knowledge
of the truth. Now, I'm not saved by my knowledge,
but I'm not saved without knowledge. My knowledge is not what saves
me. Christ is what saves me. My knowledge is, I know that.
I know that. Now these people had a zeal for
God, but not according to knowledge. Now Paul tells us what they were
ignorant of. He says, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness. Now here's where their ignorance
is manifest. They're ignorant of the true
character of God. They're ignorant of God's righteousness.
His righteous character. They're ignorant of the righteousness
of His law because they think they can keep it. They're ignorant
of His righteousness in their damnation, because they think
they're entitled to salvation. They can't see why God would
send them to hell. They think they, in some way,
have salvation coming to them, and they think it would be unfair
for God to leave them to themselves and let them go to hell. They're
ignorant of God's righteousness in their damnation, and they're
ignorant of God's righteousness in salvation. You see, if you're
saved, the righteousness of God, not just the mercy of God, not
just the grace of God, but the righteousness of God will demand
your salvation because you have the righteousness of Jesus Christ
as your personal righteousness before God. Now, these people
are very religious, but they're ignorant of God's righteousness.
And here's what they do that demonstrates this. They go about
to establish their own righteousness. A righteousness that they think
will obligate God to respond to them. And have not submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God. Now my dear friend, have
you ever, have I ever submitted myself to the righteousness of
God? The righteousness of His character?
The righteousness of His law in condemning me? the righteousness
of God in leaving me to myself, his righteousness provided in
the gospel. And then Paul makes this glorious
statement in verse four, for Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Now, if you're somebody that
believes, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. He is your righteousness before
God. For, verse 5, Moses described
that the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which
doeth those things shall live by them. What does law righteousness
require of you? perfect, continual obedience. If you break one commandment
one time, you're guilty of breaking all the commandments all the
time. And that's what God's Word says,
but the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise,
Now there is a righteousness that's actually the law being
honored, but it's not called the righteousness of the law,
it's called the righteousness of faith. It's the righteousness
that those who possess saving faith have. Keep reading, but
the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise.
Say not in your heart, who shall ascend into heaven? What that
means is what can I do to get Christ to save me? Don't say that. That's salvation
by works. What can I do to get Christ to
come down here and save me? What can I do to get him to respond
to me? Don't say that in your heart.
And this next one is similar. Or who shall descend into the
deep? That is to bring up Christ again
from the dead. What can I do to make what he
did work for me? What can I do to get him to come
down here and save me? What can I do to get what he
did work for me? And you know, that's the message
of false religion. God loves you. Christ died for you. He
wants to save you, but there's something you need to do to enable
him to do it. All that is is salvation by works. There's no
gospel in that message. Now, verse eight, what saith
it? The word is nigh thee. Oh, listen
carefully. The word is nigh thee. You don't
gotta go on a long journey for this. The word is nigh thee,
even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is the word of faith,
which we preach. And here it is, that if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus. Now the emphasis on confession,
I want you to remember this. When we think of confession,
we think of some kind of audible confession that we give before
men, and that's certainly part of it. But to confess is to speak
the same thing, is what the word actually means. It's to speak
the same thing God says. It's to agree with God with regard
to His Son. He's the Lord. That means He's
the Lord of creation. He's the sole cause of creation. He's the Lord of providence.
He's the first cause behind every event in time. And He's Lord
of salvation. That means if you're saved, it's
because He willed your salvation. Your salvation is up to Him.
Somebody says, won't you accept Jesus? That's not the issue.
That's foolishness. Will he accept you? He is the
Lord. He is Jesus. Thou shalt call
his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. If
thou confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus and believe in
thine heart that God raised him from the dead. Now, God raised
him from the dead. You know, a lot of people would
say they believe that, but they don't have any idea why he raised
him from the dead. Do you know why God raised him
from the dead? Because God was satisfied with what he did. He
was satisfied with his sin payment. And everybody he died for, God
is satisfied with. You see, he represented a particular
people. He worked out a perfect righteousness
for them. He paid for their sins. He didn't
make them savable. He saved them. And that's why
God raised him from the dead. Now thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God raised
him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. For with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. With the heart means with the
understanding, with the will, with the affections, with my
understanding. I believe that Jesus Christ is
my righteousness. Not only do I believe it cognitively,
I love it. I love Him being my righteousness.
And if I were given a choice between being saved by my righteousness
and His, I'd choose His every time. With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. He shall not be put
to shame. He shall not be ashamed. For
there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek. You see,
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There's
no difference between one man and another. You take the most
moral man alive and the most immoral man alive, and there's
no difference between the two of them in God's sight. That's
how holy God is. But there's no difference between
the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto
all that call upon him. Listen, if you call upon the
name of the Lord, you will be heard and received by him richly
you for whosoever that's a broad word i'm one of them whosoever
shall call there's an easy word lord help me But here's the important
word, the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord is who he
is, the name of this one revealed in the scripture, the great I
am that I am. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the everlasting God, the one who has found the way
and made the way to be just and justify the ungodly, the one
who's altogether glorious, whosoever, shall call upon the name of the
Lord, shall, shall be saved." Now, what's it mean to be saved?
It means you've been saved from the guilt of sin. You have no
guilt. You've been saved from the dominion
of sin. You've been given a new nature.
You've been saved one of these days from the presence of sin
when you awaken perfect likeness to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
here's the promise, whosoever, are you one of those? Sure you
are. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, not any
old false god, but the name of the Lord shall be saved." Now,
we have this message on DVD and CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg praying God
will be pleased to make Himself known to you. To receive a copy
of the sermon you have just heard, send a request to todd.nyberg
at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen. Mm-hmm