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 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 Nyberg. I'm reading from Matthew chapter
9, we read in verse 2, and behold, they brought to him a man sick
of the palsy, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith,
said unto the man sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Now, I've entitled this message
Six reasons to be of good cheer. Now these are reasons the Lord
Jesus Christ gives to be of good cheer, and that's what makes
them valid. If a mere man said be of good cheer, you might not
have a reason to be of good cheer. I remember that song that was
out years ago, Don't Worry, Be Happy. Well, that doesn't really
give you a reason to not worry and be happy just because someone
says that, but these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he says, be of good cheer. And he gives a well-grounded
reason to be of good cheer. Now, these words, be of good
cheer, cannot be said indiscriminately to all men. I could not say to
everybody, be of good cheer. Now, it could be that you're
very wealthy and have plenty of money in the bank, and you're
also healthy. You don't have any health problems.
And your relatives and loved ones don't have any health problems. And you don't really have any
conflict going on. Everybody's doing well, no conflict
in your family, no conflict on the job. I mean, everything is
going great, as far as you can tell. There's not very many people
who would experience that, but I'm giving a hypothetical situation. Let's say everything is going
great. I still would not have a reason
to say, be of good cheer. You say, well, how do you say
that? Well, it could be. You're one of those people David
speaks of when he speaks of the prosperity of the wicked. And he says regarding these people
in this prosperous place where they're not having any troubles
and any trials, He said, surely thou did set them in slippery
places. It could be as a judgment of
God. He's put you in a place where you're not calling on his
name. You don't need him. Everything's going fine. Moses
put it this way. In due time, their foot shall
slide. And just because everything on
an outward basis is going well, I can't truly say To you, good
cheer. Be of good cheer. Now, there's a scripture, Romans
8, verse 31, that says, if God be for us, who could be against
us? And the answer is no one or no
thing, if God's for us. But the opposite is true as well. If God is against us, who can
be for us. Now somebody thinks, is God against
anybody? Well, the scripture says thou
hatest all workers of iniquity. And the scripture says the carnal
mind is enmity against God. The carnal mind hates God. That person is God's enemy. And
if I'm outside of Christ, I have God for an enemy unless he's
pleased to save me and reveal himself to me. And if God is
against you, who can be for you. And no unbeliever has a valid
ground to be of good cheer. But listen to this, every believer,
every Christian has a valid reason to be of good cheer regardless
of the circumstances all the time. Let me repeat that. Every believer, every Christian,
everyone that God has saved without exception has a valid reason
to be of good cheer all the time without respect to the circumstances. Now, it's my prayer that every
believer listening to this message will, after this message, be
of good cheer. And it's my prayer that every
unbeliever, God will make you a believer as you hear this message,
and it will cause you to be of good Wouldn't it be a blessing of
grace if we can have a good cheer that comes from Christ himself? Be of good cheer. Now here are
six reasons that the believer has, every believer has, to be
of good cheer. And the first one is found in
the verse of scripture that I just read from Matthew chapter 9 verse
2. The Lord looks at this man that his friends have brought
him in, he's lying on a bed and the Lord says to him, son, be
of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Thy sins, do you have sins? Sins
of omission? Sins of commission? Secret sins,
repeated sins, continual sins. Do you have sins? Listen to what
this man hears from the Lord. Son, be of good cheer. Thy sins
be forgiven thee. Now this word forgiven is in
the perfect tense. And the passive voice, now what
does that mean? That means all your sins have perfectly, completely
been forgiven, even the ones you haven't committed yet. They've
all been forgiven. And it's in the passive voice,
you didn't do anything to get this. You're not forgiven because
of anything you did. You're forgiven because he forgave
you. Now, this man found out that
his sins were forgiven. Son, be of good cheer. Thy sins
be forgiven thee. Now, most people think that forgiveness
is the end of an equation. If you're sorry for your sin,
real sorry, and if you turn from that sin, And if you do not commit
that sin anymore and give a sincere effort against committing that
sin, and you believe the gospel, you will be forgiven of that
sin. Not so. That's not the way it
works. All that is is a form of salvation
by works. Your forgiveness is at the end
of you doing this, that, and the other. That is not how forgiveness
works. It's just not true. The believer's salvation does
not end in the forgiveness of sins after he checks in all the
boxes that he's supposed to do in order to achieve that forgiveness.
This man didn't do anything for this forgiveness. He found out. He was forgiven. You see, the believer begins
in his salvation. It begins with the complete,
full forgiveness of all their sins. That's where it begins.
That's not where it ends. That is where it begins. Son,
be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. And understand this about God's
forgiveness. God's forgiveness is not like
our forgiveness. When God forgives, He forgets. Their sins and their iniquities,
I will remember no more. Now, if I sin against you, and
if I offend you, I hope you'll forgive me, and perhaps you will
forgive me. And really, we ought to be quick
to forgive each other, shouldn't we? Without any question about
it. I heard someone say just this
week concerning one of their relatives, I'll never forgive
them. And I thought, well, better not sin then, because if you
won't forgive, you won't be forgiven either. The Lord made that real
clear. But understand this, with our forgiveness, we cannot forget. We may have even hold that person
suspect. We forgive them, but we can't
really trust them at this point because they've lost our trust,
because they've sinned against us. We forgive. We genuinely
forgive, but we don't forget. It's somewhere underneath the
layers of our subconscious. We remember something. We might
forget it temporarily, but it can come back up. We forgive,
but we don't forget. You see, justice hadn't been
done, but when God forgives, He forgets. Now how is that? God's got a good memory. How
can God forget? because there's nothing there
to remember. It's called justification. You remember that publican beating
on his breast, God be merciful to me, thee, sinner. What did
Jesus Christ the Lord say of this man? He went down to his
house justified. Now if you're justified, that
means you don't have anything to be guilty of. You're not guilty. You stand before God's law without
sin. You stand before God perfectly
righteous. The law looks you over and says,
I find no fault in him. He's perfect. Now somebody says,
how in the world can that be? Because Christ bore my sin. I'm
not forgiven because I asked for forgiveness. I'm not forgiven
because I'm sorry. I'm not forgiven because I promised
to never commit that sin again. I'm forgiven because that sin
was born by Jesus Christ on Galilee's tree. And He put that sin away. He gave me His perfect righteousness. And when God remembers my sins
no more, it's because there's nothing there to remember. What
sin? It's gone. Every believer stands just before
God. It's what the Bible calls justification. Believer. Be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. Thy sins be
forgiven thee. because they are blotted out.
They're canceled. They are no more. Now, the next reason is found
in this same chapter, Matthew 9, verse 22. Now, there was a
woman who had an issue of blood. And she'd had it for 12 long
years, a menstrual disease. And she was anemic. She'd sought
many doctors and they didn't help her, but she rather grew
worse. But when she heard of Jesus,
she found out who he really was. And we read in verse 22, but
Jesus turned him about. And when he saw her, he said,
daughter, be of good comfort, be of good cheer. It's the same
word. Thy faith hath made thee whole. Now what was her faith? Well, we're told in the previous
verse, for she said within herself, if I may but touch his garment,
I shall be whole. You see, her faith was in a glorious
Savior that was such that if she somehow came into contact
with Him, she's gonna be whole. Not because of anything in her,
but because of the greatness of the Savior. Now, thy faith,
be of good cheer. Thy faith it may be whole. Let
me say some things about my faith. My faith, it's a gift of God.
It didn't come as an act of my free will. It's the gift of God,
but I've got faith. You know, he said to that lady,
thy faith has made thee whole. Every believer has faith. It's
my faith. God gave it to me, but it's my faith. But let me
tell you what my faith is. My faith looks to Christ only
for everything God requires of me. That's my faith. When Christ
stood as my surety before time began, He took full responsibility
for my salvation. He said to his father, everything
you require of him, you look to me for. And he came in time
and kept the law for me. And my sin was given to him and
he died for me and put away my sin. And he was raised from the
dead because he completely satisfied God in that sin payment. And
God said, I can ask no more. God is satisfied with what Jesus
Christ did and he's satisfied with me. and I believe that he
is able to keep me from falling and to present me faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. Now it's not the act of my faith
that saves me, it's Christ that saves me, and I believe that. Daughter, Be of good cheer, thy
faith hath made thee whole. Now in the next verse of scriptures
found in Matthew chapter 14, the disciples are on a ship. A storm comes. The water rushes
into the ship. It's tossed on the waves. The
wind was contrary and the Lord was sleeping. He was sleeping. He wasn't worried. And the disciples
are scared to death. The waves are contrary. Now let's
read in verse 25, verse 24. But the ship was now in the midst
of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. And
in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking
on the sea. Somebody says, did he really
do that? Yes, he did. You see, He's the Lord of the laws of
physics, and He can suspend them whenever He's pleased to do so.
And He was walking on the sea toward them. And when the disciples
saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It's a
spirit. And they cried out for fear.
But Jesus straightway spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer.
It is I. Be not afraid. Now they're scared to death.
The wind's contrary to them. They're being tossed about. They
fear for their lives. It's a horrible time. It's a
horrible trial. Be of good cheer. It's I. Do you know that's true with
regard to everything in every believer's life? The doctor comes
in and says, you've got cancer. The Lord says, be of good cheer. It's I. Be not afraid. There's only one reason you have
cancer, because I purposed it for my glory and your good. Now,
when you hear a preacher talking about God's will is for you to
be healthy and wealthy and wise, run. That man's a false prophet
that doesn't know God from a goat. Don't listen to anybody like
that. With regard to everything, the Lord says to his children,
with whatever it is, in the boat, the winds contrary, losing everything,
whatever trial it is, be of good cheer. It's I. Be not afraid. Now somebody says,
how can you say something like that? Well, because the Bible
says in Romans chapter eight, verse 28, and we know that all
things work together for good. Them that love God, to them who
are thee called according to His purpose. And so believer,
whatever is going on in your life, no matter how difficult
it might be, Remember, Christ says, be of good cheer. It's
I. I am in control of this. I am
the cause of it. I'm using it for my glory and
your good. Everything I bring your way is
for your eternal good. Now, every believer has a reason
to be of good cheer. Now, this is not some kind of
giddy happiness. I can't stand being around people
when they're, act happy when they're not happy. I mean, in
a sense, I'd rather somebody be nice than be, how you doing? Well, I'm gonna tell you all
about my problems. Well, I wish I hadn't asked you if you're
gonna do that sometimes. That's kinda the way people are
sometimes. But still, the fact of the matter
is, No matter what happens, every believer has every reason to
be of good cheer because it is the Lord's work. And then we
read in Mark chapter 10, I love this passage of scripture, it's
Bartimaeus. The Lord has stood still as he cried for mercy and
they said, rise, be of good cheer, he calleth thee. Rise, be of good cheer, He calleth
thee. Now I'm thankful if he called
you, but I need him to call me. Be of good cheer, rise. He calleth thee. He calleth his own sheep by name.
Zacchaeus, make haste, come down. Today I must abide at your house. Matthew, follow me. Lazarus,
come forth. He that was dead, came forth. Now, the Lord said, I came not
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now let me ask
you a question. How do you respond to the name
sinner? He came to save sinners. He came
to call sinners. A sinner is somebody who all
he does is sin. He cannot not sin. He can't look
down his nose at anybody. He has no claims on God and all
of his sin is his fault. How do you respond to sinner?
If you respond, that's me. He is calling you. He said, I came not to call the
righteous. but sinners to repentance. If you're a sinner, he came to
call you. And then we read in John chapter
16, verse 29, his disciples said unto him, lo, now speakest thou
plainly and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that thou knowest
all things, and needest not that any should ask thee. By this
we believe that thou camest forth from God. Jesus answered them,
do you not believe? You're talking awful big right
now. Do you now believe? Behold, the hour comes, has now
come that you shall be scattered. Every man to his own and shall
leave me alone. You, all the disciples, forsook
him and fled. All the disciples denied any
connection with him. They were gone. He had none of
them helping him. He had none of them saying, oh,
we love you for doing this for us. No, they forsook him and
fled in fear, trying to save their own lives. You're talking
about the greatness of your faith and how you believe now? Well,
you're gonna leave me alone. And yet I'm not alone because
the Father is with me. These things have I spoken unto
you that in me you might have peace. Not in your works. Not in your faithfulness. Not
in your strength. In me. That's the only peace
there is. He was manifest to take away
our sins. In him is no sins. These things
have I spoken unto you that in me you might have peace. In the world you'll have tribulation.
You're gonna be knocked back and forth. You're gonna have
one trial after another. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." Now,
the victory is ours in Christ Jesus. We say that to every believer. He's already won for you. It
is finished. The victory is yours. Be of good cheer. He's overcome
the world, and you're in Him. Now, the last one I would like
to consider is where Paul is in jail, and we read in verse
10, Acts 23, verse 10. And when there arose a great
dissension, the chief captain, fearingless, Paul should have
been pulled in pieces, and then commanded the soldiers to go
down and to take him by force from among them to bring him
into the castle. And the night following, the Lord stood by
him and said, be of good cheer, Paul. For as thou hast testified of
me in Jerusalem, so thou must bear witness also at Rome. Now let me give you the setting.
Paul had used some very fleshly manipulating ways to try to get
out of trouble at this time. You say, would Paul do something
like that? Well, would you? Would I? Yes, Paul would. He
is seeing that the Pharisees and the Sadducees who hated each
other were both against him, so he tries to pit one against
the other. And he says, I'm a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. And for
the hope of the resurrection, I'm called. He didn't say I'm
a Christian or a follower of Christ. He said, I'm a Pharisee.
Because he knew the Pharisees believed in the resurrection,
the Sadducees didn't. And he thought maybe he could
be helped by the Pharisees when he said he believed in the resurrection.
And a fight ensued between the Pharisees and the Sadducees because
of this. And Paul is still brought into
jail. And Paul, I believe at that time, was just distraught
over how he had handled that situation. The Lord wouldn't
have said, be of good cheer, unless he was in depression.
I believe Paul was in this jail thinking, it's over for me, I'll
never be used again. Lord's finished with me. And the Lord said to his servant
while he was in jail, be of good cheer, Paul. I'm not finished
with you yet. I'm going to have you testify
of me in Rome. And there's a reason for every
believer to be of good cheer. The Lord's not finished with
you yet. He's going to use you for His glory and the accomplishment
of His purpose and the glory of His dear Son. You wouldn't
be here still if He wasn't going to do that. Now be of good cheer.
You have every reason to be of good cheer. The Lord's not finished
with you yet. Now here are six reasons to be
of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven. All of them. Your faith has made
you whole. Everything in your life, the
Lord says, it's I. Be of good cheer. I'm in control
of it. He calls you personally. If you're a sinner, if you can
go by that name, He calls you personally. We're not talking
about Him calling somebody else. I love that hymn, Pass Me Not,
O Gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry, while in
others thou art calling, do not pass me by. Be of good cheer,
because He's overcome the world, and be of good cheer, because
He's not through with you yet, just like He wasn't with His
servant Paul. 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 that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer.
Amen. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to todd.nyberg at gmail.com,
or you may write or call the church at the information provided
on the screen.