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 Nivert. I want to preach this morning
on the God that is. The God that is. We're going to look at the prayer
of the early church. And in this prayer, they describe
the God that is. Peter and John had been arrested
the day after Pentecost for healing a man that was lame from birth. And they were arrested because
they did it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so at
the time of this prayer, it's only two or three days after
Pentecost, and a great number of people have been saved, at
least 5,000 people during this time. And we read their prayer
after Peter and John were released. The Pharisees were afraid to
keep them incarcerated because the people were so enamored with
the fact that this man had been healed, who they knew had been
lame from birth. So let's read this prayer together,
and then I want to preach on this subject, the God that is. Beginning in verse 23, and being
let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that
the chief priests and elders said unto them. And when they
heard that, the church, these newborn believers, they lifted
up their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, thou art
God, which has made heaven and earth and the sea. and all that
in them is, who by the mouth of thy servant David, and he
quotes Psalm 2, hath said, Why did the heathen rage, and the
people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood
up, And the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and
against His Christ. For of the truth, against thy
holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius
Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered
together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done." That word determined before is the word
that's generally translated predestinated. They did what you had predestinated
to be done. And now, Lord, Behold their threatenings
and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak
thy word by stretching forth thy hand to heal and that signs
and wonders may be done. by the name of thy holy child
Jesus. And when they had prayed, the
place was shaken, demonstrating the power of God, where they
were assembled together, and they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost. And God answered their prayer.
They spake the word of God with boldness." Now, from this remarkable
prayer, given by the early church that showed such depth of understanding
after only two or three days being saved. And the only thing
that can account for that is the fact that God had revealed
himself to them, and they now knew the living God. Our Lord
said in John chapter 17 verse 3, this is life eternal, that
they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
Thou hast sent. These people had God revealed
to them, and they knew who He was. Every believer knows God. Now, God's isness is not determined
by man's thoughts. God is as He is. No apologies. God is as He is,
and this great God is described as He is in this prayer of the
early church. Now, here's the first thing I
want to point out, verse 24. And when they heard that, they
lifted up their voice to God with one accord. God that is has a people, every
single believer, and they are unanimous concerning His isness. They are of one accord. All believers believe the same
thing. They're at one accord regarding
His isness. There is no jarring chord of
discontent to mar this heavenly melody. all of God's people are
at one accord concerning His is-ness. You know, in what is
called Christianity, you have all these denominations, and
all these divisions, and all these different sects, and all
claiming to have a perhaps more accurate view of the truth than
the other denomination. But did you know that there are
no denominations in the Bible? That's a purely man-made thing. Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists,
Catholic Church, Church of Christ, all that is is man-made. All of God's people are at agreement. They're of one accord concerning
God's is-ness. Now, let's go on reading, verse
24. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to
God with one accord and said, Lord, Now the word Lord here is where
we get the word despot from. It's not the word that's generally
translated Lord. The word here means one who has
absolute authority to do His will. This Lord is a single entity
that has absolute power and authority. There's no law over His head.
Whatever He wills is what takes place. This is speaking of the
sovereignty of God, the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ. A despot
is one who exercises absolute sovereignty. He has no checks
and balances. His will is always done. Do you hear what I said? His
will. is always done. His will is never
thwarted. He is absolutely sovereign. He doeth according to his will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and there none can stay his hand or say unto him, What doest thou? Now, the God that is is the God
who is absolutely sovereign. I think it's glorious the way
Peter began this sermon on Pentecost with these words, Him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. This is
all according to His will. God's will is always done because
He's God. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased." Now, the God that is, is a God of absolute sovereignty
who always performs His will. He's got the power, He's got
the right, and He always does this. And listen to this, any
God that is not like this God, a God who's absolutely sovereign,
in control of everything, the cause of causes, any God that's
not like this God is a false God. It's an idol. It's the figment
of man's imagination. Because the God that is, is the
God that's the absolute Lord in control of all things, whose
will is always done. He's not up in heaven wringing
his hands because people are not doing His will. He is in
absolute, regal, sovereign control. That is the God that is. Now
let's go on reading. Verse 24, and when they heard
that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said,
Lord, thou art God which has made heaven and earth and the
sea and all that in them is. Now, the God that is is the God
who created all things from nothing. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. Now, there was a time when there
was no matter. There was no universe. All there
was was God in the solitude of his glorious person as Father,
Son, and Spirit. And he created the universe from
nothing. Now, I realize some very highly
intelligent people claim to be atheists. They think that the
belief in God or the creation is contrary to science. They think it's superstitious.
They think it's irrational to believe in the existence of God
or that God created the universe. But they didn't always believe
that way. You see, everybody is born into
this world knowing intuitively that somebody made all of this. and nobody made him. Everything
has to have a cause. The universe didn't just pop
up. Life didn't just somehow begin and arrive out of some
primordial stew. Everybody knows that somebody
made this, and nobody made him. He's all-powerful. He's eternal. There has to be a cause. Now, atheism is its own religion
with its own beliefs, but it is irrational, illogical, and
intellectually indefensible. The God that is is the God that
created the universe from nothing. And let's go on reading. In verse
25, they say, the church is still at prayer, and they say, who
by the mouth of thy servant David has said. Now here they quote
Psalm 2, a part of the scriptures, and they say when David said
this, it was God speaking through David. Now here's the point. The God that is, is the God that
speaks through the scriptures. Now, everybody knows that God
exists, but not everybody knows what He's like, because we cannot
understand, we can't figure out what He's like unless He reveals
what He's like through His Word. The Bible is the inspired Word
of God, and God speaks through this book. Now, if I've taken
the blind leap of faith into atheism, of course I'm going
to not believe the Bible is the Word of God. But if I believe
that God created the universe from nothing, I have no trouble
believing that God inspired men to write a book, and He's able
to keep it preserved through the centuries. The Scripture
claims divine inspiration. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. The God that is, and the only
way we'll know His is-ness is from the Word. The God that is,
is the God that speaks from the Scriptures, and God is not known
apart from the Scriptures. Now here's the next thing I want
to say in verse 25. Who by the mouth of thy servant
David said, Why did the heathen rage? And the people imagined
vain things. The kings of the earth stood
up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against His Christ. For the truth against thy holy
child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, that's the entire
populace, were gathered together For to do whatsoever thy hand
and counsel determine before it to be done. Now the God that
is, is the God that all of mankind is against. Why do the heathen
rage against Him? Why do the people imagine a vain
thing? of escaping from Him. Everyone
is against the God that is, the scripture says, the carnal mind,
Romans 8, 7, the fleshly mind, the mind that we're born with.
The carnal mind is enmity against God, the God that is. Now there
is a God that nobody's mad at. There is a God over whom we can
exercise some control, A God whose will can be thwarted by
our free will. His will is not necessarily done.
A God that we can please by our works and efforts. Now that God
nobody's mad at. A God you can control. A God
you can manipulate. A God you can cause to do certain
things. A God who has to respond to you. Nobody's mad at that God. But
that God is a non-existent God. The God that is is the God that
humanity is opposed to, because men do not like God as He is. They don't like His holiness.
They don't like His sovereignty. They don't like His way of salvation
by grace. They don't like the glory of
His Son. They don't like His attributes. And they say, we
will not have this man to reign over us. They're against the
God that is. But He does reign, whether you
and I like it or not. He's in complete control over
everybody and everything. Now, the God that is, let's go
on reading. Verse 26, the kings of the earth stood up, and the
rulers together against the Lord and against His Christ, for the
truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed. The God that is has a holy child,
Jesus, God the Son, the creator of the universe, God's prophet
anointed, God's priest anointed, and God's anointed king. The God that is is one God in
three Persons, and He has a Holy Son, the Eternal Son of God,
Jesus Christ, God's Anointed, His Holy Child. Now, when God
said, let us make man in our own image, this is speaking of
the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Trinity is seen in the very
beginning. And His Son is His anointed. Now, what that means
is His Son is the prophet. His Son is the priest. His Son
is the king. He's the prophet. He is the Word
of God, and He's the one who brings the Word of God to us.
He's God's priest. If he represents you, you must
be saved. When he said of Peter, I prayed
for you that your faith fail not, you know what? Peter's faith
didn't fail. Now everything else failed about him and he was left
with nothing but faith, but that's all that's required. If he prays
for you, if he represents you, wherefore he is able to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them. And he's God's king. ruling
and reigning, and a believer needs Him in all of his offices.
I need Him as my prophet to bring me the Word of God. I need Him
as my priest to represent me before God. I need Him as my
King to rule and reign over me and cause me to do His will.
We need Him in that sense. He is the God that is. He has a Son. His holy child,
Jesus, whom He has anointed." Now, if you're going to come
to the God that is, the only way you're going to get there
is through His holy child, Jesus, His anointed. The Lord said,
I am the way, the truth, the life. No man cometh to the Father
but by me. This is the God that is. Now,
let's go on reading. For the truth, verse 27, against
thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and
Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were
gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. Now listen carefully. The God
that is is the God of absolute predestination. When they drove the nails in
the hands and the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, they were
simply doing what God had predestinated to be done. The God that is is
the God of absolute predestination. For whom He did foreknow, them
He also did predestinate, to be conformed to the image of
His Son. Now, if my God is not the God
of absolute predestination, I'm worshiping a false God. I might
as well worship a totem pole. If you don't believe the God
of absolute predestination, you might as well be worshiping a
totem pole because your God is non-existent. The God that is,
is the God of absolute predestination. Now, I realize people object
to predestination. They say, well, that makes men
God's puppet. No, if you believe that God is
not a God of absolute predestination, if you believe men have a free
will and can get God to do this and get God to do that, you make
God man's puppet. The God that is, is the God of
absolute predestination. And what is it that he predestinated?
Well, Christ is called the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. Do you know the whole universe
was created for the cross? The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
is not God's response to man's sin and man's fall. The fall
was all according to the predestinating purpose of God for the glory
of His dear Son and the accomplishments of the cross. Thank God before
there was ever a sinner, there was a Savior. Christ came according
to the predetermined counsel and foreknowledge of God to save
His people from their sins, and that's exactly what He did. That is what was purposed from
the foundation of the world. He says, to do whatsoever thy
hand and thy counsel determined before to be done." Now, through
this work on the cross, chosen sinners have been predestinated
to be perfectly conformed to the image of Christ, and they
will be called, they will be justified, they will be glorified. The God that is is the God of
absolute predestination. And let's go on reading, verse
29. And now, Lord, behold. The God that is is the God that
beholds. He's not a detached God. He's
not a far-off God. He is the God who beholds. All things are naked and open
with the one in whom we have to do The Lord looked down from
heaven. He's always looking. He's always
seeing. Thou, God, seest me. He sees you right now as I'm
speaking. He is the God who beholds. And we read in verse 29, And
now, Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants. that they may speak thy word
with all boldness. Grant. He is the God who grants. Not only does he behold, but
he gives. He grants. not as a payment,
but as a free gift, because this God is gracious, and He delights
to give. He gave His Son that whosoever
believes on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He is the God that gives. By grace, you say, through faith,
not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. He gives faith, He gives
repentance, He gives a new heart, He is the God who gives. Ask Him to give to you. Well, in verse 30, he says, Grant
them that with all boldness they may speak thy word. He's the
God that's to be preached boldly, not timidly, not apologizing
for him. What I'm preaching, this God
I'm preaching, I'm proud of Him. I'm proud of the gospel. It's
a gospel worthy of God. And I'm not going to hold back
on this out of the fear that somebody's going to get upset.
This is who God is. God is the God that is, and He
says in this prayer, "...by stretching forth thine hand to heal." "...by
stretching forth thine hand to heal." Now, the God that is,
is the God who stretches forth His hand to heal. Now, there is a great emphasis
placed upon physical healing. If you're sick, you want to be
healed, and you're interested in being healed. Nobody wants
to be sick. And God does heal. I personally
have had cancer twice. I've had lymphoma. I've had esophageal
cancer. And God didn't let me die. Through the use of means, I was
healed. Through the use of means. And
the reason I was healed was because it wasn't my time to go. But,
my dear friend, something's going to get me. It may be that I have
the disease in my body right now from which I will not be
healed. We're all going to die of something. So people put all
this emphasis on physical healing. Well, I'm thankful for physical
healing, and God does heal through the use of means, through doctors,
you know, they that hold that need not a physician, but they
that are sick. God does heal. I've been healed. I believe that.
But this is not what Peter's talking about. What I need to
be healed of is my sin. That's the disease that I need
to be delivered from, my sin, my sin. I can't do anything about
my sin. But we read in 1 Peter 2, 24,
who bear our sins in his own body upon the tree. And the next
verse says, by whose stripes you were healed. Now healing from sin, comes from
the cross, the stripes of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, my
sin became His sin, and He suffered the wrath of God when my sin
became His sin, and He paid the penalty against sin. And through His stripes, Scripture
says, I'm healed. It says, by whose stripes you
were healed. I love that. When He said, it
is finished, I was healed. by stretching forth thine hand
to heal, that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy
holy child Jesus." This is the God who does signs and wonders. Now, I'm one of them. I'm one
of them. You're looking at a sign and
wonder of God. I am so sinful. I am so evil. By nature, I am a testimony to
the freeness and the power of His grace. I'm a trophy of His
grace. I'm a demonstration of just how much salvation really
is all of the Lord. I am, every believer feels this
about themselves, I am a sign and a wonder. And all these signs
and wonders are done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. Salvation
is for Christ's sake. The God that is, is the God who
saves through the Lord Jesus Christ. And when they prayed,
the place was shaken. where they were assembled together,
and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake
the word of God with power, that God that is, is the God that
hears and answers prayer. Now we have this message on DVD,
CD. If you call the church, or email,
or write, 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 request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at todsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
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