Why did you 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 Neibert. I want to speak this morning
upon the widow's faith. I'd like to read the first four
verses of Luke chapter 21. And he looked up and saw the
rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw
also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said of a truth, I say
unto you that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all. For all of these have of their
abundance cast into the offerings of God, but she of her penury
hath cast in all the living that she had. When this poor widow
cast her two mites into the treasury, which amounts to less than one
penny, it was the smallest coin there was and of the least value. It was worth about a fifth of
a penny, two of them less than half of a cent. When this woman
cast her two mites into the treasury, She had no idea that this action
would be recorded in Holy Scripture and that we would be considering
it some 2,000 years later. And with this woman's action,
we have as clear an illustration of what true faith is as you'll
find anywhere in the Word of God. Now, if you want to know
what faith really is, I hope Listen, pray for me that I'll
be enabled to speak on it rightly and that you would be given hearing
ears and receptive hearts. Now, Mark's account says that
Jesus set over against the treasury and beheld how the people cast
money into the treasury. Not how much, but how. In what manner, what motive,
what attitude. What spirit? He beheld how they
cast money into the treasury. Not how much, but how. Proverbs
chapter 15 verse 3 says, The eyes of the Lord are in every
place, beholding the evil and the good. This word how is so
important. Not only did the Lord say, Take
heed what you hear. What you hear is important. He
also said, Take heed how you hear. what your attitude is,
what your spirit is, that every man be swift to hear and slow
to speak. Now, he was watching the rich
men placing their gifts in the treasury, and Mark's account
says, many that were rich cast in much. They gave large, large
gifts. And who's going to criticize
them for that? I mean, giving, what an issue giving is. Paul
puts it this way in 2 Corinthians 8, verse 8, giving proves the
sincerity of your love. And you can say you love all
you want, but if it's not seen in your giving, it's not real.
It's not sincere. What does love do? Love gives. Love loves to give. And believers
love to give. Yes, they've been taught to give,
but they also love to give. And this woman was giving because
that's what she wanted to do. Love loves to give. Now, this
certain poor widow casting in thither two mites, he saw this
poor widow casting in two mites. Now, a poor widow was a woman
who was left destitute by her husband and she had no means
of support at all. It didn't have the social agencies
that we have in our day. There's no social security then
or the things that can be done to help the poor. And a poor
widow was someone who had absolutely no means of resources. She had nothing. And the word
poor in verse 2, this is the only time this word is used in
the entire Bible. It's not the word that's generally
translated poor or purse. It means necessities. This woman
had great needs. Not only was she poor, that word
is used to describe her in verse 3, reduced to beggary, destitute
of wealth, influence, or position. She was a beggar and she had
great needs. Such was her position, a poor
widow with great needs. And she throws in two bites. Now, if someone dropped two pennies
into the collection box, it wouldn't help pay the bills much, would
it? It wouldn't even make a dent. But this woman cast in, let's
just say, two cents. And let's look at the Lord's
assessment of what she did. He says in verse 3, and he said
of a truth, I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in
more than they all. Now, it may be one fellow put
in $5,000, another put in $10,000, another put in $500, I mean it
could go on and on. And yet, the Lord says that this
two cents that this woman put in was more than all the combined
gifts that everybody had brought. That's the Lord's assessment
of things. And how he assesses things is the way they really
are. And he says this poor widow cast in more than every one of
them. Now, the Lord knows what the
motive is. And he also knows what is truly
given is seen in how much we keep. What was this woman left
with after she cast her two bites into the treasury? She was left
with nothing. She gave all of her living. She gave all that she had. Those who gave of their abundance
gave something that was not felt. missed and made no difference
in their comfort. There was no sacrifice involved
in their giving. David said, I will not give unto
the Lord that which cost me nothing. There was no sacrifice in their
giving, but this woman gave everything. Now, I repeat, giving is a love
issue. You can't give without, you can
give without loving, but you can't love without giving. And
it's a faith issue. Somebody says, I can't give that.
I might need it next month. My car might break down. My car
or some catastrophe might happen. I can't give this gift. I have
too many responsibilities. Can't we trust the Lord to meet
our needs? We say we trust the Lord to save us. Can't we trust
Him to meet our material needs? Sure we can. This woman trusted
Him for everything. Now, when I was a child, I never
worried once about whether dinner would be put on our table because
I knew my Father would take care of that. I had not a worry in
the world about that. And that's the way every believer
is called upon to trust their Heavenly Father, to trust Him
for everything. Now when this woman gave, remember
this is, I said this is an illustration of what true saving faith is.
When this woman gave, she gave all of her living and what was
she left with? Complete dependence upon God
for everything. Complete dependence upon God
for everything because she now had nothing. Now we admire this
woman for The faith that enabled her to trust God like this. And I want to be like her, but
I want to have her faith. Now, what can we learn about
saving faith through this woman, this gift she gave? I want to know what I can learn
about faith, because I want to have faith. Scripture says the
just shall live by faith. And without faith, it's impossible
to please God. What is faith? Now, the first thing I would
consider is this woman's character, her condition. There is no place
for faith where there is not poverty of spirit before God
and great need. This woman was poor and this
woman was needy. And there is no faith where there's
not a poor and a needy sinner. This woman was poor and she didn't
have the potential to get herself out of this. She had no help.
She had nothing. And not only was she poor, the
Lord used that word necessitus to let us know that she was a
woman who had great and many needs. Like David old, she was
poor and she was needy. Now what does it mean to be poor
in spirit? I'm not talking about poor in
purse right now. I'm talking about poor in spirit. You and
David said I'm poor and needy. He was a very wealthy man, perhaps
the most wealthy man on earth. But before God, he was still
poor and he was still needy. Now, what does it mean to be
poor before God? To be poor means you have no
resources. And you do not have the potential
to come up with any. You can't think, well, maybe
on a better day when my circumstances are better, I'm not going through
this trial or I'm in this environment, things will be better. No, if
you're poor, you know you don't have a penny's worth of merit
before God, no righteousness whatsoever, nor do you even have
the potential to get any. You are poor before God. You
have nothing, absolutely nothing to recommend you to God. You
have no works that He could accept. You are without resources. Your righteousness is as filthy
rags. You know that you're dead in
trespasses and sins, and you can't save yourself. You can't
do anything to get God to save you. You can't even make a move
toward God. You can't do anything because
you don't have anything. You're poor. You're poor. You
have nothing to recommend you to God. You're reduced to complete
dependence upon the charity of God, the goodwill of God. You're like that leper who came
into Christ's presence and said, Lord, if you will, You can make
me clean. You have nothing to recommend
yourself. If you will, you can. You have the power to make me
clean, but I don't have the power to make myself clean. I don't
have anything to bring to the table. I am poor. I have nothing, nothing that
you could accept, nothing you could be pleased with. I am poor. Not only are you poor, you have
great needs. Not only are you poor and have
nothing, but you have great needs. First of all, I need to have
a need. Here there are a lot of people
who don't have a need. The Lord said, the whole need
not a physician, but they that are sick. Oh, Lord, I'm sick. I need you as the great physician
to come and heal me and save me. The scripture says in Luke
9, 11, he healed them that had need of healing. And I'll not
be needy. I'll be hardhearted unless he
gives me the need. I need Him to give me a need
of Him because all who need Him, He saves. So I won't even think
I need Him. I'll just be hard-hearted and
self-righteous and blind to myself unless He creates that need for
Him. I need Him to give me a new heart. I need Him to give me a new spirit
because mine's no good. I need Him to give me faith.
I can't come up with the faith. I can't just up and believe.
I need Him to give me faith, or I won't have any. Scripture
says faith is the gift of God. Ephesians 2, 8, 9, for by grace
are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's
the gift of God. I need Him to give me repentance.
I can't repent. My heart will remain hard unless
He grants me that repentance that comes through Him giving
me a new heart that repents. God hath granted to Israel repentance
and the remission of sins. It's the gift of God just as
much as faith is. I'm a real charity case. These
are things that must be given to me by the charity of God. Let me take this even further.
If you listen to me preach much on this TV program, you hear
me talk a lot about election, God electing who would be saved
before time began into glorious doctrine concerning who God is
and how He saves by His grace. You can't preach the gospel and
not preach election. But I'm not here to argue about
election, whether or not it's true. I know it's true. I need
God to elect me. I need Him to choose me. If He
doesn't choose me, I know I'm so bad I'll never choose Him.
So I need to be elected. I need Christ to put away my
sin. There's nothing I can do about
my sin. I need Christ to put it away so that it's no longer
there, so it can't come popping up sometime in the future. I
need it to be gone completely. I need him to justify me. I need
him to give me a righteousness because I can't work out one.
This is my need. I need redemption. I need to
be redeemed from my sin and redeemed from my bondage and set free. I need to be born from above.
I need for him to give me the new birth. I think it's interesting.
Billy Graham wrote a book, How to Be Born Again, but the Bible
never tells you how to be born again, but it says you must be
born again. You must be born from above. I need to be born
from above. I need God to give me a new heart
and a new nature that loves him, that repents, that believes.
I need this work of grace done in my heart. I need him to preserve
me. I know that if He doesn't preserve
me, I won't persevere. It's only that one who endures
to the end that shall be saved. And if He doesn't keep me from
falling, I will fall away. I need to be preserved by His
grace all the way to the end. I need to be kept by the power
of God through faith unto salvation. I need His grace. I need Him to never leave me
nor forsake me. I need to be made both to will
and to do His good pleasure. Philippians 2, 12 and 13 says,
for it's God that worketh in you both to will and to do His
good pleasure. You work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling because it's God that works in you both
to will and to do His good pleasure. For me to work out my own salvation
with fear and trembling, I'm going to have to have Him work
in me both to will and to do His good pleasure. I need to
be made to fear His name. unite my heart to fear thy name. I need to not be left to myself
because if I'm left to myself my heart will harden for sure. I need him to cause me to do
his will. I need for him to make me willing
in the day of his power. You see I'm poor. I have nothing. And I'm needy. Oh, how I need
Him to do for me that which I cannot do for myself. And I can say
this with conviction. This isn't just me talking. This
is me saying something I really believe. I hope I'm always saying
something I really believe. But I believe this. There isn't
anybody that's poorer than me. And there isn't anyone who has
greater needs than me. This widow was poor and she was
needy. And she cast her two bites into
the treasury, which represents faith, and all she had left was
complete dependence upon Christ. She didn't have anything. All
she had, which is all she needed, was complete dependence upon
Christ. She was completely dependent
upon His provision. And that's the same thing as
what Paul said in 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 12 when he said, I know
whom I have believed and I am persuaded that He is able to
keep that which I've committed to Him against that day. Now this woman was reduced to
complete dependence on God to provide everything for her. She had nothing. Whatever she
was to have was to be what God provided. Now, with that thought
in mind, I want to read a passage of Scripture from Genesis chapter
22. This is one of my favorite passages in all the Word of God
about God's provision. We read beginning in verse one,
and it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham. He gave him a very severe trial. That doesn't mean he was tempting
him to sin. He was giving him a very severe
trial at this time in his life. He was an old man at this time.
He was an old man. And God did tempt Abraham at
this time in his life. And he said unto him, Abraham.
And he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son,
thy only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the
land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon
one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of. What a command. He's telling Abraham to take
his son who God promised the Messiah is going to come to him.
All nations of the earth will be blessed in him. And now he's
telling him, go kill him. Now, what if God told you to
go kill your child? I've heard so many people say,
I just don't think I can do that. If you believe what Abraham believed,
you could. You see, Abraham believed that
after he killed this boy, God would raise him from the dead.
Because God had promised that the Messiah would come through
Isaac. And he knew even if he killed
him, God would raise him from the dead. And the Messiah would
still come through him because God cannot lie. As a matter of
fact, We read in verse 5, and Abraham said unto his young men,
abide ye here with the young men, abide ye here with the ash,
and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to
you. He believed that after he killed him, God would raise him
from the dead. And he told them, we're going
to come back to you. Now, verse 3. And Abraham rose
up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two
of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and claimed the
wood for the burnt offering, and rose up and went into the
place which God had told him. He didn't leave anything undone. He brought the wood for the burnt
offering. Verse 4, Then on the third day
Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham
said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and
the lad will go yonder and worship. and come again to you. And Abraham
took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son,
and he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and they both went
together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham
his father and said, My father. And he said, Here am I, my son.
He said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb
for a burnt offering? We have the fire. We have the
heat. We have the warmth. We have the
enthusiasm. Here's the wood. Here's the structure. Here's the doctrine. We have
the fire and the wood, but where is the land for a burnt offering? Do you know every sermon I hear? That's the question I ask. Where's
the land? You may have the warmth and heat. You may have the right doctrine,
the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt
offering? Paul the apostle said, I determine
not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Every message that's preached,
I don't care what the subject is, it better have the lamb in
it. Where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Now let's look at Abraham's
reply. He said in verse 8, And Abraham
said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Did Abraham know what he was
talking about? I believe he did. But here is his answer to his
son. God will provide a lamb. Poor, needy sinner, you can't
provide anything. but God provides. All that God requires, God provides. If you're a poor and needy sinner,
listen to me carefully, everything that God requires of you, He
provides. You don't provide anything. God will provide for Himself
a lamb for a burnt You see, for God to do something for me or
you, he first had to do something for himself. His holy law has
to be honored. His justice has to be satisfied. For God to do something for me
or you, he had to first do something for himself. And the Lamb was
for God. Christ died for God, for God
to find a way to be just and yet justify the ungodly, for
God to punish sin, for God to do what he said he's gonna do,
God had to do something for Himself before He could embrace me or
you. Something had to be done about
our sin. He couldn't love us just the way we are. He doesn't
love unconditionally. People talk about unconditional
love. There's no such thing. If I'm going to be loved by God,
I'm going to be lovely. And in Christ, I am lovely and
lovable. God will provide for Himself
a lamb for a burnt offering. God will provide Himself as the
Lamb. God provided Himself as the Lamb. The Lamb of God is the Lord Jesus
Christ, the God-Man, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.
God provides. God provides. So in verse 9, And they came to the place which
God had told them of. And Abraham built an altar there,
and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac, his son, and laid
him upon the altar upon the wood." Now, Isaac didn't struggle against
this, and I know it's because his father told him, God told
me to do this, we got to do it, but God's going to raise you
from the dead because he said the promised Messiah is going
to come through you. And so Isaac did this willingly,
just like the Lord Jesus Christ willingly laid down his life.
Verse 10, "'And Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife
to slay his son, And the angel of the Lord called unto him out
of heaven, and said unto him, Abraham, Abraham. And he said,
Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand
upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I
knowest that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld
thy son, thine only son, from me. And Abraham lifted up his
eyes, and looked, and behold behind him, behind him, a ram
caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the
ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his
son. Substitution, the very heart
of the gospel. And Abraham called the name of
the place Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord will provide, as it
seemed to this day. The Lord will provide. That poor,
needy woman cast in all her living and she was left with nothing
but the provision of God. And having His provision is having
all things. This poor widow was amazingly
rich with God as her provider. And we have this message on DVD
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