Choose the Lord. 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 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. In 2 Chronicles 18, verse 15, Ahab says to the prophet Micaiah, And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the Lord. I've entitled this message, Nothing But the Truth.

Now, Ahab was a wicked king, and the prophet had initially said to him, when he asked if he should go to Ramoth Gilead, go up, the Lord's going to give you the victory. But he must've said this with some kind of cynicism. And Ahab had had experience with him before. Look in verse six of this same chapter, but Jehoshaphat said, is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides that we might inquire of him? And the king of Israel, Ahab said, yet there's one man by whom you may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him. For he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil. I hate him. So when this man that Ahab hated said, go up, the Lord will give it to you, he heard the cynicism in his voice.

The prophet knew this is what you want to hear. Okay, I'll give you what you want to hear. And then he says, I adjure thee, tell me nothing but that which is truth. Is that what you want to hear? Is that what I want to hear? Nothing but that which is truth. You know, we hear, unfortunately, what we want to hear and disregard everything else. But Ahab says, tell me nothing but that which is truth. There was a man who was a member of the congregation which I pastored for many years, a very dear man. And he made this statement to me that always made an impression on me.

He said, I want to be right. But more importantly, I want to know what is right. What a statement. I want to be right. I don't want to be wrong. Everybody's like that. We want to think we're on the right side and we believe what's right. But he said, more importantly, I want to know what's right. I want to know the truth. And I certainly feel the burden of this. I don't want to tell you what I think is the truth.

I want to tell you what God says is the truth in his word. I love the verse of scripture in Deuteronomy, chapter 32, verse 4. He is the rock. His work is perfect, for all His ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He. The truth. Tell me nothing but that which is the truth. Hear the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In John chapter 14, verse 6, He said, I am the way. He didn't say, I'll show you the way. He didn't say, I'll show you what the way is. He said, I am the way. He said, I am the truth. I am the life. Now, here the Lord Jesus Christ tells us that he himself is the truth. So much so that he said in John chapter 18, verse 37, to Pilate, for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone that's of the truth heareth my voice." Now, think of that statement. I came to bear witness to the truth.

The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to die. That was his purpose in coming. This was what God purposed for him before time began. He's called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and he came for the express purpose of dying, and his death on the cross is a complete manifestation of the truth." Now, somebody says, how can that be?

The cross tells us the truth concerning God. It tells us the truth concerning man, and it tells us the truth concerning salvation. When he was nailed to the cross, he himself, who is the truth, was bearing witness to the truth. Now, in Christ being nailed to the cross, we see the entire character of God. That's how God is known, through His Son being nailed to a cross.

Somebody says, what do you mean by that? God's purpose is always done. What did Peter say with regard to the cross? Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. You have taken and with wicked hands have crucified and slain. The cross tells us that God's purpose is always done. The cross is a manifestation of God's justice.

God will not let sin go unpunished. There's no way someone can come into his presence unless they have no sin, and the cross tells us how that can be. The sins of God's elect were placed in the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. He bore the shame of them, the guilt of them, and he was punished because God will by no means clear the guilty. The guilt of the sins of his people he bore and he bore the wrath of God because God is just, he will not let sin go unpunished.

We see the wisdom of God. God is so wise that he's made a way to be just and yet justify ungodly sinners in a way that honors his law and is consistent with his justice. We see the power of God in the cross to put away sin. Oh, we see the love of God. We see the grace of God. Every attribute that God has been pleased to made known is made known in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the cross, we find out the true character of God. In the cross, we find out the true character of man.

How sinful am I? You know, I really don't know. I have some awareness of my sinfulness, but I don't know how bad I am. But you know how bad I am and how bad you are? The cross. When God left men to themselves and let them do what it was they wanted to do, they nailed his son to a tree. Now, that's how bad you are. That's how bad I am. If God took away their strength, and left us to ourselves, we would be just as bad as those people who nailed him to a tree in hatred of who he is.

The cross tells the truth about man and his character. And beloved, the cross tells the truth about salvation. He is salvation. All that God requires, we have because of what Christ did on Calvary's tree. He put away sin. By the sacrifice of himself, his perfect righteousness is given to all who believe the truth. Tell me nothing but that which is the truth. Did you know that there's no salvation apart from hearing the truth?

Ephesians 1.12 says, in whom you trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.

James 1.18 says of his own will, begat he us through the word of truth.

Second Thessalonians 2.13 says, but we're bound. to thank God always for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth.

There is no sanctification of spirit without the belief of the truth. And there's no believing of the truth apart from the sanctification of God, the Holy Spirit. The Lord said in John 4, 24, God is spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. God only uses the truth. The Lord said in John chapter 17, verse 17, sanctify them through thy truth.

Thy word is The truth is that the Bible is the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God. That's what it claims. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. Now, I've been taught that all my life. When I was a little boy, I was taught that the Bible was the Word of God.

And I always thought, well, how can you know? How can you really know? I mean, I sort of believed it was, but I thought, how do I really know? What if men just wrote it and it's the production of men? You know when you'll know the Bible's the word of God? When you know the message of the Bible. When you know the message of scripture, when you know the gospel, then you know the Bible is the word of God. Now I can't prove to you The Bible is the word of God.

I have no need to. I can't prove to you that God exists. But it's a self-evident fact. God is. The Bible doesn't attempt to prove God's existence. I love the way it says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And this is very interesting.

The word God in Genesis 1.1. The word God is El and the plural of God is Elohim. in the beginning God in the plural, one God in three distinct persons.

How would we know that without the word of God? How would we know that God is one God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit? Did not the Bible tell us that? It's something we would never figure out. What do I think about God? He must be one God in three distinct persons. That would never happen.

We only know it from the revelation of Scripture. Now, there are things we can know about God without this book. I can know that God is simply by the fact that there's life. Non-living matter never produces living matter. You know, the thought that somehow there was some kind of chemical reaction and some kind of primordial stew way back billions of years ago, and all of a sudden there was life.

Why, that's foolishness. There's nothing that would prove that. Somebody says, I can't believe that God created the world because there's nothing I can see. There's not proof. Well, if you look at a building, do you say, I need proof that somebody built that building? No, it's evident. If it's there, somebody built it. And with the creation, it's evident somebody created the creation.

Romans 1.20 says, for the invisible things of him, from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. The creation tells us somebody made this. He's all powerful to do it. And nobody made him. He is eternal.

There are things we can know about God without this book, but there are things that we could not know about God without Him revealing it in this book. The gospel is the religion of this book, the Bible. This is the truth. The Bible is the Word of God.

Now, I've already stated how God is one God in three persons. That's revealed in the very first verse of the Bible. When people are baptized, they're baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. John said, these three are one. Speaking of the three persons of the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, these three are one.

We would never have known that without the Bible. Now just think about this, the very first verse of the Bible. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now, in this one verse, we learn so much about the character of God. Number one, He's eternal.

No one created Him. He's independent. He didn't have any needs that he had to work with before he could create the world. He created something from nothing because of his own independence. We see His sovereignty, His will must be done. We see His omnipotence creating something from nothing.

Only God can do that. And our problem is we think naturally that God is only a bigger version of us. No, he is not like us at all. He said, there is none like me. I need to know the truth with regard to the character of the living God. Now from the Bible, we know the character of the living God. For instance, we know that God's just. He's absolutely just. He's altogether righteous. There's no sin in Him. There's no iniquity in Him.

That is why there's a judgment day. That is why there is hell. Because God is just and God will punish the wicked. We know that intuitively. God will reward the righteous and punish the wicked because God is just. Now, if there was a human judge that just pardoned people who were guilty of terrible crimes, we would say, well, they're an unjust judge. Yet people get upset with the Lord. Why doesn't he just forgive without punishment? Because God is just. He's righteous. He's holy.

That means he's other, he's immutable, he can't change, he's independent, self-existent, he has no needs, he's omnipotent, he's omniscient, he's never learned anything, he's omnipresent, he's not bound by space or time the way you and I are. God is as the Bible declares him to be. And I love this scripture from Isaiah 45, verse 21.

He said, I am a just God and a savior. Now think about that. He said, I'm a just God. He said in Exodus 34, I'll by no means clear the guilty. I'm a just God and a Savior, a Savior of sinners. He's both a just God and a Savior. There's none beside me, look unto me, and be ye saved all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else.

Now, the Bible is the only source of true information with regard to the character of God. That's the truth. He is as the Bible describes Him to be. If I were you, I would find out what the Bible has to say about Him, this just God and Savior. And the truth is, Somebody says, I want to know the truth. Well, here it is. The truth is that man is as the Bible declares him to be. God is as the Bible declares him to be, and man is as the Bible declares him to be. Man is a creature. He's a creature. God's the creator. Man is his creature. And man is a fallen creature. Now, God created Adam upright. This was all a part of his purpose.

And he said to Adam in the garden, in the day you eat thereof, that fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. He didn't say, if you eat, you'll die. He said, when you do, you'll die. Could God have prevented this? Of course he could have. But this was all a part of God's sovereign purpose. Understand this.

The cross was not made in response to man's fall. Man's fall is because of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and he came to put away sin. And before there was ever a sinner, there was a Savior, but man is, as the Bible declares him to be, dead in trespasses and sins. He said, in the day you eat thereof, you'll die. Now, he didn't die physically, but he died spiritually. and you and I are born into this world spiritually dead, sinful. Hear the scriptural description.

There is none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understandeth. There's none that seeketh after God. They've all gone out of the way. They've together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. Jeremiah said the heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked, incurably wicked. Who can know it?

And the truth with regard to man's sinfulness is seen in the cross. When I talk about my sin, I don't even, I hate the sins I commit. I do, but they don't give the real picture of how bad I am. The cross is what gives the real picture of how bad I am.

And the Bible tells us the truth with regard to salvation. Now, there is such a thing as salvation. Man is sinful. Man's evil, but thank God he's a just God and a Savior, and he has made a way to be just and justify a sinful man. The Bible tells the truth with regard to salvation. I love what Jonah said in Jonah 2, verse 9. Salvation is of the Lord. It's not of man. It's of the Lord.

Now, the Bible teaches, I've already touched on this, that God is one God in three distinct persons. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and all three of the persons of the one true and living God have their part in the salvation of the sinner. First God the Father is the God of election. God the Father, now this is the truth. This is what the Bible teaches. I know that not many preachers preach this, but that doesn't take away from the truthfulness of it. Way back before time began, God elected a people in Christ to be saved. Now that's just the truth.

It's what the Bible teaches for the children, Romans 9-11. For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand not of works, but of him that calleth." It's called in Romans 11, 5, the election of grace.

God purposed to save a people. Salvation is by the purpose of God. Somebody says, doesn't God give everybody a chance? Salvation is not by chance. Salvation is by the purpose of God. The truth is that God elected a people freely as an act of his own sovereign will, not because he foresaw any goodness in them, simply because he would, to the praise of the glory of his grace, God chose a people in Christ before time began to be saved. Now that's the truth. That's what the Bible teaches. Here's the truth.

Christ came to save those people. Christ, the Son of God, they were given to him before the foundation of the world. He said, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Christ came to this planet to save his people from their sins. Matthew 121, thou should call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Christ didn't come to make salvation available. Christ didn't come to offer you salvation. Christ didn't come to make forgiveness possible if you'll just accept Him and not reject Him. Christ came to save and that is what He did.

He kept God's law perfectly for His people so that they would have a perfect righteousness. He bore their sins in His own body on the tree and put them away and made them not to be. said, it is finished. His last words, their salvation is accomplished. And he was raised from the dead because God was satisfied with what he did.

The third person of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit, he gives life to that one who's dead in sin so they can believe on Christ. Salvation is of the Lord, the Father in election, the Son in redemption, and God the Holy Spirit in the new birth. All three persons of the Trinity are the ones who say. Now here's the truth. With regard to this salvation, Christ is all.

Colossians 3.11. Not Christ is 99%, Christ is all. Christ is all that God is. In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Christ is all in the Scripture. He's the message of the Scripture. From Genesis 1-1 through Revelation 22-21, Christ is the message of the Scripture. Christ is all in salvation. All God requires of me, He looks to Christ for. He doesn't look for a thing out of me. He looks to His Son for everything. He is all in salvation, and He is all I have. He's all to me. I don't have anything above Him.

Now, in closing, what must I do to be saved? What a question. What must I do to be saved? I see I can't save myself. Tell me the truth. What must I do to be saved? Well, that's what the Philippian jailer asked the apostle Paul. And Paul gave the answer. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

That's the truth. Believe. Don't work. Believe. You're commanded. Believe on the Lord. He's the Lord. He's the one whose will is done. Even the thief understood this when he looked at him beside him on the cross when he couldn't even see his face through the blood and the gore. He said, Lord, he knew he was the Lord. He's Jesus, the only Savior. He's Christ, God's prophet, the very Word of God, God's priest. If He brings you into God's presence, you must be saved. He's God's King, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords.

His will is always done. believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That is the truth. That is the truth. Give me nothing but that which is the truth. Christ is all in salvation. If you, if I, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who he is and what he did, we will be saved. That is the truth. To receive a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send a request to todd.neibert at gmail.com or you may write or call the church at the information provided on the screen.