With Christ From The Beginning

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 John chapter 15, verse 26, the Lord said with regard to God, the Holy Spirit, when the comforter is come, I love his name for God, the Holy Spirit. Four times, in this last address to his disciples, he calls God the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me, and You also shall bear witness.

You will be giving the same testimony he does because you have been with me from the beginning. Now that is said to every believer. You have been with me from the beginning. That's not talking about a calendar date. That's the same beginning of which the Lord said, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

Every believer was with Him then, eternally united to Him. Now, they hadn't been born yet. But in God's mind, they already were. They were chosen in Him, represented by Him as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and they were with Him. I love what Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13, we're bound to thank God always.

Brethren, beloved of the Lord for you, for God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. You were with me from the beginning. Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. Behold, I have loved you with an everlasting love."

Now, when I think of Me being with Christ eternally, my mind short circuits. We're creatures of time and we can't grasp before time or when time is no more. But there is such a thing as eternity. And every believer is eternally with, eternally united to him.

He said, you'll bear witness because you've been with me from the beginning. Now let's look at this passage of scripture. I wanna go back up eight or nine verses and see what led to this statement. The Lord said in verse 17 of John chapter 15, these things I command you that you love one another. That is his commandment. And as we go on reading, we're going to see how much we need to love our brethren. He says in verse 18, if the world hate. you, you know it hated me before it hated you." The world hates Jesus Christ. Now who's been by the world? everybody that's not a believer. Everyone who is not a believer is a hater of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if you had asked the average person, do you hate Christ? They'd say, of course not.

He's a fine man. He's a good man. Great teacher. Probably say very good things about him. But it's because they have not heard the truth with regard to Jesus Christ. It's when men hear the truth with regard to Jesus Christ, that's when they begin to hate him. Up in verse 16, he says to his disciples, listen to these words.

You have not chosen me. But I have chosen you." Now Christ sets forth the glorious doctrine of election. He says to his disciples, you didn't choose me. I chose you. If I'm saved, it's because He chose me, not because I chose Him. I am utterly and completely in His hands. Salvation is up to Him. I love what the leper said to Him. He said, Lord, if You will, You can make me clean. He didn't say, Lord, I will that you make me clean. He said, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.

The Lord is absolutely sovereign. This is the Christ men hate because his sovereign choice of his people says salvation is outside of the hands of men. I can't save myself. I'm completely dependent upon him to save me. Salvation's of the Lord. Now, when people hear of that Christ, That's when their hatred comes out. I know in my own experience, when I found out that God elected a people, my initial response was hatred. That's not fair. How can it be fair for Him to Choose some and not choose others. And really the bottom line was I saw that salvation was outside of my hands. I was totally in His hands.

And when I saw my heart rise up in hatred for Him for that, I found out really for the first time, I'm somebody who hates God. This is who God is. And that is when I cried for mercy, when I found out how bad I really was. Now, the Lord says in verse 18, if the world hates you, and the world will hate those who confess Christ, you know that it hated me before it hated you.

If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you're not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." Now, I love what he says here. If your origin was of this world, the world would love you. You'd be one of its citizens. But you're not of this world. Your origin is me.

The Lord said concerning his people, they are not of the world even as I am not of the world. mysterious, but this is talking about the union of the people of Christ and Himself. We're of Him. We're not of this world. We're of Him. He says, if you were of the world, the world would love its own, but because you're not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they persecuted me, they'll also persecute you. If they've kept my sayings, they'll keep your sayings also. And here's why, because our sayings are the same sayings as his sayings. That's all we preach is what he said. We don't preach our own thoughts, our own opinions. We preach what he said.

Verse 21, but all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake. because they know not Him that sent me." Now the reason, the Lord tells His disciples, and listen, they were all martyred except for John. They were all put to death for what they preached. John was banished to the Isle of Patmos, and the world has never had any love for those who love Christ, and here's why. They hate His people because of their connection with Him, because they hate Him.

He said in verse 22, if I had not come and spoken unto them, they did not have sin, but now they have no cloak for their sin. He that hateth me, hateth my father also. For I had not done among them the works which, if I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had no sin. But now they have both seen and hated both me and my father. The Lord Jesus Christ did what only God can do. And men saw it.

He created matter. Remember when he fed the 5,000 with two, five barley loaves and two fishes, he brought matter into the universe that was not there before. Only God can do that. He controlled the weather. What manner of man is this that the winds and the sea obey him? Only God can do that. He raised the dead. Only God can do that.

He healed the sick, He gave sight to the blind, He suspended the law of physics when He walked on the water. He did what only God can do. And the demons knew who He was, and they knew they couldn't even make a move from one place to another without His permission. Suffer us to go into that herd of swine. and Jesus gave them leave. You see, he did what only God can do, and here is why.

Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ is the creator of the universe. He is the second person of the blessed trinity. Jesus Christ is God. Now, the Lord says in verse 25, if this cometh to pass, This is talking about the persecution, the people of God will endure this cometh to pass that the word might be fulfilled.

That's written in their law. They hated me. without a cause. Now, is the Lord being paranoid? Of course not. He knows what's in the heart of every natural man, and the cross is the proof of that. When men were left to do what they wanted to do, they nailed Jesus Christ to a cross and killed Him. He was delivered to their will, the scripture says. Men hate Jesus Christ, and they do so freely. There's no cause in Him. He's never done anything to make them hate Him, but this is about the desperate wickedness of man's heart. They hated me without a cause. Men hate the Lord Jesus Christ. But when the Comforter is come. Now I love the fact that God the Holy Spirit is called the Comforter.

The gospel he testifies of, the gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of to every believer. Now it's not a message of comfort to everybody, but it's a message of comfort to every believer. Listen to these words. Comfort ye, this is from Isaiah chapter 40 verse 1, comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. speak ye comfortably unto Jerusalem, and cry unto her, make sure she hears that, that her warfare is accomplished, her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Now listen to that, this is the message of the comforter. Comfort ye Comfort ye my people. Now there is a two-fold description of them as to why they need comfort. Because of a warfare. And because of iniquity. Tell her her warfare is accomplished. Now what is this warfare all about?

When God saves somebody, they learn that they're sinners. And they don't really have problems with sin until they're saved. Now, let me explain what I'm saying. Oh, they have problems with sin as far as the consequences of sin. And the problem, it brings about in their life, but they have no real understanding of their own sinfulness. You will not understand the sinfulness of your sinful, fallen human nature unless God the Holy Spirit gives you light. And that is when the war begins.

You now have a new nature. And the scripture says, the flesh lusts against the Spirit. That's not talking about the Holy Spirit, but the spiritual nature given to every believer in the new birth. You see, if God saves a man, he has the nature he was born with, but he also has the nature he's born again with. And hence there is a warfare, the war between the flesh and the spirit. The flesh lusts against the spirit, the spirit lusts against the flesh.

These are contrary one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would. And what a warfare that is. Every day I'm reminded of my sinful, nature, my sinful actions, my sinful thoughts, my sinful motives. Like David said, my sin is ever before me. There is a warfare with every believer. Now an unbeliever can't understand this, but a believer can.

And what does God tell the prophet to say? Comfort ye. Comfort ye my people, sayeth your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, not to everybody, but to every child of God. Cry unto her and say, your warfare is accomplished. When Christ said, it is finished, your salvation was finished and accomplished. Even though you're feeling the skirmishes of it now, you are utterly secure because your iniquity has been pardoned. It's been put away.

That's what Christ accomplished on the cross. He died on Calvary's tree because he was bearing the iniquity, the sin, the transgressions of his people. He wasn't innocent when He was on the cross. He was guilty because He was bearing the sins of His people. And He put them away. He made perfect satisfaction for them.

Your warfare, here's the message of comfort. Your warfare is accomplished. This is what God the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, bears witness to. Your warfare is accomplished. Your iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Not only have my sins been forgiven, I've been justified. I stand before God having never sinned. Having the very righteousness of Christ is my very righteousness.

Now this is the message of Comforter. I love what the Lord says with regard to the Comforter, but when the Comforter has come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth." Now, here's another name for God the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth. Now, listen to me. God the Holy Spirit only uses the truth. He never uses error. He never uses a false gospel. There is no salvation in a false gospel. God the Holy Spirit always uses the truth. The truth of the Bible, if it did come from the Bible, it's not true. The truth of the character of God, God is as the Bible declares him to be.

He's absolutely sovereign, he's holy, he's just, he's independent. He is who he reveals himself to be in the word. His character, his attributes, he only uses the truth with regard to God, and he only uses the truth with regard to man. Now let me tell you the truth regarding man. He's created in the image of God. He was created innocent, but when he fell, he became dead in sins, completely and totally evil.

Are you saying that's true with regard to every man? Yes, I am. I'm saying this because it's what the Bible says. Genesis 6, 5 says God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Now that's God's testimony with regard to me. That's God's testimony with regard to you. There's none righteous. No, not one. There's none that understands. There's none that seeks after God. They have all gone out of the way. They've together become unprofitable. There's none that doeth good. No, not one.

That's God, the Holy Spirit's testimony with regard to man. God's holy, man's evil, and he only uses the truth with regard to salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. It's of the Father in eternal election when He chose who would be saved before time began. It's of the Son in His redeeming work when He actually put away the sins of those He died for, those the Father gave Him and gave them a perfect righteousness.

It's of the Spirit. God the Holy Spirit gives you life. You're dead. He gives you life. Salvation is of the Lord. And when God the Holy Spirit teaches us, He teaches us that Jesus Christ is all in salvation. He's all in election. That's why God chose me. I was in Christ. He's all in redemption. I was redeemed by His blood. He's all in regeneration. The reason I've been born again is because He died for me. This is what you see when you're regenerated, that He is all.

God the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and He only uses the truth. The scripture says here, He shall testify of me. That is the work of God the Holy Spirit. He shall testify of me. Holy Spirit filled preaching. It's the testimony of who Jesus Christ is.

Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ is man. He's 100% God, just as if He were not Man at all. And he's 100% man, just as if he were not God at all. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Two natures, the divine nature and perfect human nature in one person, in one personality, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the God-man. Well, what did he do? Well, he created the universe.

And in time, He came and took upon flesh for the purpose of saving His people from their sins. Matthew 121, the first chapter in the New Testament, Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. Now, man sinned, man must die. God can't die. a man can't satisfy, only God can satisfy. Well, Jesus Christ could do both.

He's the God-man and He put away the sins of His people by His death on the cross. His perfect obedience and righteousness while He walked upon this earth is theirs. When He was raised from the dead, every single one of His people were justified. Where is He now? He's seated at the right hand of the Father.

And this is what the Holy Spirit testifies to. He shall testify of me. He shall not speak of Himself. He'll testify of me. And He testifies that Christ is even now at the right hand of the Father, representing His people, interceding His people, ruling and reigning.

And let me tell you His position. He's seated. He's seated because His work is finished. He's seated, He's not walking back and forth in frustration because His will's not done. He's seated at the right hand of the Father, ruling and reigning, and beloved, He is coming again to receive His people to Himself, to raise them from the dead so they will ever be with Him.

He testifies of me. Now look what he says next. Verse 27, he says of his people, he says, and you shall also bear witness. You're going to be giving testimony to the same things that God, the Holy Spirit gives testimony to. And actually he's going to be doing you. He's going to be using you to do this. He's the one doing the testifying, but it's going to be coming through your words and your mouth. He shall bear witness of me because you have been with me from the beginning. Now, like I said earlier, that's not talking about the calendar date when they started following the Lord. The beginning means the beginning. All of God's people are eternally united to Christ and bear witness of Him. Now, what I thought of when I was thinking of this, I thought about the testimony of the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 22. I'm going to read this to you. Men and brethren and fathers, hear ye my defense, which I make now unto you.'

And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence. And he saith, I am barely a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel." That's where he was trained, or who he was trained by. It tells him where he went to seminary.

He says, I was taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous. toward God as you are this day. And I persecuted this way, this way of Christ, this way of grace, this way of the cross. I persecuted this way into the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. as also the high priest that bare me witness, and all the estate of the elders, from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring them which were there, bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. That is what my mission was. And it came to pass that as I made my journey and was coming to Damascus, about noon suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me, and I fell unto the ground. and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

And I answered, who art thou, Lord? And he said unto him, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw indeed the light and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. And I said, what shall I do, Lord?

And the Lord said unto me, arise and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed. for thee to do." When was this appointment made? Before the foundation of the world. And when I could not see, for the glory of that light being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus, and one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight.

And the same hour I looked upon him, and he said, the God of our fathers hath chosen thee. First thing he heard was election. The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou should know his will, see that just one, and hear the voice of his mouth, For thou shalt be His witness unto all men of what you've seen and what you've heard."

You're going to know His will. Now, He's not talking about, you know, I'll know the will of the Lord as to where I ought to live or who I ought to marry or what my job ought to be. No, He's talking about His will of redemption. This, the Lord said, is the will of him that sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. It's God's will for all the elect to be saved, and saved they all will be.

And see that just one. You'll see how God can be just through that just one, the Lord Jesus Christ, and justify you and make you stand before God without guilt. You'll see that just one. You'll see how God can be just and justify somebody as ungodly as you through that just one, through what the Lord accomplished on Calvary's tree.

You'll know his will, you'll see that just one, and you shall hear the voice of his mouth." Now, Paul heard it audibly, but every other believer hears from Christ. Maybe not audibly in words that can be heard by the ear, but the Lord said, my sheep hear my voice. I know them. They follow me. I give unto them eternal life. His sheep hear.

And then the Lord says, for thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what you've seen and what you've heard. And that's what we bear witness of. What we've seen, who he is, what we've heard, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he said unto him, and why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. And here's where the witness begins, baptism. To receive a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send your request to todd.neibert at gmail.com or you may write or call the church at the information provided on the screen.

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