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I choose thee, 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. I've entitled this message, Scent.

In John chapter 16, verse 15, this is the Lord's last address to his disciples. He knows within 24 hours he will be nailed to a cross. And he says, but now I go my way unto him that sent me. He sent me here and I'm going back to him. Now, this is one of 43 times in the book of John that the Lord Jesus refers to himself as being sent of God. sent of God. If God sends, the one he sends is qualified to do what he sent him to do. Yes, the Father sent him and he had a purpose in sending him for him to do something. As I said, if God has sent someone, they're qualified to do what He has sent them to do.

For instance, I cannot truly preach unless God Himself has sent me. to preach. How should they preach except they be sent? Romans chapter 10. There are a lot of preachers who are never sent of God. Only those who are sent of God preach the gospel. There will be no profit coming from hearing a preacher that is not sent of God.

It was said of John the Baptist, there was a man sent from God whose name was John. What are your qualifications, John? God sent me. Is anything else needed? If God has sent a man, nothing else is needed. Christ referred to himself as him whom the Father hath sent. And he said this 43 times in the book of John. Let me give you some examples.

In John 4.34, He said, My meat, My food, My necessity is to do the will of Him that sent Me and to finish His work.

John 3.17, For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. You see, the world was already condemned. God didn't send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world. That was his purpose in sending his son.

John chapter six, verses 38 through 40, he said, for I came down from heaven. Now stop right there for a second. If I told you I came down from heaven, you would have a good reason to think I was deluded, that I was crazy. Yet the Lord says to these people, I came down from heaven. I was in heaven before I ever came down here. And I'm sure they were shocked by this. I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me.

And he tells exactly what that will is in verses 39 and 40. This 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. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone that seeth the Son and believeth on him should not perish, but I'll raise him up at the last day. John chapter five, verse 36. The works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me.

Now, the works he did, he raised the dead. That's never been duplicated. He gave sight to people who were born blind. He created matter. He brought matter into the world that was not there before he called it into existence, when he fed the 5,000 with two fish and five biscuits.

He controlled the weather. Can you imagine the power of someone that can control the weather? There was a great storm. He said, peace, be still. And there was a great calm. And they said, what manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea do obey him? He claimed the authority to forgive sins, something only God can do. Son, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Who can forgive sins but God only? They were right about that. He suspended the law of physics when he walked on the water. He gave abundant proof that the Father sent him.

In John 7, verse 20, he said, my doctrine is not mine. but His that sent me." John 6, 29, this is the work of God that you believe on Him whom He has sent. Not just that you believe, but you believe on Him who He has sent. You believe the Father sent Him, you believe He did what the Father sent Him to do. John 7, verse 3, this is life eternal. that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." John 17, 8, "...they have known surely that I came out from Thee, and they have believed that Thou hast sent Me." This is the stuff of faith, believing that God sent Jesus Christ.

Now, inherent in this, as John said in 1 John 4, 14, we have seen and testified that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Inherent in the Father sending Him is that He was before He was sent. This is speaking of His eternal existence as the Son of God. Before He came into the world, He was God, He was with God, as a distinct person from God, and He was God, face to face with God.

John 1.14 says, and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Now this name is unique to John, the only begotten of the Father, the monogenes, the only begotten. It's used five times in John chapter one, verse 18. We read, the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten son, which is in the bosom of the father.

He hath declared him. John 3, 16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish. John 3, 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God. 1 John 4, 9. And this was manifested, the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world. Now, what does this mean? The only begotten Son? It means this.

The Son of God is the sole representative of the being and the character of the One who sent Him. Now this begetting, the only begotten Son of God, was not an event of time. but an eternal fact. Irrespective of time, Christ did not become the only begotten Son of God, but Jesus Christ necessarily and eternally is the only begotten Son of God, equal to the Father, and unoriginated eternal relationship which expresses the deep love and affection between the Son and the Father.

The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father. Now this expresses His eternal union with His Father and the love and the intimacy between the Father and the Son. And the Son sharing all the Father's counsel, all the Father's purpose, and all the Father's decrees. What the Father does, the Son does. What the Father says, the Son says. It says, Christ Jesus said of himself, he that has seen me, hath seen the father. He is the full revelation of God's character and God's will.

Now, before the father sent him, that time some 2000 years ago, before the father sent him, he was already the appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world. I'm quoting from Hebrews chapter one. who, being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, end up holding all things by the word of His power when He had by Himself." No help from anyone. No help from His Father. He was forsaken by His Father.

When he had by himself, because of the excellency of his person, when he had by himself purged our sins, the hour being all who believe, everybody he died for, all of his elect, when he had by himself purged, made not to be our sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.

Why did he sit down? Because his work was finished. Sin was purged. He is the full revelation of God. He was with God, face to face with God, and he was God. The same was in his eternal isness in the beginning with God. Now it's obviously with a feeble view, but how glorious he is. God's fellow, God's equal, God's Son, all that God is, He is. In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and before creation was this fellowship and this relationship between the Father and the Son. He said, Thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. Now, this is the one God sent. God the Son. And you know something else that took place before the foundation of the world? The Father loved the Son.

We also read in Revelation 13, 8 that Christ is the Lamb slain. from the foundation of the world. Before there was a creation, before there was time or space, when all there was was God, Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And that's why he made the world to come and be slain. The death of Christ on the cross is the most God-like thing God ever did. What he accomplished by that death.

Now, we can be abundantly sure of this. Whatever it was the Father sent him to do, he did. He is incapable of failure. Just like he's incapable of sin, he's incapable of failure. Whatever the Father sent him to do, he did. It would be a thing impossible for him to not do what the Father sent him to do. We have this prophecy concerning him in Isaiah 42, verse four, he shall not fail nor be discouraged until he has set forth judgment unto victory. He cannot fail, he can't be discouraged, he can't be disappointed, he can't be frustrated because his will's not being done.

He shall not fail nor be discouraged. Now, the notion that he could come into the world with an intention and that intention not be met is repugnant. And yet, that is what most preaching in our day is. Jesus Christ was sent by the Father to save everybody. He wants to save everybody. He died for everybody. He died for everybody's sins.

But as to whether or not you're saved, it's up to you. Now, if you reject him and he intended to save you, you know what that means? That means he failed in his intention. If he intended to save you and you're not saved, that would make him a failure because he intended to save you. and wanted to save you, but he was not able to save you because you wouldn't let him. That kind of preaching is repugnant. It's just not true. It's dishonoring to the Lord Jesus Christ.

He died for his people, his elect. his sheep, not goats, he died for his people, and when he said, it is finished, every one of those people were saved. Now, as I said, most preaching in this day says that Jesus Christ died for all men, wanting to save all men, yet some of those men he died for will end up in hell because they would not accept what he did. Now that is an accurate representation of most of the preaching of our day. Now what that does is it makes him a failure.

If he intended on saving somebody and that person is not saved, Jesus Christ failed in his intention. Secondly, that makes God the Father guilty of double jeopardy. That means he can punish your sins in Christ and turn around and punish you again in hell. That's double jeopardy. That's taking away from the justice of God. And it makes this meaningless. Romans 8, verse 34, who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died.

That's the only answer I need. My only hope of being saved is that Jesus Christ died for my sins and put them away. Now, if he can die for somebody and that same person he died for winds up in hell, You've taken away the only hope I have because the only hope I have is that Jesus Christ died for me, not that Jesus Christ died for me and I, fill in the blank, did something. No, that's salvation by works. That's salvation dependent upon me. My only hope of being saved is that when he died for me, my sins were actually put away and I now have no guilt before God because of what he did. That's my hope.

Oh, the teaching of Him intending to do something, and it not happening is just repugnant. Now, what was He sent by the Father to do? We don't have to guess because He tells us. In John 17, verse 4, He said, I have glorified Thee on the earth. I have finished the work Thou gavest Me to do. Remember when I quoted John 434, my meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and finish His work.

Now the Father sent Him for twofold purpose, to glorify Himself, to glorify the Father, and to save his people. And that is exactly what he did. He glorified God on the earth. And he finished the work that God gave him to do. You'll remember Matthew 121, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. When he said it is finished, they were saved from their sins. Now, first of all, he glorified God.

You know, the cross is the great display of the glory of God. God is glory. I can't express that as it ought to be expressed, but He's altogether glorious. And His glory is seen in the cross wherein He is made a way because of His infinite wisdom and of His infinite power. He's made a way to be absolutely just and yet justify ungodly sinners. That's the glory of God. How He's made the way to be just, to punish all sin, to be absolutely righteous, to let no sin go unpunished, and yet justify ungodly sinners through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. How that glorifies God. Now let me ask you a question. Does God get all the glory in your salvation? Let's say you're saved. Let's say I'm saved. Does God get all the glory in my salvation?

Absolutely. I'm saved for one reason, God. Not because I did anything. Not because I intended to do something. Not because I quit doing something. The only reason I'm saved is God Himself. And He gets all the glory. You see, God chose me before time began to be saved. I didn't have anything to do with that. I wasn't even around.

Jesus Christ agreed to be my surety before I was ever born, and all that God requires of me, He looks to my surety for. Christ Jesus came into the world and worked out a perfect righteousness for me, and I sure had no doing in that. Christ Jesus died for my sins. I couldn't place my sins on Him. Only God could do that. God took my sins and placed them in His Son. He took my sins and my sorrows. He made them His very own. He bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone.

He gets all the glory in that when He was raised from the dead. It's because He finished what the Father sent Him to do. Oh, He completely glorified God. Every one of God's attributes are glorified in the cross. Oh, His wisdom is glorified, how He made this way to be just and justify the ungodly. His powers manifested in the cross when He actually made sin not to be.

His justice is seen in the cross. All sin is punished. His independence is seen in the cross. He didn't need me to do something before He could do something for me. Every attribute of God, His sovereignty is seen in the cross. There were two men beside Him, one saved, one lost.

That was according to God's purpose. in those two thieves, every attribute of God, His love, His grace, His mercy is magnified in the cross. He glorified God and He did what the Father sent Him to do when He said, it is finished, the salvation of everybody He died for was completed.

Now, I would like to read These words again from John 6, verses 38 through 40. He said, I came down from heaven. And I'm sure they were shocked when he said that. As I said earlier, if I said that, you'd think this man's deluded. Perhaps they thought the same thing of him.

I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the will of him that sent me, that of all which he hath given to me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone that seeth the sun, and believeth on him may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the last day." Now, God sent Jesus Christ, and he sent him for this purpose, to do his will. And the Lord clearly identifies what the will of the Father is in sending him.

This is the will of Him that sent me, that of all which He hath given me, the Father gave Christ a people." called his sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. The Father gave Christ a people.

And when He walked upon this earth, He did so as the Savior of those people. It was the Father's will that not one of them be lost. And when Christ said, it is finished, it's because they were all saved. He worked out a perfect righteousness for every one of them. And He put away their sins by His death on the cross. And He made them the very righteousness of God. in Him, and every one of them shall be saved."

That's the Father's will. And Christ says, I'll raise him up on the last day. Speaking of the final resurrection, when they will be raised incorruptible, perfectly conformed to the image of Christ, their sin will be no longer. They will be raised perfectly conformed to His image. Now that's God's will.

That's what Christ tells us God sent Him for. to save every one of these people and not one of them be lost. Now, who are these people? We know they're God's elect, but let's read the next verse. I'm thankful for this next verse. He says in verse 40, and this is the will of Him that sent me. that everyone which seeth the sun and believeth on him may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the last day." Now, this is God's will that everyone who sees the sun.

Now, I've never seen the Son physically, and neither have you. People who claim to have seen Him are liars. They're phonies. They're not telling the truth. I've never seen the Lord physically. But I've seen Him in His Word, and I see who He is. I see, I believe that He is very God of very God, the man Christ Jesus, God manifest in the flesh. I don't believe him to be a mere man. I don't believe him to be like God. He's not like God at all. He is God. God manifest in the flesh, 100% God, having all the attributes of God. In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. All of God is in his body, mystery, glorious. All we can do is bow before this glorious truth. Everyone who sees who he is.

And if you see, here's what you'll do. You'll believe on him. If you see, you will believe. If you see who He is, the God-man, incapable of failure, sent by the Father to do the Father's will. If you see who He is, you will believe on Him. Now you believe in Him, that means you believe who He is and you believe on Him. You are relying on who He is and what He did as all that's needed to make you perfect and bring you into heaven. Now here's God's will.

Here's why God sent Christ, to save all that the Father gave Him and to raise Him up at the last day and to raise up everyone who sees the Son. Do you see who He is? Are you relying on Him only? Well, here is why He was sent, to save everyone the Father gave Him, and to save everyone who sees who He is and relies completely on Him.

I hope I'm one of those people. I hope you're one of those people. Hear the command of the Gospel. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. 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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