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 the book of Isaiah, chapter
40, verse 6, God speaks to Isaiah and he says, cry. He's telling
him to say something, cry. And Isaiah asks this question,
what shall I cry? What am I supposed to say? What
is the content of my message supposed to be? What shall I
cry? That's what I've entitled this
message. What shall I cry? Now we know
that this is prophetically speaking of John the Baptist. What he
would say, the voice of one that crieth in the wilderness. But
in this question the prophet asks, we're given what the content
of true gospel preaching is. Now, let's start in the beginning
of the chapter. In Isaiah 40, verse 1, God says to Isaiah, Comfort ye,
comfort ye my people, saith your God. Now, notice he speaks of
my people. Now, everybody belongs to him
in the sense that he's God, but he's only talking about those
who are saved when he says, comfort ye my people, the same people
that the Lord that is spoken of by the angel to Joseph, thou
shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from
their sins. This is talking about the elect.
This is talking about those that God chose before time began,
those he calls his people. And he says, comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith your God. Now we're going to find out what
that comfort is as we go on reading. He says, speak ye comfortably. And my marginal reading says
to the heart. speak you to the heart of Jerusalem,
and cry unto her." Now, here's the comfort. "...cry unto her
that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. Now here is the comfort. Her warfare is accomplished. It's already won. The victory's
already been won. We don't have to wait to find
out what the outcome is. The victory is already won. Her iniquity is pardoned. Not it will be pardoned if it
has been pardoned. You know, when you are forgiven,
you find out you were forgiven. That's what you find out. You
don't do something in order to be forgiven. You find out you've
been forgiven. And then he says, for she has
received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Not only did she receive the
forgiveness of sins, she received the complete justification from
sin, so I stand before God having never sinned. Now, this could
only be understood in light of the gospel, but she hath received,
this is what comforts her. She hath received of the Lord's
hand double for all her sin. Now let's go on reading. Verse
3, the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness. Now this is
spoken prophetically of John the Baptist. It's quoted in the
New Testament. The voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness. Now, I think it's very interesting
with regard to John the Baptist, that if you wanted to hear God
speak, you didn't go to the temple at this time. You didn't go to
man's organized religion. You had to go into the wilderness
to hear what God had to say through his prophet. John the Baptist
made no attempt to identify with accepted human religion. Now, the religion of the Sadducees
and Pharisees had developed, and they were the ones who came
out to hear him, but John didn't go to the temple to preach. He didn't go into Jerusalem to
preach. There was no attempt made to identify with man's religion. The voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness, and here it is, prepare ye the way of the
Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Now, what in the world does that
mean? How do you prepare the way of the Lord? The word prepare
means make clear, clear away. take away the things that would
hinder someone in seeing clearly. That's what it means to prepare
the way of the Lord. Remove the obstacles that would
hinder men from seeing the way clearly. Now that is what John
the Baptist did. He came before the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ, preparing the way of the Lord, making it
clear. Now I want to read scripture,
quote a scripture to you, there's not a more important scripture
in all the Word of God than this with regard to the way of the
Lord. In John chapter 14, verse 6, the Lord said, I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father,
but by me. I am the way that excludes all
other ways. I am the truth. I am the truth. Not, I'll tell you the truth.
Not, I'll show you the truth. Not, I'll lead you to the truth.
I am the truth. I am the life, the only life
that God will accept. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. Now think about what he says.
And this is what John was called upon to make clear. He said,
I am the way. I'm not a way. I'm not one of
many ways. I am the way. Not, I'll lead
you along the way, or I'll show you the right way. I'm it. I am the way. The only way you
will come to the Father is if you are in me. I am the way. If you're in the way, you're
already there, because I'm already there. I am the way. No one comes to the Father but
by me. And that preposition, by, can
also be translated in, no man comes to the Father except they're
in me. So that when I come to the Father,
they do too. That's how I get to the Father.
By Him coming to the Father, me being in Him, and Him coming
into the Father's presence, and I am accepted. I am the way. I am the truth. I'm the truth
concerning God. I'm the truth concerning all
of His character. I'm the truth concerning man,
how sinful man is when compared to me because I am the man without
sin. I am the truth concerning salvation. I am salvation. I am the truth. He even says, I am the life.
Do you know the only way that God will accept you is if His
life is your life before God? That's the only way of acceptance.
Your life is no good. My life is no good. Sinful. The
only sinless life, the only perfect life is the life of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Christ, our life. He is my life
before God. That's why I can have boldness.
before God in the judgment, because the life of Christ is my life.
Just as He took my sin and made it His own and put it away, He
takes His life and makes it mine, so it's actually my life. I am the way, I am the truth,
I am the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. Now let's go on reading. He says,
in the desert, a highway for our God. Now, the word desert
is sterility, no life. in a desert, no life can be born. And this is speaking of the desert
of man's heart, the deadness of man's heart. That's the way
you and I are born into this world, dead in trespasses and
sins, a desert, no life. But he says, make straight in
the desert. A highway to our God leading
straight to Christ alone. Listen to this scripture, Hebrews
chapter 12, verse two, looking unto Jesus, not looking to my
works, not looking to my experience, not looking to my success and
my efforts to strive against sin. looking unto Jesus. Nowhere else to look. Looking
unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. That's making straight in the
desert, a highway to our God, looking unto Jesus and nowhere
else. This is preparing the way of
the Lord. And then he says in verse four,
every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill shall
be made low. Every low place shall be exalted. Every high place shall be leveled. Now, who are these or what is
this low place? Everybody to ever live has felt
low before. It felt depressed, maybe felt
lacking, dissatisfied, discontent. Everyone has felt low. There are people who have no
self-confidence. There are people who have great
insecurities. Everybody has dealt with that
to one degree or another, but that's not the loneliness he's
talking about. He's talking about the lowness of sinfulness, where
you see that you are a sinner. You are a sinful man. Everyone who sees that He's going
to exalt. He's going to save you. There's
no such thing as a man who truly sees his own sinfulness that
God doesn't save. The reason he sees his own sinfulness
is God made it known to him. He would have never known had
not God made it known. But wherever there is a sinner,
there is the Savior. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am the chief. Every valley. shall be exalted, and every mountain
and hill shall be made low." That's talking about human self-righteousness,
high thoughts of yourself, exalted thoughts of yourself that are
contrary to what the scripture says about me and you. Every
mountain, every hill, all forms of self-righteousness and pride
are going to be leveled. And the crooked, he said, shall
be made straight. Now, do you see yourself as crooked,
deceitful, sinful? Is that you? You have nothing
to recommend yourself to God? Scripture says the crooked shall
be made straight. How can that be? Second Corinthians 521 says,
for he hath made him to be sin. Now, he never sinned, even when
he was made sin. But he was made sin. He was made
crooked. All the hell that sin is, he
was made to be. That we might be made the righteousness
of God. Now that's straight. The righteousness
of God in him. The crooked shall be made straight. And the rough places, the impassable
places, plain or leveled so you can get through. and the glory
of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it." Now we come to our
text, the voice said, God's voice said, cry, cry aloud, make sure
you are heard. And then Isaiah asks the question,
what shall I cry? What is it that I'm supposed
to say? Now, when the Lord answers him,
we find out the true content of gospel preaching. There is
so much that goes under the name of preaching that is not preaching
at all because this is not the content of the preaching. And
if this is not the foundation of everything that's said, it's
not gospel. Whatever else it might be, it's
not the gospel. The voice said, cry. And I said,
what shall I cry? And here's God's answer. All
flesh is grass. Not most flesh, not 99% of the
flesh, all flesh is grass. And all the goodliness thereof. Everything that the flesh would
consider about itself beautiful and good and righteous, All the
goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field, the grass
withers, the flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth
upon it. You know when you're gonna see
that you're nothing more than grass? When the Spirit of the
Lord blows upon you, and you'll be taught who you really are.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God
shall endure forever. Now here we have the content
of gospel preaching. As a matter of fact, Peter quoted
this in 1 Peter 1 as what is preached when the gospel is preached.
You can read about that in 1 Peter 1, verses 23 through 25. This
is how significant this message is. Cry, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass, not most
flesh, all flesh. Religious flesh, irreligious
flesh. Rich flesh, poor flesh. Educated flesh, uneducated flesh. Black flesh, white flesh, yellow
flesh, Brown flesh, all flesh is as grass. Cut down grass, withered up with
no life in it, all flesh. It's in the scripture from the
New Testament, Romans chapter eight, verse seven, Paul said,
the carnal mind, that's the mind you and I were born with, the
fleshly mind, the way we entered this world, the carnal mind is
enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. Now what is meant by being in
the flesh? It means you've not been born
in the spirit. It means you are the way you came out of the womb.
God has never done anything for you. You are in the flesh and
in the flesh you cannot Please God, all flesh is as grass, cut
down, dried up grass, no life, no power. Paul said in Romans
3, 22, there is no difference. All have sinned. and come short of the glory of
God. All flesh is as grass, and all
the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the grass." The
goodliness, the good stuff, the righteousness of the flesh. Isaiah
said in Isaiah 64 6, all our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags. And that's what the Bible says.
Our righteousness, the good stuff, the religious stuff, all of our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags. We all do fade as the leaf,
our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. So much for
our goodliness. Verse seven, remember this is
what God tells John the Baptist to cry in preparation of the
coming of the Lord. The grass withers, the flower
fades. This word fade, talking about
the flower, the pretty part, the good part, is also translated
disgraced. dishonored, come to naught, made
vile, the goodliness, the flower. That is how it's seen when the
Spirit of the Lord blows upon it. Do you know no natural man
really understands that he's a sinner? Oh, he makes mistakes. He does bad things that he wishes
he'd never done. He maybe has done many bad things,
but no natural man believes that all he is is sin until God the
Holy Spirit blows upon him and reveals to him who he is. And this is the man now that's
ready to hear how God can accept a sinner for Christ's sake. Now
look what it says. The grass withers, The flower
thereof falls away. It's not there anymore. The spirit of the Lord blows
upon it. Surely the people is grass. The grass withers. The
flower thereof fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. Now, my dear friends, here is
the gospel. There's one thing that stands
on judgment day. the Word of our God. Now, who is the Word of our God?
Jesus Christ is the Word of our God. In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This is talking about the second
person of the Blessed Trinity, the Word of God. In the book
of Revelation, chapter 19, his name shall be called the Word
of God. The Word of God is all that will
stand on Judgment Day. Now, what does that mean? The
only thing that God will accept is Jesus Christ. The only one
God will accept is Jesus Christ. The only one good enough for
God to accept is Jesus Christ. The only one who will stand in
judgment is Jesus Christ and all those who are in Him. Remember, Earlier, no man cometh
to the Father but in me. When he comes into the Father's
presence, all of his people do too. And he stands on judgment
day, who he is and what he did. And that's all that will stand.
The hope of salvation is being found in him. Now, let me give
you some scriptures that will illustrate what this means that
only the word of God will stand in judgment day. In Philippians
chapter three, verses eight and nine, Paul said, oh, that I may
win Christ and be found in him. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Now, Paul says, when God comes
looking for me on judgment day, The only place I want to be found
is in Him, so that all God sees when He sees me is Jesus Christ. I don't want to be judged on
my best thought, my best motive, my best sermon, my best prayer,
my best gift. I want to simply be found in
Christ, not having my own righteousness. I want to have nothing to do
with that. But that which is through the faithfulness of Christ,
the obedience of Christ, the righteousness which is of God.
You see, the righteousness of Christ is the righteousness of
God. And that's the only righteousness I can stand before Him in, because
my righteousnesses are as filthy rags. If God reveals to you who
He is and who you are, you'll know this is so. The only righteousness
there is is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. In
Romans 4, verse 5, Paul said to him that worketh not, would
that be you? Do you see that you cannot be
saved by your works? To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. That's what Christ
did on Calvary's tree. He made the way for God to be
absolutely just and perfect and holy. honoring his law and yet
justify someone who deserves to be damned who's ungodly that's
what christ did on the cross he took my sins and put them
away and gave me his righteousness so now ungodly in myself i stand
before god without sin perfectly righteous to him that worketh
not but believeth on him that justifies the ungodly his faith
is counted for righteousness colossians chapter 2 verse 10
says in him Dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily
and you are complete you lack nothing in him now. There's one
singular reason for salvation Christ alone Do you understand
that? Not Christ and Christ alone Only
the Word of God will endure and stand before him in judgment. Only he shall stand accepted
and all those that are in him. And the only reason that would
make anybody object to this is they don't believe their grass.
They believe somehow they're a little bit better than this.
But anyone who sees that their righteousnesses are as filthy
rags and even their goodness is like the flower of the grass,
they see that only what Christ has done will stand forever. If you think anything that you
could do, think, or be could stand before a holy God, you're
deceived. You're deceived. All that God
will accept is Jesus Christ and what He accomplished on Calvary's
tree. And this is what made Paul say
this. In Galatians 6, verse 14, Paul
said, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ. I glory in nothing else but who
He is and what He did." The voice said, cry. But do I cry? All flesh is grass. Only the
word of the Lord endures forever. May the Lord make that real to
me and to you. Amen. 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.