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 12, verse 20,
we read, and there were certain Greeks among them. That is another
word for Gentiles. These were not Jewish men, these
were Gentile men. And there were certain Gentiles
among them that came up to worship at the feast. And this is talking
about the feast of the Passover. Evidently, these men were not
satisfied with their own religion and knew something about God
being worshiped in Jerusalem at the Passover. commemorating
when God said, when I see the blood, speaking of the Paschal
Lamb, I will pass over you. And they had come to worship. They were dissatisfied with their
religion. They knew there was something
wrong with it. I wonder if there's anyone listening that feels that
way about their religion. And it says in verse 21, the
same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee
and desired him saying, sir, we would see Jesus. And that's what I've entitled
this message. we would see Jesus. Now, these men had come to Jerusalem,
and I have no doubt they had heard of Jesus. They heard that He had just raised
someone from the dead. He raised Lazarus from the dead,
a man who had been in the grave four days, the process of decay
had already began, and he raised him from the dead. I'm sure they
heard people give their opinion about Jesus. And they come to
his disciples, and they say, sirs, they come so respectfully,
sirs, We would, this is our desire, we would see Jesus. And this I know, if I've ever
seen Him, I want to see Him again. And if I've not seen Him, And
I'm not talking about a physical sight. I'm talking about a spiritual
apprehension of who He is. This is the issue. Who is Jesus
Christ? There is no issue that can be
compared to this issue. Who is Jesus Christ? Christ. And these men come with this
desire to see the Lord Jesus Christ. Sirs, we would desire
to see Jesus. Now, this is when true salvation
begins, when there is a desire to see who the Lord Jesus Christ
is, to be like Zacchaeus. The scripture says that he sought
to see Jesus, who he was. Is this in your heart? Do you
desire to see who the Lord Jesus Christ is? Now let's go on reading. The same came therefore to Philip,
which was of Bethsaida, of Galilee, and desired him these Greeks,
sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew,
and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus, and Jesus answered them.
He answered His disciples, and I have no doubt He was answering
these Gentiles as well. And we're going to see what someone
sees when they see who He is. Now, in verse 23, here's the
Lord's answer to this request to see who He is. Jesus answered
them, saying, The hour has come that the Son of Man should be
glorified. Now, the Son of Man is the favorite
title of our Lord for Himself. He called himself this 83 times,
the son of man. The son of God is the son of
man. That's how he referred to himself. It's first spoken of in Daniel
chapter seven by the prophet Daniel. Now, if I would see who
he is, I would see him as the son of man glorified. I have not seen him unless I
have seen him as glorified. Now what does that mean? It sounds
good, but what does it mean to see the son of man glorified? Well, his glory has something
to do with him finishing the work the father gave him to do. He said, I came down from heaven
not to do my own will, with the will of Him that sent me." Now,
seeing the Son of Man glorified has something to do with seeing
Him finishing the work the Father gave Him to do. In Matthew 1,
verse 21, the very opening words of the New Testament, we read
this, Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His
people from their sins. Now that's the work the Father
gave Him to do. He, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall
Not he'll make it possible. He shall save, completely save
his people from their sins. Now, this is what I know. I need
to be saved from my sins. My sins, my sins against God.
I'm a sinful man. I can't save myself. I can't
change myself or make myself better. I need him to save me
from my sins. Now, when the Lord Jesus Christ
bowed his head to give up the ghost, He cried out first from
the cross, it is finished. That means his people were in
fact saved from their sins. And in doing this, he glorified
his father. He said, I have glorified thee
on the earth. He said this in John chapter
17, verse four, I've glorified thee on the earth. I have finished
the work thou gavest me to do." The work of saving his people
from their sins. That's what he did on Calvary's
tree. He saved his people from their sins and glorified himself. He said, the hours come that
the son of man should be glorified. Now in him saving me from my
sins, you know who gets all the glory? He does. He did it all. No glory goes to me. No glory
goes to any sinner that he saves. He did it all. Now he goes on
to say in verse 24, verily, verily, I say unto you. Oh, I love it
when the Lord says that. except a corn of wheat fall into
the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it shall
bring forth much fruit." You see, he is seen in the achievements
of his death. We would see Jesus, okay, if
you do see him. you will see him in the achievements
of his death. Now, he said, except a corn of
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. If it
doesn't die, it's going to be all alone. And the Lord is saying
by that, if I don't die, I'll go back to heaven alone with
nobody with me. You see, if all the Lord did
was come here and live, it wouldn't do me or you any good. He had
to die. He had to put away the sins of
those he died for. Now, this speaks of the achievements
of his death. If I see Jesus, I see the success
of his death. Luke 9.31 says they speak of
the decease which he should accomplish. Now, the thief on the cross saw
this clearly. When he saw the Lord hanging
on the cross, he said, Remember me when you come into your kingdom. I know you're not gonna stay
on the cross. I know you're not gonna stay dead. You're gonna
be raised from the dead as a mighty reigning king, having accomplished
what you intended to do. Oh, remember me. Now, if you
ever see, if I ever see the Lord Jesus Christ, we will see him
in the success of his death. Now listen to this real carefully.
False Christianity, and there's a lot of that. Most of what goes
under the name of Christianity is false. There's no saving benefit
in it. In false Christianity, it brings
a message of what Christ can do for you, but you have to do
your part to make what he did work for you. Now that's the
message of false Christianity. For instance, false Christianity
says Christ can die for you and pay for your sins, but you might
wind up in hell anyway if you don't do what it is that you
need to do to activate what He did and make it work for you.
In other words, your salvation is ultimately dependent upon
what you do. That is false Christianity. If I see who He is, I see the
accomplishments, the achievements of His death. He said, if it
die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Now, let me tell you something
about the death of Christ. Everybody He died for must be
saved. There will not be anybody in
hell that Jesus Christ died for. Everybody that He died for must
be saved because He put away their sins. They're gone. He
gave them His righteousness. They stand before God accepted. Now that is the fruit of His
death. He glorified every attribute of God. He honored God in Him
dying. He honored the justice of God,
the holiness of God, every attribute of God. And He completely saved
His people from their sins. Oh, the glorious achievements
of His death. If He died, He bringeth forth
much. And that's exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ did in his death. Now let's go on reading. Would
you see Jesus? Well, if you would, you'll see him glorified and
you'll see the achievements of his death. Now look what he says
next. This is part of his answer to these men who said, we would
see Jesus. He says, he that loveth his life
shall lose it. And he that hateth his life in
this world shall keep it unto life eternal. Now, if you love
your life, I love my life. I love the way I serve God. I love my works. I think I will
be saved. If you love your life, you think
salvation is accomplished by something you do in this life,
you will lose it. But if you hate your life, In
this world, you'll keep it until life eternal. Now, what is this
about hating your life? Because I've realized that there's,
in a sense, we love our lives in one sense, and well, we should. But what is the Lord talking
about when he says you're to hate your life? You will understand
this if you see who he is. Daniel said, when I saw him,
my comeliness turned to corruption. Isaiah said, in the year King
Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord. And what did he say about himself?
Woe is me, for I am undone. I'm a man of unclean lips, and
I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For mine eyes
have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. You hate your life
when you see who he is. When you see who he is, you see
how sinful you are. If somebody says, I don't see
myself as sinful, well, you haven't seen Him, because if you see
Him, you will see your own personal sinfulness. Like Job, you'll
say, I've heard of thee with the hearing of the ear, but now
mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I hate myself and repent in dust. and ashes. Now, when you see
him, you will hate your life. And I'm not talking about your
circumstances. I'm saying that you will hate your life in the
sense that you see you are so sinful in and of yourself. And
the only way you can be saved is by what he did on Calvary's
tree. Now, let's go on reading. If
we see him, verse 26, the Lord said, if any man served me, let
him follow me. And where I am, there shall also
my servant be. If any man serve me, him will
my father honor. If any man serve me." Now, this
I'm sure of, if I ever see him, I will be his servant. Willingly, I serve him. This is true with regard to every
believer. They are his servant. I serve him. And what does that one who serves
him do? He says, if any man serve me, let him follow me. Now this is what a true servant
of Christ does. He follows. Now what does that
mean to follow the Lord Jesus Christ? Probably the first thing
that comes to our minds is we think of imitating the Lord Jesus
Christ. Doing what He does. Walking in His steps. How have you done there? Have you done there? Have you
imitated Him and walked in His steps? Now, if you're honest,
you'll say, I've been an utter failure at that. I have not walked
in His steps as I would want to do. But did you know that
the word follow does not mean imitate? My sheep hear my voice, and they
follow me." Are sheep imitating the shepherd? No, they're following
the shepherd. If you or I follow Christ, that
means we keep our eyes on Him. We don't look down at our works
and our feet to see how well we're following Him. We don't
look to the side at somebody else to see, to compare ourselves
with them to see how we're doing in comparison with them or see
if we're doing better than them or not as well as them. We don't
look backwards to see if we have sufficient evidence in our lives
that proves that God's done something for us. Well, my life has changed.
I've done this. I've done that. Surely I'm a
Christian. No, we look to Christ only, and
we look nowhere else. We look to Him only as the only
ground of our acceptance before God. And we follow Him that way,
right to the grave, looking to Him only, resting in Him only,
believing that He is all in our salvation and looking nowhere
else. If any man serve me, let him
follow me. Where I am, there shall also
my servant be. That's our hope. You see, we
follow Him. We keep our eyes only on Him,
like you follow somebody in a crowd. You don't look down. You look
at them only to keep from losing them. That person who follows
me, that's who is going to be with me where I am. And look what he says about that
person. If any man serve me, him will my father honor. If I follow Christ and look only
to Him, only His righteousness as my righteousness before God,
only His shed blood as my only sin payment, only Him as the
only way I can come into the Father's presence, if I really
believe Him when He said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. I really believe that and I only
come by him. The Lord tells us that's the
person the Father will honor. You see, Abel, God had respect to Abel
and his offering, the scripture says. You can't separate the
person and the offering. Why did God respect Abel? Because
Christ put away Abel's sin, and Abel is perfect before God, and
God respected him. You cannot separate the person
and the offering, and God honors everyone who looks to his son
only. Now the Lord says in verse 27,
and this is so astounding. He says, now is my soul troubled.
Now he knew within just over 24 hours, he was going to go
to the cross. and he was going to be nailed
to a cross, being made sin, and he's the only one who really
understands that. The scripture says, for he hath
made him to be sin who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him. He knew he was shortly going
to be made sin. who his own self bear our sins
in his own body on the tree. And the thought of being forsaken
by his father, the thought of being the sin bearer, bearing
the full equivalent of eternal hell, of God's wrath, he said,
now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father
saved me from this hour? But for this cause came I into
this hour. You see, this is the reason for
the creation of the universe, for Christ to come and be nailed
to a cross. He's called in Revelation 13,
eight, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. This
is God's eternal purpose, the death of his son. Oh, the achievements of his death,
the glory of his death, it's the death of Christ. I say this,
I hope reverently. It's the most God-like thing
God ever did. to have his son nailed to a cross, to put away
sin, to honor every attribute of God, to save his people. Now is my soul troubled, this
thought of what he was going to have to go through. But what
shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this
cause came I into this hour. And then he says, Father, glorify
thy name. And do you know that's exactly
what the Lord Jesus Christ did when He died on Calvary's tree?
He glorified the name of God. Now, the name of God is the person
behind the name. He glorified His justice. He
glorified His holiness. He glorified His love. and grace. He glorified his power
and being able to put away sin. He glorified his eternal purpose.
Every attribute of God was glorified by what Jesus Christ did on Calvary's
tree. Now, if I would see him, I'm
gonna see him glorifying his father's name. I'd see him being
glorified, and I'd see him glorifying his father's name by his mighty
work on the cross. And then we read of a voice that
came out of heaven after he said this. Then came there a voice
from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify
it again. The people therefore that stood
by and heard said that it thundered. Others said an angel spake to
him. The crowd's always wrong. You
can just count on that. The crowd's always wrong. Some
said it thundered. Some said an angel spake. They
were both wrong. Jesus answered and said, This
voice came not because of me, but for your sakes, that you
would hear that the Father's purpose is to glorify me, that
he has glorified me and will glorify it again. You see, there's
glory the Lord achieved by his death that he wouldn't have had
had he not come to die. He glorified every attribute
of God. And so he says in verse 31, now,
he's speaking of getting ready to go to the cross, Now is the
judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this
world be cast out." You see, all judgment took place on the
cross. Now, the handing out of the sentences will happen on
Judgment Day, but all judgment took place on the cross. My sins
were punished, put away. I was given His righteousness.
All judgment was taken care of, and Satan was utterly defeated
on the cross. The prince of this world is cast
out, and he said in verse 32, and I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, shall draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying
what death he should die." Now, I think it's very interesting.
The word lifted up is the word that is generally translated
exalted. When Christ was nailed to a cross,
Christ was exalted. Paul said in Philippians 2, he
humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted
him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow. of things in heaven,
things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father." You see, when he was nailed to a cross, yes, he was
forsaken by God. But this was his greatest act
of obedience to his father. And he glorified his father by
this achievement. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth." And we know from verse 33, this he said signifying
what death he should die. He was going to die on a Roman
cross. The Romans are the ones who put
him to death. And we read in Deuteronomy, cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. Here he is hanging on a tree.
Crucifixion was not a Jewish means of death. It was the Roman
means of death. And yet here he is nailed to
a tree glorifying his father. Now what proves he glorified
his father? Because he was raised from the
dead. You see what he did completely satisfied God. He glorified God
and he completely satisfied the justice of God. Now God can be
totally satisfied in saving everybody that Christ died for. He's not
looking for anything else. He's not looking for some other
work or some other thing for you to do. He is looking at what
His Son did, and He's found complete satisfaction in that. And I find
satisfaction in that. You know, if you would see Jesus,
you would see Him as God being completely satisfied with him
and you being satisfied to be saved only by him. Now, I love what he says. And
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, talking about his crucifixion
and the accomplishments of it, he said, I will draw all men
to me. Now, if you have a King James
Version, you'll notice men is in the italics. That means the
translators put it there, but it's literally, I will draw the
all unto me, all that I died for, all that the Father gave
me, all who believe. Now, when you see the Lord Jesus
Christ, you are drawn irresistibly and invincibly to him. You can't resist this. You find
Him and the achievements of His cross irresistible. And when you are drawn to Him,
it's because He draws you. "'No man can come to Me,' the
Lord said, "'except the Father which has sent Me draw him. "'And if you and I see the Lord
Jesus Christ, "'we will most effectually be drawn to Him. "'We must have Him. "'We must
be found in Him. "'We must be saved by Him. "'We must look to Him only.'"
Now, when one sees the Lord Jesus Christ they are irresistibly
drawn to Him. To receive a copy of the sermon
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