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 1 Corinthians chapter 12,
verse 1, we read these words from the Apostle Paul to the
church at Corinth. Now concerning spiritual gifts,
brethren, I would not have you ignorant. If you have a King
James Version, you will notice that the word gifts is in italics. One of the reasons I love the
King James Version and prefer it to every other version is
because words that the translators supplied that were not actually
in the original are placed there in italics. So while this is
good, he is talking about spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians chapter
12. The word gifts is not in the original. Now concerning
spiritual brethren, is how it reads literally. Now concerning
spiritual brethren, I would not have you ignorant. I've entitled
this message, What is meant by spiritual? Now, he was speaking
of spiritual gifts that were given to the early church. They
were given the gifts to speak in tongues. They were given gifts
to heal the sick. They were given gifts to perform
miracles. And the church at Corinth actually
had these gifts. gifts. Now, somebody may ask,
are these gifts in operation today? My answer is, no, they
are not. Now, I know a lot of people claim
to have them, but they're not being true. If someone had the
gift of healing, they would go into the Markey Cancer Center
and start healing the people who have cancer. These people
do not have this gift. The gift of tongues, what about
that? It's phony. It's fraud. Those who are practicing
this may think it's real, but it is not real. It's a spirit,
but it's another spirit. Now somebody says, why are you
saying this? How can you make this claim that these gifts are
no longer in operation? Well, if you would read Acts
chapter eight, when Philip went down to preach the gospel in
Samaria, he preached and there was great joy in that city. There
were great miracles performed. There were salvation, and when
the apostles in Jerusalem heard about this, they went to Samaria. And why didn't Philip just lay
his hands on people and transfer these gifts? Why did the apostles
have to come? Because in the 18th verse it
says, when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles'
hands, the Holy Ghost was given. It was only the 12 apostles that
could transfer these gifts. And when they died out, the gifts
ceased. Now, I thought before it'd be
nice, it seems like, if these gifts were still in operation.
I would love to be able to go into the Markey Cancer Center
and start healing everybody there. And if I had the gift, I would
do that, but I don't have this gift, and evidently it's best.
Or God would have caused him to go on, but the gifts have
ceased by divine design. But the Corinthians had these
gifts. And a spirit of competition had
entered in the church. Who was the most gifted? who
had the most spectacular gifts. And there were people who felt
like they were shorted, where our gifts are not as great, we're
not as important, we're not as necessary. And Paul addresses
that in this chapter with regard to spiritual gifts. But I want
us to limit our thought to this. What does Paul mean by spiritual? What is meant by being spiritual? Now I would say most people believe
themselves to be spiritual people. Even non-religious people. People
who make no profession of religion at all say, I'm a spiritual person. I might not be religious, but
I am spiritual. Their concerns rise above material
things. How much stuff you have. how
much money you have in the bank, what kind of house you live in,
what kind of car you drive. I'm not concerned about those
things. I'm more concerned about social
justice and the impact I have on people for good. I am concerned
about treating people fairly, all people fairly, and treating
people with generosity and loyalty. What the world needs now is love,
sweet love. That's what I want. I want to
make this world a better place. I am a spiritual person. Now, let me assure you, as commendable
as those things may be, it has nothing to do with what Paul
meant when he talked about a spiritual man. What is meant in the Bible
by this word spiritual? A spiritual man has the Spirit
of God dwelling in him. Not everybody has the Spirit
of God dwelling in him. A spiritual man is someone who
has been birthed by the Spirit of God, and they've been given
a spiritual nature. I want to read a verse of scripture
from the book of Jude, beginning in verse 17. Jude says, But,
beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the
apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, How that they told you that there
should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their
own ungodly lusts, these be they who separate themselves, sensual,
having not the spirit. Now this describes every unbeliever
without exception. Sensual, fleshly. what Paul called natural in 1
Corinthians 2.14, having not the spirit. Now he says, these
be they that separate themselves. And the perfect example of this
is the Pharisee in the temple. The word Pharisee means separated
one. And he had separated himself
from others. He said, God, I thank thee that
I'm not as other men are. I'm different, I'm separate.
And he talked about what he did do and what he didn't do. He
was a sensual man. When we think of sensual, we
usually think of somebody who indulges in the flesh. That is
included, but that's not the primary idea. Someone who is
sensual is someone who does not have the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2.14 says, but
a natural man, the natural man, that's the same word, the sensual
man. The sensual man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither indeed can
he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Now, what
is Paul talking about when he's talking about this sensual, natural
man? He's talking about a man who
does not have a spiritual nature, someone who is not born of the
Spirit. Now, where did all this come
from? Well, we can read about it in
Genesis 2. God said to our first parents
in verse 16. This is before the fall. And the Lord God commanded the
man saying of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely eat. Now there were a lot of trees
in that garden of Eden and a lot of good food, but he said, there's
one tree that you're not permitted to eat from. Now, every tree
is for me, but there's one tree that's not for me. but of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day
that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. And notice what he said in that
very day that you eat of that fruit. He didn't say if you eat
of it, he said, when you do, you see, this is all a part of
God's purpose. Uh, God could have prevented
it, but he didn't. It was all a part of his purpose.
God is absolutely sovereign and control of everything. And he
brings good glory to himself through this. But he says to
them, in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. That very day. Now we read in
verse 25 of this same chapter, and they were both naked, the
man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Now this is before the
fall. They were naked and they were
not ashamed. Why? They didn't have sinful
natures. They didn't have unclean thoughts. There was nothing but innocence
in them. They didn't know what it would
be to sin. They were naked and they were
not ashamed. Now you know what happened when
Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, the scripture says their eyes
were opened and the first thing it says about them is they knew
they were naked. Now they were naked before the
fall, but it wasn't an issue. Now it's an issue. They knew
they were naked, and what's the first thing they did? They tried
to provide themselves a covering for their sin. Fig leaves to
cover their nakedness. They now have sinful, fallen
natures. Now this is what the Lord was
talking about when he said, in the day you eat thereof, you
shall surely die. They didn't die physically. but
they died spiritually. And that is seen in their sinful
conduct. They now wanted out of God's
presence, they went to hide themselves. No longer relishing God's presence
when they're confronted with their sin. Eve blames the serpent. The serpent gave me and I did
eat. And Adam blamed Eve, the woman
which you gave me. She gave me the fruit and I did
eat. There was no confession of sin. There was blaming God. There was being victims rather
than the doer of crimes against God, they had become dead in
trespasses and sins. And that's what spiritual death
is. They no longer had the capacity to worship God. They no longer
had the capacity to believe God. They became dead in trespasses
and sins. And you have the quick and doer
dead in trespasses and sins. What can a dead man do? He can
stink. But he can't believe, he cannot
repent, he cannot love. He is dead in trespasses and
sins. In 1 Corinthians 15, 22 says,
in Adam, all die. When Adam died, you and I died
spiritually. Now, a dead man is completely
dependent upon God to give him life. There's nothing he can
do to live. There's no work he can perform to live. He's completely
dependent upon God to give him life. you hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins." Now, in 1 Corinthians 2, verse
14, if you want to turn there, if you have a Bible, I think
it would be helpful to look at this. 1 Corinthians 2, verse
14. But the natural man, the fleshly
man, the sensual man, what you and I are by nature because of
our deadness and sins. But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God. They make no sense to
him. It says, for they are foolishness
unto him. He hears the things of the Spirit
of God, and he says, wow, that's foolishness. I don't believe
that. I just don't believe that. I
see no necessity in that. They're foolishness unto him. When he hears the gospel of being
saved by the righteousness of Jesus Christ rather than human
righteousness, he said, wow, that's foolishness. That doesn't
make any sense. When he hears of God the Holy
Spirit having to birth someone to the kingdom of heaven and
give somebody life from the dead. He says that's foolishness. I'm
alive. Foolishness. And look what it
says next. Neither can he know them. He lacks the ability to know
them. Can a monkey understand calculus? Obviously not. Can a natural
man understand the things of the Spirit of God? Obviously
not. I have to be birthed of the Spirit. I have to be given this spiritual
nature. And that's what he's speaking
of when he speaks of this spiritual man. The natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, their foolishness unto
him, neither indeed can he know them because they're spiritually
discerned. If God doesn't give me a new
heart, I cannot understand the gospel. I cannot believe the
gospel, neither can you, unless God is pleased to birth you and
birth me from above. But then Paul says in verse 15,
but he that is spiritual, discerneth all things." It's only a spiritual
man that can discern and understand the gospel. It's beyond the ability
of a natural man. No natural man can possibly understand
the gospel because he has no spiritual nature. You see, the
natural man is what he is, the way he was born, fallen, sinful. But when God saves somebody,
they're given this spiritual nature, something that was not
there before. And they can now understand and
discern the gospel. Now Paul goes on to say, for
who had known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? The Lord's not looking for information
from you. Paul says, but we have the mind of Christ. Now that's the spiritual man.
The spiritual man has the mind of Christ. Now this spiritual
man is included in what Paul called, blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who have blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now,
spiritual blessings. Most men think of material blessings. I like to be able to pay my bills.
I like to live in a house with heating and air conditioning.
I'd rather be able to drive a car that I don't have to take to
the garage every day. I like to go on vacation. I'm thankful for material things,
and I know anything material I have comes from the Lord. But
you can have every material blessing. You can be healthy, wealthy,
and wise in this world and be under God's curse. You see, material
blessings are not indicative of spiritual blessings, and it's
the spiritual blessings that I must have to enter the kingdom
of heaven. I love the way he enumerates
them. In Ephesians chapter one, verse four, when he talks about
these spiritual blessings, he says, according as he has chosen
us in him. Now there's a spiritual blessing
before the foundation of the world being elect, chosen by
God to salvation. according as He hath chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him. What a spiritual blessing! In love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. What a spiritual blessing! In
whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. What a spiritual blessing! Now, when Paul says in 1 Corinthians
12 verse 1, now concerning spiritual. Brethren,
I would not have you ignorant. In the original, we have the
definite article, now concerning the spiritual. Now, my question is, how does
one become spiritual in his experience? I want to be a spiritual man.
I know it's not in my flesh. I know God's going to have to
do something for me. How does one become spiritual
in his experience? Well, one must be born of the
Spirit. John chapter three, verse eight,
that which is born of the flesh is flesh. It can never rise above
its source, but that which is born of the spirit is spirit. This is the Lord talking about
the new birth. Now, when Nicodemus heard the
Lord say this, he said, how can these things be? How can I be
born of the Spirit? How can I be born again? And
the Lord actually said to him, are you a master of Israel and
you don't know these things? This is the way it's always been.
Now, this thing of the new birth and being born again, anybody
that has ever believed has been birthed of the Spirit of God
in order to believe the gospel. Somebody says, is that true with
regard to the Old Testament saints? Absolutely. We're all saved the
same way, by grace, through faith, God giving you faith through
the power of the Holy Spirit, birthing you, and enabling you
to believe the gospel. Now, for instance, Ezekiel 36,
God says, a new heart will I give you. This is the new birth, a
new heart, one that was not there before. A new heart will I also
give you and a new spirit will I put within you. This is this,
you lost the spiritual nature in the fall, but I'm going to
give it back. This is the way it has always
been. I think of the Lord's words in
John chapter four, verse 24, where he said, God is spirit.
God is spirit. He's not confined. to space or
time, He's the eternal, infinite Spirit. God is Spirit, and they
that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. You see, it's impossible for
a natural man to worship God. He's got to be given a spiritual
nature. When Paul said in Galatians 5.17,
the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit lusts against
the flesh, these are contrary one to another so that you can't
not do the things you would. He's not talking about the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not battling and going back and forth
with the flesh. This is talking about that spiritual
nature birthed by the Holy Spirit. They that worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth. Now, in order for me to worship
God, two things are necessary. I have to be born of the Spirit,
and I have to believe the truth. That's believing Christ. What
is the evidence of having been born of the Spirit? You look
to Christ only as everything in your salvation. Right now,
As I'm speaking, if you've been born of the Spirit, that means
all you have is Jesus Christ. You're looking to him only as
everything in your salvation. You're not looking to your works.
You're not looking to your experience. You are not looking to what you've
done or what you haven't done. You're looking to Christ alone. And if you look to Christ alone
as everything in your salvation, if you believe that he's the
Christ, God's Christ, God's prophet, God's priest, God's king, the
son of God, you believe who he is, Whoso believeth that Jesus
Christ is the Christ is born of God. That's what it is to
be born of the Spirit. It's not, well, I'm really spiritual
now. No, it's looking to Christ alone.
When you look to Christ alone, that is when you are born of
the Spirit. James said of his own will, begat
he us through the word of truth. Now, when you're born of the
Spirit, you hear the truth, and you believe the truth, and you
rely on the truth. Christ said, I am the truth,
and you're relying only on Him. Listen to this scripture, Philippians
chapter 3, verse 3. We are the circumcision. Now,
he's not talking about physical circumcision. He's talking about
spiritual circumcision, the circumcision of the heart. Now, when there
is circumcision, something is removed. When someone is spiritually
circumcised, there's something removed. Their hope of salvation
by works, it's ripped away and taken away and they look to Christ
only. Now, Paul said, we are the circumcision,
this is Philippians 3.3, which worship God in the spirit. We have this spiritual nature
having been birthed of God that worships God for who he is. We worship God, the God of the
Bible, God as he's revealed in the scripture. We worship him.
We bow before him. We know we're in his hand. You
only worship an absolute sovereign. And every believer worships the
sovereign God, one we can't control, can't manipulate, but we trust. He is good. We worship God in
the Spirit. And here's what happens when
somebody worships God in the Spirit, we rejoice in Christ
Jesus. Now the word rejoice is glory.
We boast, we have confidence only in Christ Jesus. He is our
salvation before God. We only have confidence in who
he is and what he did. And the next thing Paul says
is we have no confidence in the flesh. You know, someone who
rejoices in Christ Jesus, here's the proof. They have no confidence
in the flesh. I have no confidence in my flesh.
I have no confidence in your flesh. We have no confidence
in the flesh. That is the true circumcision.
Worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no
confidence in the flesh. Now, I want to close this message
with this thought from Galatians chapter 6, and I hope this will
help us understand. Paul said in Galatians chapter
6 verse 1, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, overtaken
in a trespass, overtaken in a sin. You which are spiritual, every believer is spiritual. Every believer understands sin. They understand the sin in themselves,
They understand. You see, an unbeliever, someone
that doesn't have a spiritual nature, really does not have
an understanding of sin. Oh, he knows it's wrong to do
certain things, but he doesn't understand the corruption of
his own heart. It's only a spiritual man that
can truly understand sin. You which are spiritual, and
that is every believer, you which are spiritual restore such in
one in the spirit of meekness. considering yourself, lest you
also be tempted. Now, when a spiritual man sees
a man overtaken with a sin, he doesn't sit in some kind of harsh
judgment on him. He's a brother. He knows I could
fall just as easily apart from the grace of God. And I'm called
upon to restore this one in the spirit of meekness, considering
myself, lest I also be tempted. Now here's what a spiritual man
understands. If I'm tempted, I will fall unless I'm kept by
the grace of God. I know that. And that fall that
brother has had, I will be worse apart from the grace of God.
Restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, lest thou also be
tempted." Spiritual. Now concerning spiritual. born of the Spirit, the evidence
being faith in Christ. May the Lord be pleased to make
us, me and you, spiritual people, having been born of the Spirit
of God. Amen. To receive a copy of the
sermon you have just heard, send your request to todd.neibert
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