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 the message for
this morning, Believing With All Your Heart. The Ethiopian eunuch had heard
Philip preach the gospel. And after hearing this message
that Philip brought, the Ethiopian eunuch said, see, Here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? I would like to know if there's
a reason why I shouldn't. What hinders me? And here, Philip's
answer, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. What does it mean to believe
with all your heart? Does it mean you believe with
more than the head but the heart also? Does it mean that you're
very sincere, altogether sincere, the sincerity of your faith,
you have no insincerity? Does it mean you believe without
any doubts whatsoever? I believe with all my heart.
I'm totally assured. I have no doubts. Is that what
it means to believe with all the heart? Now, let me answer
those questions. No, that's not what it means.
What does it mean? What does it mean to believe
with all your heart? Now, in Acts chapter 8, beginning
in verse 5, we read that Philip went down to Samaria and preached
Christ unto them. And after hearing the message
and what the Lord did, we read in verse 8, there was great joy
in that city. Oh, the joy that city experienced. Now, while Philip was there,
The Spirit of God told him to leave that place and to go into
the desert to preach. We read in verse 26, and the
angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise and go
toward the south unto the way that goeth from Jerusalem unto
Gaza, which is desert. leave this place that seemingly
the Lord is blessing and go to the desert. Now, why would the
Lord tell Philip to do this? Because one of his elect was
there. and he was going to cross his
path with the gospel. And wouldn't it be something
to thank the Lord for if he crosses our path today? That's what happened
to this man. The Lord crossed his path. Now we read in verse 27, and
he arose in obedience to what the Lord told him to do, going
down to the desert. And behold, a man of Ethiopia,
Place that was a long way from Jerusalem. It's where the Queen
of Sheba was from. Do you remember when the Queen
of Sheba came to visit Solomon? You can read about that. That
was from the land of Ethiopia. This man was from Ethiopia. And the scripture says he was
a eunuch of great authority under Kandese, Queen of Ethiopia, who
had the charge of all her treasure. This man was a eunuch. He could
not produce life. And if the Lord ever does anything
for me or you, we'll understand that life is not going to come
from us. We are unable to produce life. But this man was a wealthy man. We know he was wealthy just because
he had a copy of the scriptures. That cost a whole lot of money
to buy the scriptures in those days. And he had great authority. He was A wealthy man, an influential
man, a powerful man, and sometimes God saves people like this, sometimes. And the scripture says, you see
your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men enter the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble are called, but it doesn't say
not any. Thank God for this man, that
he was someone that the Lord was going to call to himself. He had come to Jerusalem for
to worship. Now he took a very long trip
from Ethiopia in Africa to get to Jerusalem to worship. Somehow
he knew that his religion was no good. It was insufficient. He didn't find any satisfaction
in it at all. It didn't ease his conscience.
He still felt unclean before God. He knew something was wrong
with his religion. Have you ever found out something's
wrong with your religion? That there is no true peace in it. There's always left open in something
I must do and there's no real assurance. What do I need to
do? What do I need to do? Well this man found that his
religion, he found no peace, no satisfaction in it and perhaps
from The Queen of Sheba going back to Ethiopia, there were
scriptures left there. And he knew somehow that the
God of Israel was the true God. He knew he didn't know him, but
he wanted to. He wanted to worship. And he
came to Jerusalem to worship. He wanted to worship the living
God. And now he's returning. And I
feel no doubt that he was feeling just as empty and frustrated
in leaving as he did when he got there, knowing God is in
Israel and I don't know him. And he felt so inadequate and
needful. And there he is returning, but
he's doing something that's very good. He's reading the Bible. The Bible is the word of God. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. And if you and I are going to
know the living God, it's through this book, the Bible. And so
he was sitting there in his chariot, the scripture says, and I guess
he was reading aloud. but he was reading from Isaiah,
the book of Isaiah. As a matter of fact, we know
when it's quoted by Luke, Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 is one of the Mount
Everest of scripture that talks about the substitutionary death
of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's tree. As a matter of fact, the
entire New Testament can only be understood in light of Isaiah
chapter 53. And so when you have a opportunity
today or this week, read Isaiah chapter 53. It's a prophecy regarding
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. But we read with regard to this
man. He was returning, sitting in
his chariot, reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said
unto Philip, go near and join thyself to this chariot. And
Philip ran hither to him and heard him read the prophet Isaiah. And Philip said to him, do you
understand what you're reading? What a question. I'm thankful
for the ability to read. I would hate to not be able to
read. It would be a true trial. But I can read. And so could
this man. He could read. But here's the
key. Do you understand what you're
reading? Now most individuals, if asked that question, would
say, well, here's what I think it means. Or here's what it means
to me. Here's my truth. Here's my take
on it. But not this man. This man had
some understanding of his own sinfulness, and need of revelation,
and need of grace, and saw his own inability to understand anything
in the scripture, and he said to Philip, how can I? Except
some man should guide me. I cannot figure this out, and
I know I can't figure it out. How can I understand this except
some man should guide me?" What humility he demonstrated this
time. And then he desired Philip that
he would come up and sit with him. And now Luke tells us what
he was reading. And this is actually the seventh
and eighth verse of Isaiah chapter 53. This is very important. Let
me read this to you. The place of the scripture which
he read was this. He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter and like a lamb done before his shearer. So opened
he not his mouth." In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away. And who should declare his generation? For his life is taken from the
earth. Now that's a quotation from Isaiah
chapter 53, verses seven and eight. And then the eunuch asks
this very important question, and I'm sure he was pondering
it while he was reading this. What does this mean? And the
eunuch answered Philip and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh
the prophet this? Of himself or some other man? And I'm sure he was tormented
with that question as he read that. I have no idea what he
is saying. Is he speaking of himself or
some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth
and began at the same scripture and preached unto him, Jesus. Now, do you want to know what
preaching is? It begins with the scripture.
Then began He at that same Scripture. If it didn't come from the Scripture,
or if it does not come from the Scripture, it's not true preaching. It's just men's religious opinions. He began at that same Scripture
and preached unto him the one message of the Bible. Jesus. The one message of the Bible. From Genesis 1-1 through Revelation
22-21 is this. Jesus, the Lord said with regard
to the scriptures, they are they, every one of them. He's talking
about the Old Testament scriptures. The New Testament had not yet
been written. They are they, which testify of me. And I would have loved to have
been able to hear Philip's message to the Ethiopian eunuch, when
he talked about that lamb, sheep, led to the slaughter, a lamb
done before his shearers, so opened he not his mouth. I can
just imagine Philip saying, that lamb is the lamb of God that
takes away the sin of the world. That lamb is the lamb who was
slain from the foundation of the world and the whole world
was created for the lamb to come. This lamb was pictured when God
slew a beast and covered Adam and Eve with skins, picturing
the gospel. He took away their fig leaf covering
and gave them a true covering. I have no doubt that he brought
out Abel and his sacrifice, Cain brought a The best he could produce
from a cursed earth, Abel brought a lamb that was slain with its
blood. He knew that that physical lamb
couldn't take away his sins. He knew what it pointed to. By
faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than
Cain. And the scripture says God had
respect to Abel in his offering. This lamb is such that it causes
God to have respect to the one who offers it because of the
lamb. I have no doubt he talked about Genesis 22, where God told
Abraham to kill his son. And at the end of the story,
a sacrificial lamb was offered in the room instead of his son. You read in verse 8 where Isaac
is walking up the mountain to be sacrificed with his father.
He said, Father, here's wood. Here's fire, where's the lamb
for a burnt offering? And Abraham replied, my son,
God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. And I'm
sure Philip said, this lets us know we can't provide anything.
Only God can provide that which he accepts. And for God to do
something for me or you, he has to do something for himself.
He provided for himself that lamb. You see, through the lamb
of God, he made a way to be just and punish sin and yet forgive
the sinner through the work of the lamb. God himself is that
lamb. God himself is the lamb of his
providing. He went on, this is the lamb
of God. And they said, you know why he
didn't open his mouth? Why didn't he defend himself? Because he
was guilty. You see, this lamb who never
sinned, all of the sins of God's elect were laid upon him. And
when he stood before God's law, he was guilty. It wasn't an innocent
lamb that was killed. He was innocent in his life and
himself, but when he took upon himself the sins of his people,
he stood guilty before God. He had nothing to say, no defense. That's why he opened not his
mouth. Romans 3.19 says, We know that whatsoever things the law
saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth
may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God. He
stood as guilty before God. He had nothing to say because
his mouth had been stopped. And then we read in his humiliation,
his judgment was taken away. His humiliation is his death.
He humbled himself and became obedient to death, even the death
of the cross. His judgment was taken away because
he was guilty. That's why he opened not his
mouth. Who should declare his generation? The scripture says,
for his life is taken from the earth. Oh, the guilt of man in
what they've done. And that's what Philip did. Then opened he his mouth and
began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. And
I have no doubt that he talked about water baptism as well.
What are baptism? Because the Ethiopian eunuch
said, see, here's water. What does hinder me from being
baptized? I have no doubt that he explained to him what baptism
means. You know, people think, well, if I'm saved, I need to
be baptized. Well, what does baptism mean?
Baptism itself doesn't save you. The thief on the cross was saved
and he was never baptized. It's what it represents. Baptism
represents union with Jesus Christ. When he lived, I was in him,
I lived. When he died, that's water going
down under the water. When he died, I was in him, I
died. When we come out of the water,
that represents the resurrection of Christ. When He was raised
from the dead, I was raised. All my salvation is being united
to Him. And this man says, what hinders
me from being baptized? If there's a reason why I shouldn't,
I want to know. What hinders me? And here's Philip's
reply. If you believe with all your
heart, you may. What does it mean to believe
with all your heart? Does it mean you believe with
your heart as well as your head? Now that's a distinction the
scripture never makes. What you really believe in your
head, I'm talking about what you really believe. What you
really believe in your head is what you really believe in your
heart. And what you really believe in your heart is what you really
believe in your head. Those two things got separated.
It's not talking about some kind of, well, I believe in my heart.
It's not saying, well, I'm totally sincere. I'm as sincere as I
can be, but every time, even when I say that, I see sinfulness
in me, insincerity, hypocrisy. That's with me all the time.
I'm aware of that. I'm trying to preach the gospel
to you, and I want to be as sincere as I can, but I realize I know
who I am, and at no time I've ever felt, well, my sincerity
is sufficient. It doesn't mean to believe with all your heart,
means you have no doubts. I believe, help thou my unbelief.
Every time I'm with my faith, there's also unbelief right there
with me. So what does he mean when he
says, believing with all your heart? Now there's a passage
in Romans chapter 10 that's very helpful. Paul says, for with the heart,
man believeth unto righteousness. And with the mouth, confession
is made unto salvation. Now, what is he speaking of with
the heart, man believeth unto righteousness? Now, there's scriptures
with regard to the human heart. The heart is deceitful above
all things. Desperately wicked. That word
desperately means incurably wicked. Who can know it? 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 does faith come out of that
heart? No. This is talking about the
new heart that God gives. The new nature, the pure heart,
the clean heart, the honest and good heart, the believing heart. That's what's given in the new
birth. And that's why Paul says, the
word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That
is the word of faith, which we preach. That is the heart he
gives. New heart. Now that heart is
the whole man. The whole new man. The heart
is the intellect. The heart is the affections. The heart is the will. With the
heart, Paul says, man believeth under righteousness. Now, in
my understanding, I understand that the only righteousness I
have is the righteousness and merits of Jesus Christ. Do you
understand that? That you have no personal righteousness,
the only righteousness you have is His. Now not only do I understand
that, I love it being that way. I love being saved by His righteousness.
I love His righteousness given to me because He took my sin
and He gave me His righteousness. For He has made Him to be sin
for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. I love that. I love having His
righteousness. And if my will is given its choice,
Between my righteousness and his, being saved by his righteousness,
I know which righteousness I want. I want to be saved by his. With
the heart man believeth under righteousness, and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation. What you believe in your heart
is going to come out in your confession, the confession of
your mouth that Jesus is Lord. You believe that Jesus Christ
is Lord. Lord. Now, back to our text in
Romans, or in Acts chapter 8, what hinders me from being baptized?
If you believe with all your heart, you may. Now, I want us to notice his
answer. He said, I believe. What? I believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God. There's the content of faith. believing that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. And if He's the Son of God, He's
equal to the Father, because He is God. He's not in any way
inferior to God. He is God. He's not like God. He is God, God the Creator, God
the Sovereign of the Universe, God All-Powerful, God Omniscient,
All-Wise, Omnipresent, Everywhere at Once, God Independent, God
Immutable. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. Now, He didn't say, I believe
I'm saved. He didn't say, I believe I'm
one of the elect. He didn't say, I believe I've been born again.
He doesn't say, I believe that I have worked sufficient that
will show me that God has done a work of grace in my life. I
see a change in my life such that it makes me believe I'm
saved. He said nothing like that. He said, I believe. that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. Now, my salvation is completely
predicated on the truthfulness of Jesus Christ being the Son
of God. He is the only begotten Son of
God. Thou art my Son, God said it
in Psalm 110. This day have I begotten thee. And my dear friends, that's not
talking about a day of birth. This is a fact irrespective of
time. Every day He says, Thou art my
Son, this day have I begotten Thee. He is the manifestation,
the declaration of who God is. I want to read a passage of scripture
in Hebrews chapter 1. I love this passage of scripture.
God who at sundry times and diverse manners spake in times past unto
the fathers, to the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
to us by his Son. Now, look how he describes his
Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things. That means everything
belongs to him. By whom also he made the worlds.
He's the creator. who being the brightness of His
glory and the express image of His person. That's who He is,
the brightness of God's glory, the transcript of God. And upholding
all things by the word of His power, He controls everything.
When He had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down. He's the
sitting Savior. He put away the sins of everybody
He died for and sat down to let us know He had finished the work. I believe that Jesus Christ is
all of this, the Son of God, the God-man, the eternal uncreated
creator. Because of who he is, I believe
his death made all he died for holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in the very sight of God. Everything I believe, what I
believe, is because of who I believe. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed, and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which
I've committed to him against that day. John said in 1 John
5, verse 1, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, God's
prophet, the word of God, God's priest, if he represents you,
you must be saved. God's King. King of kings. Lord of lords. Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. If you believe He's God's
Christ, knowing what Christ means, God's anointed, the only way
you can approach the Father, you've been born of God. John
goes on to say in verse 4 of I John chapter 5, For whatsoever
is born of God, That one who believes he's the Christ, for
whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory
that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh
the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? Faith is believing who he is
as he is revealed in the Scripture. Faith isn't believing you're
saved. Faith is believing he's the Savior. and looking to Him
and relying on Him only as all that God requires of you. Everything
God requires of me, He looks to His Son for. His Son is His
only begotten and well-beloved Son, the Son of God, equal to
the Father. What hinders me from being baptized?
If you believe with all your heart, I believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send a request to todd.neibert at gmail.com,
or you may write or call the church at the information provided
on the screen.