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 Titus chapter one, Paul is
writing to Titus. And in opening this verse, he
says, grace, mercy, and peace from God, our father, and from
the Lord Jesus Christ. I have entitled this message,
The Divine Equation. Grace and mercy equals peace. There it is. Grace and mercy. The result, peace. the divine equation. Now, believing
what the Bible says about itself, this is a presupposition. 2 Timothy
3.16 says all scripture is given by inspiration of God. All scripture. And if we don't begin there,
we don't have anywhere else to go. Just my opinion and your
opinion. But thank God for the Bible. And because we believe
that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, we dare not
look at this as simply Paul's greeting to Titus. It's more than that. Grace, mercy,
and peace. And don't miss this. It is from
God the Father. and the Lord Jesus Christ, our
Savior. So this is a word from Him to
every believer. Addressed to the saints that
are listening right now, just as much as it was addressed to
Titus some 2,000 years ago. Grace from God. mercy from God, peace from God. I repeat, this is from God the
Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, personally, to every
believer to ever live. This is what God says to every
believer, grace, mercy, and peace. Now the only thing that gives
me peace, and the only way that God is at peace with me, is if
salvation is by His grace and by His mercy. The mercy and the grace. When God proclaimed his name
to Moses in Exodus 34, he said, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful
and gracious. There we have the two words,
mercy and grace. He said, I will be gracious to
whom I will be gracious in that same passage. And I will show
mercy. on whom I will show mercy." Exodus
33, 19. Now, God's nature is to be merciful
and to be gracious. That's who he is. You know the
reason why he must be merciful? Because he is merciful. You know
why He must show grace? Because He is gracious. And the only way He can be at
peace with me or you is because of His grace and His mercy that
are given in Christ Jesus. I love what Ephesians 2.14 says
with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ. It says, He is our peace. God is called the God of peace.
Christ is called the Prince of Peace. God the Holy Spirit is
represented as a dove, which is the symbol of peace. Now the first thing Paul mentions
to Titus is grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and
from the Lord Jesus Christ. Now somebody may be thinking,
what's the difference between grace and mercy? Well, there
is a difference because two different words are used. And these things
always go together. Where you have grace, you always
have mercy. Where you have mercy, you always
have grace. And the result of mercy and grace
is always peace. That is the divine equation. Now, what is the difference between
grace and mercy? He says grace and mercy. What
is the difference between grace and mercy? Well, somebody once
said, and I've always liked this, Grace is God giving you what
you do not deserve. And mercy is God not giving you
what you do deserve. Oh, what a statement. Think about
it, grace is God giving you freely what you do not deserve, and
God not giving you what you do deserve, his punishment. Now, that is true, but it goes even
further than that. Let me show you what I mean.
I like that definition. But according to Genesis chapter
six, verse five, God saw that the wickedness of man was great
in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually. And that's what God sees. Somebody
says, well, I can't see that. Well, believe what God says.
Even if you can't see it, believe it, because it's the truth with
regard to me and you. When God saw the wickedness of
man, that includes me and you, was great on the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil, continually. Now that is the truth with regard
to me and you. Now in this eighth verse of the
same chapter, it says, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the
Lord. And there, Noah, he was included
in that group described in verse five. Noah was one of the people
that God saw with the wickedness of man. Noah was a man. He's
included in that group. Noah wasn't better than everybody
else. He wasn't more righteous and godly than everybody else.
Noah was a sinful man, like you and I are. Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. Now the only hope a man can have
is if he believes himself to be as God describes him to be.
In Genesis 6-5, God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth
and did every imagination, talking about what's going on in the
mind. Not even talking about the actions right now. What's
in my mind? Every imagination of the thoughts
of my heart is only evil continually. Believe that, it's what God says.
You might think it's not the case with you, but it is, and
it's the case with me as well. Now, if that's the truth, and
it is, the only hope that I have is found in the grace of God. God giving me what I do not deserve. God's reason for Him giving me
grace is not found in me. If God gives you grace, the reason
He gave it to you is not found in you, it's found in Himself,
in His great character. He is gracious. and He necessarily gives grace. I want to read a passage to you
from Romans 11, verse 5. It says, with regard to election,
God's sovereign choice of His people before time began. Now,
don't miss election. If you're saved, it's because
God elected you to be saved before time began. And you'll know that
if He elected you. You won't argue with that. You'll
know it's true. Many people fight against election,
the elect don't. they know that the reason they're
saved is by the grace of God. But let me read this passage
of scripture to you. Even so, then at this present
time, also there is a remnant, a small number, according to
the election of grace. And if by grace, if elections
by grace, if salvation is by grace, and if by grace, then
it's no more of works, Otherwise, grace is no more grace. If you
put one work in it, it's no longer grace. It's no longer God's grace. It's no longer God's favor. But
if it be of works, then it's no more grace. Otherwise, work
is no more work. Now, salvation is either all
of grace or all of works. Those two things cannot be mixed. Salvation is of the Lord. Now, grace, we talk about it
being God giving you what you do not deserve, but do you know
the word is quite often translated favor? God's favor. It was said of the Lord Jesus
Christ, The child grew and waxed strong in spirit, and the grace
and the favor of God was upon him." Now that was not unmerited
favor, was it? It was merited favor. Now when
it said that Mary found favor before God, she found unmerited
favor. Somebody said, well, wait a minute.
Isn't she the Virgin Mary? Yes, she is the Virgin Mary.
Christ had to be born of a virgin so he wouldn't have Adam's contaminated
nature. But Mary herself was a sinner.
And when God gave her favor, it was utterly unmerited favor. She was just as sinful as you
and I are. But God gave her grace. Unmerited favor. But when God
favored Christ, it was not unmerited favor. It was His favor upon
Him who is altogether lovely. The child grew and waxed strong
in spirit, and the grace or the favor of God was upon Him. Now, with me and you, it must
be unmerited favor, but His favor toward Christ was His merited
favor. Now think about this thing of
favor. You favor your children, don't you? You love your children
and you favor them. And you don't think, well, they
don't merit my favor. No, you favor them because they're your
children. You want the best for them. Well, God's favor to his
son was not certainly unmerited favor. He saw him as altogether
lovely. He loved him. He had favor toward
him. I love the passage of scripture
in second Timothy chapter one, verse nine. It says, he saved
us. And He called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works. His favor toward us was not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, or
favor. which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. Ephesians 1.6 says, He hath made
us accepted. And that word is actually highly
favored. It's the same word used with
regard to Mary when it says, Hail, thou art highly favored.
Much graced is the word, much graced. Thou art much graced,
and we are much graced, every believer, when he made us accepted
in the Beloved. Because the believer is in Christ,
the favor that God has toward his son is the same favor he
has toward them. The Lord said, Thou hast loved
them as thou hast loved me. John chapter 17, 23. Now, don't
miss that. The same love that God the Father
has toward His Son. Oh, He sees His Son as altogether
lovely. He sees His Son as beautiful.
He sees His Son as perfect. He sees His Son as without blemish. That's the same thing that is
said of everyone in Him. They have the favor of God. Here is our experience, 1 Corinthians
15, verse 10, I am what I am by the grace of God. Now if you're
someone who has been given God's grace, you know this is so. First
of all, I only know I'm a sinner by the grace of God. That's the
only reason I know it. There was a time I didn't know
that, and I know I am now. And I know the only reason I
know it is because of the grace of God. There's so many people
that don't really believe they're sinners in the scriptural sense
of the word. Oh, I do, I make mistakes, I do bad things every
now and then. And they know nothing about being
exceeding sinful. If you know anything about being
exceeding sinful, it's by the grace of God. I'm an elect sinner. and that's by the grace of God.
God didn't choose me because he saw some goodness in me. It's
by the grace of God. I'm a redeemed sinner, and that
redemption's by the grace of God, being redeemed by him as
an act of his grace where he paid for my sins. Oh, only by
grace. I'm a justified sinner. God justified
me. He made me to be without guilt,
and that's by the grace of God. I'm a preserved sinner. I still
believe, and that's only because of the grace of God. I'm a regenerated
sinner. He gave me life. He birthed me,
and that's an act of His grace. Every aspect of my salvation
is by the grace of God. I am what I am by the grace of
God. I'm a believing sinner, and I
know that that faith is the gift of His grace. By grace you save
through faith and that none of yourselves. It's the gift of
God. not of works, lest any man should boast." Here's the believer's
statement of faith. It's not found in some confession,
Westminster, Heidelberg, all the different confessions, all
the different denominations have. I wish we'd get rid of all those
things. I want to hear what the Bible says. A confession's a
man-made document any way you look at it. It might have some
good stuff in it, but it's not inspired. Here's the biblical
confession of faith. This is not some man-made confession
of faith. This is the biblical confession
of faith. Peter said in Acts 15, verse 11, we believe that
through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved
even as they. Now he's talking about the Gentiles.
And he says, we're gonna be saved like those Gentiles are saved.
The only way those Gentiles can be saved is by grace. We're saved
the same way. And when he says, we believe
that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be
saved, in the original grammatical construction of that, this can
truly be said, we believe we've been saved, We're being saved
and we shall be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. In the past,
our salvation was all by grace. Right now, it's all by grace.
And in the future, when we're brought into heaven, it will
all be by grace. Now, these qualities are inherent
in the grace of God and don't even need to mention them because
they're included in the word grace, but because men don't
really understand the grace of God, we need to mention these.
When we talk about the grace of God, God's grace is always
sovereign. It's always free and it's always saving. God's grace
is always sovereign. That means you don't have it
by entitlement. If you have grace, it's because he gave it to you.
It's not because he owed it to you. It's because he gave it
to you. And he says, I'll be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. God's grace is always sovereign
and God's grace is always free. There's nothing you need to do
to pay for it. It's the free gift of God. If you think you have anything
to pay, you won't get it. It's only given to those who
have nothing to pay. If you try to pay for it, you'll
be rejected. The only people who have this
grace are those who have it freely. And God's grace is always saving. God's grace is not an offer up
to you to accept and receive or reject and refuse. God's grace
saves. By grace you are saved. Grace is not offered to you,
grace saves you. God's grace is sovereign, God's
grace is free, and God's grace is saving. Grace, Paul says to
Titus, and mercy from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
our Savior. Not only grace, but mercy. Now, what's the difference between
grace and mercy? Well, I've already said mercy
is God not giving us what we do deserve. But there is a difference
in this sense. While grace has nothing to do
with God responding to us, mercy has something to do with what
God sees in us. Mercy has something to do with
God being moved by compassion toward the miserable and the
sinful. I think of when that leper came
to the Lord, full of leprosy. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. You know what the scripture says
about the Lord? He was moved with compassion. That's his mercy. He's moved
with compassion toward the sinful and the miserable. That leper
was miserable and sinful. He didn't say, Lord, I will that
you make me clean. He didn't say, Lord, I'm not
that bad, make me clean. No, he was full of leprosy and
he knew he was in the sovereign hands of Christ. And he said,
Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. And the Lord said,
I will. Be thou clean. Now, the Lord is on his way to
Jerusalem to be crucified. The lamb slain from the foundation
of the world is going to be slain in time. And he's on his way
to Jerusalem to be crucified. He knew his hour was come. He
passed through Jericho. He's on his way out. And as he's
marching toward Jerusalem, he's not going to be stopped. A cry
comes from the crowd, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy
on me. And the scripture says, Jesus
stood still. You know, that's something he
always responds to. The cry for mercy. Now, you only cry for mercy if
your sin is all your fault. You can't blame it on anybody
else. You're not a victim. You're not a victim of your family,
your circumstances. Your sin is all your fault. Now,
I'm not saying that those things don't enter in. We have been
shaped by how we were raised and circumstances and so on.
But with regard to my sin, It's all my fault. And the only hope
I have is for God to show me mercy, to not give me what I
do, in fact, deserve. God have mercy upon me, the sinner. Now, the Lord responds. to every cry like that. Now somebody
may say, well, I've asked him for mercy and I haven't had it.
You didn't really ask him for mercy because if you did, you'd
have it. You were trying to strike a deal with God. You were trying
to bargain with him and say, Lord, if I'll do this, will you
do that? And if I do this, you can do
that. No, that's not asking for mercy. You only ask for mercy
as a sinner and all your sin is all your fault. Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners, Paul said, of whom I am the chief. The Lord said, I came not to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now, he delights
in having mercy on sinful, hell-deserving people. He delights in mercy. That's what the scripture says.
He delights in mercy. Now, if you claim a higher position
than simply being a sinner, if you say, Lord, have mercy on
me, because after all, what I've done is not that bad, and I'm
at least a great deal better than this person or that person,
if you come saying, have mercy on me, because I'm not that bad,
you're not gonna have mercy. You're gonna be rejected. But
if you come as a hell-deserving sinner, seeking mercy for Christ's
sake and no other reason, You'll have it. He delights in mercy. God, who is rich in mercy for
his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. Now, grace and mercy. You know what comes out of grace
and mercy? Peace with God. Peace in my heart. Grace, and this is the divine
equation, grace and mercy, and the result in that grace and
mercy is peace. Now, I'm speaking of more than
the feeling of peace. Peace is a great feeling. But
what is it that brings about that peace? Well, Paul said this
with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 20 of Colossians
chapter one, and having made peace through the blood of his
cross. You see, God is at peace with
me because Christ made my peace. He put away my sin. That's why he died. My sin became
his sin and God punished him for it. The wages of sin is death. Christ died because he bore my
sin in his own body on the tree. He made my peace with God. When somebody says, have you
made your peace with God? No, Christ made my peace with
God. Having made peace by the blood
of his cross. Now here's what he did. We read
in verse 22. He reconciled in the body of
his flesh through death. This is the peace he made. He
reconciled. He made reconciliation by this
death. in the body of his flesh through
death to present you, that's everybody he died for, holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. Now that's what
the blood of Christ accomplished for me. When he made my peace,
he made me holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in the very
sight of God. Now, if I stand before God as
one who's holy, there's nothing you can blame me for, there's
nothing you can reprove me for because I'm justified. I stand
before God without guilt, having the very righteousness of Christ
as my righteousness before God. If that's the truth, and it is,
that's what Christ accomplished, I have peace. Peace because of
His grace in Christ Jesus. Peace because of the mercy in
Christ Jesus. God is at peace with me. He's not looking for anything
else. I stand perfect and accepted in the Beloved. Now, because
of the saving mercy of God, His mercy, like His grace, is sovereign,
free, and saving. Because of the saving grace and
the saving mercy of God, I have peace with God. There's the divine
equation grace and mercy. The result, peace with God. May God give that to each one
of us. To receive a copy of the sermon
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