I did choose thee. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nybert. 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. This morning, I would like to
attempt to bring a message on this subject, things that cannot
be shaken. I'm going to read a verse of
scripture from Hebrews chapter 12, beginning in verse 26, whose
voice then shook the earth. Now that is talking about when
God came down and gave Moses the law on Mount Sinai. Let me read this passage of scripture
to you. This is what he's referring to
in Exodus chapter 19, beginning in verse 16. And it came to pass
on the third day in the morning that there were thunders and
lightnings and a thick cloud upon the Mount, speaking of Mount
Sinai, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud, so that all the
people that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people
out of the camp to meet with God. And they stood at the nether
part of the mount, and Mount Sinai was altogether on smoke,
because the Lord Jehovah descended upon it in fire, and the smoke
thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount
quaked greatly. And these people were feeling
the tremor of that earthquake as they heard these noises and
saw the smoke. Now that's what the writer to
the Hebrews is speaking of. Verse 26, whose voice then shook
the earth, what we just read about. But now he hath promised,
saying yet once more, I shake not the earth only, but also
heaven. And this word Yet once more signifieth
the removing of those things that are shaken as of things
that are made, that are created, that have a temporal existence,
things you can see, that those things which cannot be shaken
may remain. Now, this great shaking that
we just read of will be the cause of the removal of all things
that can be shaken, of all things that have instability, of things
that are not nailed down, as it were, which covers everything
we see. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4,
the things which are seen are temporal. The things which are
not seen are eternal. Things that cannot be shaken. Perhaps you've heard this before.
A poet said, only one life to live, it will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ shall
last. Now, on one level, I would agree
with what this man says. There's a sense in which I can
see this in terms of what is truly important. You've probably
heard of the Nobel Prizes. Every year, The people who have
conferred the greatest benefit on mankind are given what is
called the Nobel Prize. There's the Nobel Prize for chemistry,
medicine, literature, physics, and peace. And what an honor
to get a Nobel Prize. But do you know these prizes
are nothing in comparison to that unnamed woman who broke
the alabaster box of ointment to anoint the Lord before His
burying? These works are nothing in comparison
to those works of which the Lord said, inasmuch as you've done
unto the least of these, my brethren, you've done it to me. These works
are nothing in comparison to the works spoken of of those
of whom it is said, blessed are the dead that die in the Lord. From henceforth, saith the Spirit,
they shall have rest from their labors, and their works do follow
them. These Nobel prizes are nothing
compared with a cold cup of water, given to a disciple for Christ's
sake. These works are nothing with
comparison to the works of faith and the labor of love Paul spoke
of. But let's think of this statement
again, this phrase. Only one life to live, it will
soon be past. Only what's done for Christ shall
last. How do I feel about what I have
done for Christ? Do I think that that would stand
before God in judgment? Do I think that there's merit
in anything that I've done that God could accept? This sermon,
there's enough sin in this sermon I'm preaching to send me to an
eternal hell. Somebody says, you're being harsh.
No, I'm not, I'm being factual. That is the fact of the matter. It's not what I do for Christ
that will last. Anything I do, it can be shaken.
You get a good shaken, there'll be rotten things come out of
it. It's only what Christ has done for me that shall last. Let me see if I can make good
on that from the scriptures. I got a question for you. Does
the Bible teach that the righteousness of Jesus Christ, His work, His
obedience is the only ground of acceptance before God? Is that what the Bible teaches? Well, let me quote you a scripture
from Philippians chapter three, verse nine. Paul says, oh, that
I, this is the apostle Paul speaking, that also being inspired by the
Holy Spirit when he said this, oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in him. When God comes looking for me,
there's only one place I want to be found. I don't want to
be found preaching. or praying, or reading the scriptures,
or witnessing, or feeding the poor, I want to be found in one
place in the Lord Jesus Christ. So that all God sees when he
looks upon me is his blessed son. Oh, that I may win Christ
and be found in him. Now look what he says next, don't
miss this. Not having my own righteousness. Now, Paul, why
would you make a statement like that? You don't want to have
your own righteousness. Paul would tell you, because
I know what my righteousness is. I agree completely with Isaiah
when he said, our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. That's what I have to say about
any personal righteousness that comes from me. It's nothing more
than filthy rags. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is the
law, but that which is through the faithfulness of Christ, the
righteousness which is of God by faith. The only righteousness that God
will accept is His own righteousness as performed by the God-Man,
the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, For
He hath made Him to be sin. God the Father made Christ to
be sin. Who knew no sin? that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame but wholly lean on Jesus' name. So does the Bible teach
that there's only one righteousness, the righteousness of Christ,
that's the only ground of acceptance? Yes, it does. Now here's my second
question. Does the Bible allow us to look
at any work that we have performed as sinless and able to stand
before God in judgment? You take the best gift, the most
generous gift you've ever given, the most pure motive you've ever
had. Would that stand before God in
judgment? Let me read you what John says
in 1 John 1, verse 8. He says, if we say that we have
no sin, Now there the word sin is a noun, and it's talking about
a sinful nature. At all times, I have this sinful
nature that I was born with. It didn't go away when the Lord
saved me. I still got it. So John says, if we say we have
no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us. If
I make the claim that I have no sin, I've lied to myself and
I've made myself believe the lie. I've bit the hook. And I've
lost all credibility. The truth is not in me. Now,
in verse 10 of this same chapter, he makes this statement. If we
say we've not sinned. Now there the word sinned is
a verb. with regard to anything that I do. I don't care if it's
preaching this message. I don't care if it's reading
the scriptures. I don't care if it's praying. I don't care
if it's witnessing. I don't care if it's trying to
not give in to temptation, whatever it might be. If I say there's
no sin in that, God says there is. If we say we've not sinned
with regard to anything we do, we make him a liar because he
says we have. And his word is not in us. Now the fact of the matter is,
the only righteousness that God will accept is the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. And the fact of the matter is,
you and I don't have any righteousness. We've never done anything that
God could accept. God's holy. God's perfect. He's altogether other. He can't
accept anything short of perfection because of who He is. Now, in Ecclesiastes chapter
1, with regard to everything that goes on under the sun, everything
done in time, The wise man says, vanity of vanities, saith the
preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. What profit hath the man of all
his labor, which he taketh under the sun? Everything that takes
place under the sun is vanity and vexation of spirit. Now that
word vanity means a vapor. A vapor that appears a little
while and passes away. There's nothing new under the
sun. Everything a man does is vanity. It's not stable. It's
not something that can't be shaken. With regard to anything you and
I do, if it's shaken, it'll be exposed to be sinful in and of
itself. Now, there's nothing under the
sun that's stable. Governments. Where's the Kingdom
of Babylon? Where's the Kingdom of Rome?
Where's the British Empire? Right now, it could be argued
that the United States is the most powerful country in the
world, and I'm thankful to live here. I love my country, but
if time continues, it will fall, and somebody else will take its
place. There are no stable governments. What about the economy? Think
of how unstable it is. Look at the stock markets going
up and down. Unstable. Your stuff is unstable. Your personal possessions, my
personal possessions, we can lose them all in a moment. Think
of how unstable relationships are. How many people have been
married and loved each other, and then through whatever takes
place, they break their vows and they divorce, and they say
they no longer love one another, or one no longer loves another,
and they don't wanna be in that relationship anymore. How unstable. I mean, a good marriage. If people
are unbelievers and they have a good marriage, I've seen that,
well, it's not gonna be stable. They're not gonna love each other
in hell. They'll hate each other in hell. And what about a good
marriage between two people who are saved and will be in heaven?
It won't continue because those relationships will be gone in
heaven. Oh, you'll love each other, but you'll love each other
like you love everybody else. Everybody loves everybody else
the same. Christ is all in heaven. There's
not these family units we have here on earth. What about our
religious experience? What about what happened yesterday? I got to question anything that
has my thumbprint on it. Let me quote this passage. Charles Spurgeon, a preacher
from the 19th century, made this statement, and he says it better
than I ever could. He said, I have not the shadow
of a shade of a ghost of a confidence as to my ultimate salvation except
in Jesus Christ alone. And one reason why I dare not
have confidence except in Him is that I do not know anything
I ever did or thought or ever was in which I could confide. So I'm driven to trust Him and
in Him alone. I lie at the foot of His cross
because I cannot stand upright. I must do that. Like Luther,
I can do no other. If I search myself and my whole
life over and over again, I cannot see anything but that I call
a filthy rag. And fling it away, good works
and bad works, so far as mine concerned, are not worth the
trouble of sorting out. So I tie them all up in one bundle
and pitch them overboard and just cling to the ever-blessed
life buoy of the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and my Savior. All that will last, all that
can't be shaken, is what He has done. The Old Testament economy,
it's not gonna last. Scripture says God found fault
with it because it did not save. Nothing laughs but what Christ
has done. I think of what James said to
every one of us. What is your life? It's even
a vapor. That breath that comes out of
your mouth on a cold morning and dissipates so quick. What is your life? It's even
a vapor that appears for a little while and passes away. When it says all that goes under
the sun is vanity and vexation of spirit, that is the truth. What cannot be shaken? Now, the
writer to the Hebrews said it's appointed unto men once to die
and after that's the judgment. You and I are gonna stand before
God in judgment. Deep down you know that. Somebody says, well,
I don't believe that. Well, there was a time when you
did. Men know, they're born knowing God is just and he will reward
the righteous and punish the wicked. Now, what will stand
unshaken before God in judgment? Now, most people hope their good
works will outweigh their bad. Others have some kind of vague
hope that God will end up being merciful. And then there are
many who hope in their religious experience. The Lord said, many
shall say unto me in that day, talking about judgment day, Lord,
Lord, you know us. In your name, we've cast out
demons. We've preached in your name.
In your name, have we done many wonderful works. Notice the quantity
of their wonderful works. Many and the quality, wonderful. And what does the Lord say to
them? Depart from me, ye that work iniquity, I never knew you. Now these people will be amazed.
They'll be astonished. They thought if anybody gets
to heaven, I will. and they'll find out that we're
gonna be thrust into hell trusting their own works. Now, we know
from the light of nature that God is eternal. Nobody made him. He made all things and no one
made him. Everything God does is eternal. God is not confined by space
and time the way you and I are. Everything God does is eternal. I love the way the scripture
calls the salvation of a believer, eternal life. God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth
in him should have eternal life, everlasting life. Eternity, eternal
life, everlasting life, is a life that never had a beginning and
will never have an end. Now somebody says, how can that
be? I was born September 9th, 1959. How can you say I've got
a life that never had a beginning and will never have an end? Hebrews
2, verse 11 says, both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified. That's Christ and every believer. He's the one who does the sanctifying.
He sets them apart to be his. Both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one. For the which cause he's
not ashamed to call them brethren. Now, I don't understand this,
but I believe it. I've always been united to Christ.
I've always been one with Christ. There's never been a time in
eternity when I was not one with Christ. Somebody says, explain
that to me. I wouldn't dare try it, but I believe it. God is
eternal. I can't explain the Trinity,
but I believe it. I can't explain how God is one God and three
distinct persons, but I believe it. Eternal life, life that is
eternal, that had no beginning and that will have no ending.
Every believer, now listen to this, If I'm a believer, I'm
justified. I'm not condemned. If I'm a believer,
the righteousness of Christ is mine and I am justified by God. Now justified does not mean that
I'm just as if I never sinned. No, if I'm justified, I've never
sinned. In Christ, I've never sinned. Now somebody says, you've
been talking about how sinful you are. Yes, I have. But in
Christ, I am eternally justified. God said, I'll by no means clear
the guilty. Under no situation, under no
scenario will I ever clear somebody that's guilty. If we had a judge
and someone was guilty and said, well, I'm gonna clear him. I'm
gonna justify him anyway. We'd throw that judge out. He's an
unjust judge. God said, I will by no means
clear the guilty. In Christ, I'm not guilty. You see, Christ is called the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Before there was
a sinner, there was the Savior. And my standing before God has
always been in Christ, justified freely by His grace, through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Now, the gospel is called
in Revelation 14, 6, the everlasting gospel. It's as old as God. It never had a beginning. It'll
never have an ending. Hebrews 4.3 says all the works
were finished from the foundation of the world before time, before
there was a star to shine, before there was an earth, before there
was matter. All the works were finished in the eternal mind
of God from the foundation of the world. We read in Ephesians
1, 4, according as He hath chosen us, talking about the elect.
He didn't choose everybody. He chose the elect. According
as He hath chosen us in Him. There's our standing in Him before
the foundation of the world. that we should be holy and without
blame before Him. We read in Hebrews 13, verse
20, of the blood of the everlasting covenant, a covenant God made
that never had a beginning and will never have an ending. David
put it this way in 2 Samuel 23, verse five. These were his last
words. These were his dying words. These
be the dying words of David, the last words of David. He said
in 2 Samuel 23, five, although my house be not so with God. Now his house was a mess. His
children were a mess, his family was a mess, and I have no doubt
that quite often when the Bible talks about the house, it's talking
about this house, my house, the body I live in, the sinful body
I live in. Though my house be not so with
God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant. One that never had a beginning
and will never have an ending. Ordered in all things and sure. And this is all my salvation
and all my desire. Though he make it not to grow. In Hebrews chapter five, verse
nine, we read of eternal salvation. Now this is the only thing that
can't be shaken, that which is eternal. Anything that happens
in time that can be shaken, only that which is eternal cannot
be shaken. We read in Hebrews 9 or 6, 2
of eternal judgment. We read in Hebrews 9, 12 of eternal
redemption. We read in Hebrews 9, 15 of an
eternal inheritance. We read in II Thessalonians 2.16
of eternal comfort, eternal consolation, a comfort that never had a beginning. We read in II Corinthians 4.18
of an eternal weight of glory. which every believer possesses
right now as they're seated in the heavenlies in Christ. Now, all that cannot be shaken
and that will remain is what he has eternally done. Anything else can be shaken and
exposed as rotten and sinful. Now, it is the desire of every
believer to live a life that glorifies God and honors Him. Every believer feels that way.
But let's think of that statement. There's only one life to live.
It will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ shall
last. No, my dear friend, that's not
so. Only one life to live will soon
be past. Only what Christ has done shall
last. The only thing that cannot be
shaken is what Jesus Christ the Lord did when he, as my surety,
took full responsibility for my salvation, when he kept the
law for me, when he died for me and put away my sins, and
when he was raised from the dead for me, he was delivered for
our offenses, raised for our justification. only what he has
done shall last, and he will have all the glory in salvation. 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.