I did choose thee. 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 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 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 this message, Where
Is He? And that is speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Where is he? In John chapter 7 verse 10, we
read, when his brethren were gone up, then when he also up
unto the feast, the feast of tabernacles, not openly, but
as it were in secret, no one knew he was there. Then the Jews
sought him at the feast, and these Jews wanted to kill him.
We read in chapter 7 verse 1, after these things Jesus walked
in Galilee, for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews
sought to kill him. Now the Jews' feast of tabernacles
was at hand. And this is where the Lord went
up into this feast. And the Jews said, where is he? And I think it's very interesting
that the pronoun he in our text is not the pronoun that's generally
translated he. It's literally, where is that
one? I love to think of the Lord Jesus
Christ in those terms. He is that one. There's no one like him. There's
no one that can be compared to him. Where is that one? What a question. Is it something
that interests you? Do you want to know where he
is? Now, the importance of that is
determined by the answer to this question, who is he? You see, if we know who he is,
we will desperately want to know where he is. Who is this one? You know, his siblings didn't
know. They grew up in the same house with God manifested in
the flesh. They saw a holy life, a sinless
life, and they didn't get it. They didn't understand. I dare
say not one of them would have said, our brother Jesus has never
sinned. They didn't get it. They didn't
have any understanding of who he was. The Pharisees didn't
understand who he was. The common people didn't know
who he was. We read in verse 12, and there
was much murmuring among the people concerning him. For some
said he's a good man. No, he's better than a good man.
He's the God man. Others said, nay, but he deceiveth
the people. He's the only one who didn't
deceive the people. Who is that one? He is the one and only begotten
Son of God. The monogagist. I don't know
if I'm pronouncing it right, but the only begotten Son of
God. The sole representative of the
being of Him who sent Him. The One who possesses every attribute
of pure Godhead. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Second
Person of the Blessed Trinity. Who is that One? The Creator
of the Universe. The one who said, let us make
man in our own image. The one who created the world
from nothing. All things were created by him
and for him, the scripture says. He's the creator. He's the one
who upholds all things by the word of his power. That means
that very last breath you and I took happened because of his
will. That's who he is. He's the brightness of God's
glory. He's the express image of his person, the divine being. He's the one mediator between
God and me and the man Christ Jesus. He's the one Isaiah saw
sitting on the throne high and lifted up. He's the Lord. He's the Lord of creation. He
spake the world into existence. He's the Lord of providence.
He controls everything that takes place. Everything. What about the bad stuff? He's
in control of that. He brings good out of evil, but he's in
control of everything. He's the Lord of salvation. Your
salvation is up to Him. You don't have any control in
this. Your salvation is up to Him. He's the Lord. God hath
made this same Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. He's the subject of the eternities.
Before there was time, The cry of heaven was the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. When time is no more,
worthy is the lamb that was slain. He's the subject of the eternities. He's the only savior of sinners. He's the friend of sinners. His righteousness is the only
righteousness you can be saved by. His precious blood is the
only way I can be clean before God in Judgment Day. Who is He? He's the Son. He's the beloved
Son. God the Father said, this is
my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. If you believe what I just said,
you're very interested in where he is. Where is that one? You know, Herod asked that at
his birth. Where is he that was born king
of the Jews? The Shulamite, picturing the
bride of Christ in the Song of Solomon, said, where is he whom
my soul loveth? David was asked, where's your
God, David? David said, our God is in the
heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. One time, a man tragically lost
his son. Maybe somebody listening has
experienced the same thing. The loss of a son, what a grievous
thing that must be. And they said, where was God
when my son died? And someone replied, he's where
he was when his son died, sitting on a throne. Where is he? Now, if you know who he is, You
want to know, where is he? Where can I find him? Where is
that one? Would to God that that question
would be answered in this message. Where is he? Well, here's where
we must begin. He's in his word. He's in his
word, the Bible. John chapter five, verse 39,
he said to some people, you search the scriptures, and then you
think you have eternal life. And they are they. which testify
of me. He is in his word. Peter said to him, give all the
prophets witness. Here's what he said to those
on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection. He, beginning at Moses and the
prophets and the Psalms, he expounded unto them and all the scriptures
the things concerning himself. He's in this book. And we will
not know him apart from the scriptures. He said, all things must be fulfilled,
which were written. That's the scriptures. which
were written in the law and the prophets and the Psalms concerning
me. He is in the Bible, so don't
expect to find him apart from this book. Where is he? I've already alluded
to this. The heathen said to David, where
is now thy God? Psalm 115.3. David's reply, he's
where he's always been. Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Now that means whatever
is done is his doing. From his throne he sits in regal
splendor, undisturbed by opposition. sitting on his throne, working
all things after the counsel of his own will. And I love the fact that it's
pointed out that he's seated on this throne. Hebrews 1.3 says,
when he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down at the
right hand of the majesty on high. Why did he sit down? Because
his work was finished. He completely saved everyone
he represented. He completely glorified his father. He completely performed his father's
will. And he sat down. from henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. And from
his throne in heaven, he's representing and interceding for his people.
Listen to this scripture. Romans 8, 34, who is he that
condemneth? Paul's making a divine challenge. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. Nothing else needs to be said.
It's Christ that died, yea rather, that's risen, who's even at the
right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Listen,
if Christ died for you, he's in heaven right now, representing
you before the Father. What a place of security and
safety. Where is he? He's in the heavens,
ruling and reigning. In Isaiah chapter 57, verse 15,
we read these words. Thus saith the High and Lofty
One. That's speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the High and Lofty One. Thus saith the High and
Lofty One who inhabiteth eternity. Where is the Lord Jesus Christ?
Well, He inhabits eternity. He's not bound by space or time. He inhabits eternity. He's not
in the cosmos. The cosmos is in him. He is omnipresent. You cannot go anywhere where
he is not. Now, somebody may be thinking,
how can a body be two places at once? I understand asking that question,
but when he was speaking to Nicodemus in John chapter 3, he said, No man descendeth from heaven
but the Son of Man. He came down from heaven and
then he said right after that, which is in heaven, present tense. While I'm speaking to you on
the earth, the Lord says, I'm in heaven. Somebody say, explain
that to me. I can't explain that. I wouldn't
even try, but I know this. If he's in the Father, he said,
I'm in the Father and the Father's in me. If he's in the Father
and the Father's in heaven, so is he. You can't go anywhere
where he is not. I think of when Nebuchadnezzar
had Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego thrown into the fiery furnace.
And Nebuchadnezzar looks in and he said, didn't we not throw
three men bound into the fiery furnace? I see four men loose. And the fourth is like unto the
Son of God. You see, Christ was in there
with them, and they got no hurt in that furnace because he was
there. You know, the scripture says
their clothing did not even smell like smoke when they came out.
You see, he's with his people in the furnace. He is everywhere. Where is he? He's in every individual
believer. That's where he is, Christ in
you, the hope of glory. He resides in every individual
believer in the new heart that he has given. That's why he could
say, in as much as you did to the least of these, my brethren,
you did it to me. Because I'm in them. And whatever
you do to them, you do to me. Inasmuch as you did it not to
the least of these, my brethren, you did it not to me. Do you
remember in Acts chapter 9 when he said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me? Now wait a minute, Saul wasn't
able to reach the Lord Jesus Christ. He was persecuting his
people. Yeah, but if you persecute his people, you're persecuting
him because he is in them and he is in them eternally. Christ is in his people. The
reason you believe is because Christ is in you. The reason
you love him is because he's in you. Christ in you, the hope
of glory. I live yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. In the life that I now live in
the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. Where is he? He said in Matthew
18, where two or three are gathered together in my name. There I am in the midst of them. He is in the public assembly
of his saints. This gathering of two or three,
it could be two or three, it could be 20 or 30, it could be
two or 300 or two or 3,000, whatever, it's a public gathering. I'm
preaching on TV and I'm doing that to preach the gospel so
people will hear. But if you hear and believe,
I want you to be in the public assembly of God's saints, because
that's where he promises his special presence. Where two or
three are gathered together in my name. You know, it takes effort
to come out and hear the gospel. It takes effort. What's wrong
with that? It ought to. Is he not worthy? Where two or
three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst
of them. Now, if I said Jesus Christ is
going to be in the room when I'm preaching this morning at
Todd's Road Grace Church, you'd think, I need to be there. Well,
he is. He is. He's promised his presence in
the public assembly of the saints. He still walks among the golden
candlesticks, which represents the churches. He is in the public
assembly of his people, and that's so important. Where is he? Well, Psalm 80 verse one, he's
called, thou that dwellest between the cherubims. Now a cherubim
is an angelic being. You can read about them in Revelation
chapter four. You can read about them in Isaiah
chapter six. You can read about them in Genesis
chapter three, right after the fall when they had the flaming
sword turning every way to keep Adam and Eve out of the garden,
the cherubims. But there was cherubims embroidered
on that thick covering, that blanket that separated the holy
place and the holy of holies and in between the wings of the
cherubim put on the mercy seat over the Ark of the Covenant,
the Ark of the Covenant stood. Now what is the Well, it had
a lid on it called the Mercy Seath, the Lid of Propitiation. Now remember, he said, I dwell
between the Jerobims. What was between the Jerobims?
The Lid of Propitiation. Somebody says, what in the world
is that? That's a big word. Well, I'm glad you asked. It's
very important that you and I understand what propitiation is and means.
The word means a sin removing sacrifice. Paul said in Romans
3, with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ, whom God has set forth
a propitiation. God set him forth as a propitiation,
a sin removing sacrifice. We read in Hebrews chapter 8,
where God says, for I will be propitious to their unrighteousness. I will remove it by the sacrifice
of my son, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more. God said, that's where I'll meet
you, at the mercy seat. That's where God dwells, in favor,
is at the mercy seat. Now, in Luke chapter 18, we read
of that publican, beating on his breast, crying, God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. The word merciful is actually
be propitious to me, the sinner. I'm a sinner. I'm full of sin.
That's all I am. If you give me what I deserve,
I'll go to hell. Be propitious to me. Do something
about my sin. Remove it. Make it to be gone
through the sacrifice of your son. And that's where God will
meet you. You come on the footing of your own works, God's not
gonna meet you. You come on the footing of your
own efforts and your own doings and your religiosity, God's gonna
reject you. But if you come pleading only
the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ, you're gonna hear said
of you the same thing that publican said heard of him by the Lord
Jesus Christ himself. He said, I say unto you that
man went down to his house justified. He said, God be merciful to me,
the sinner. Christ said, he went down to
his house and justified having never sinned. That's where God
will meet you. The blood atonement of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Don't try to come any other way.
Don't dare come any other way. He's between the chairmans, the
mercy seat. And then we read in 1 Kings 8,
verse 12, Solomon says he dwells in the thick darkness. And don't
miss that. He dwells in the thick darkness.
I love the scripture that says he covers himself with light
as with a garment. He uses light as a covering.
He covers himself in the thick darkness. And I think of the
things that took place in the thick darkness. I think of God
being in Mary's womb in the thick darkness. What a place of darkness
that was. There was nothing but dark when
God first created the universe. He said, let there be light.
I think of the darkness that covered the earth when Christ
was dying on the cross. The scripture says the whole
earth was covered with darkness for three hours. That's to let
us know that we're really never going to fully enter in or understand
what was taking place on the cross when Christ was doing business
with his Father, making the way for God to be just and justify
the ungodly. But this was when he cried out,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He was from the
darkness. I think of the darkness of the
tomb he was laid in. Three days, and all of a sudden,
he began to breathe. He'd been dead. He began to breathe. His heart begins to pump. He
opens his eyes. The resurrection took place in
a place of utter darkness. He dwells in the darkness. Psalm
22, verse three. David said, but thou art holy,
O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Now, Israel is not
that nation in the Middle East Israel is all of God's elect,
the Israel of God. That's the true Jew. And he dwells
in the praises of Israel. Now, every believer, all of Israel,
praises God. Maybe audibly, maybe in their
heart. I fear a lot of times when people
say, praise the Lord, it's for an outward religious show, but
it's not always. Believers, praise the Lord for
who He is. I praise Him for all of His attributes.
I praise Him for His character. I praise Him for His gospel.
I praise Him for His way of saving sinners by Christ. I love the
way He is. I praise Him for His sovereignty.
I'm glad He's in control of everything. I praise Him for His power. His
ability to put away sins, His ability to create the universe.
I praise Him for His wisdom, that He's made the way to be
just and justify the ungodly. I praise Him for His justice,
that He's absolutely just, shall not the judge of the earth do
right. I praise Him for His grace. and his love. I stand amazed
in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how he can
love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean. Oh, the Israel of God
praises him and he dwells in those praises. He is in the preaching
of the gospel. In Matthew chapter 28, verse
18, And Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying, all power is given unto me. Now, the next time you
hear about a powerful man or woman, remember, they don't have
any power. He has all power. All power is given to me in heaven
and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the earth. He is in the preaching of the
gospel, and he is wherever there is a cry for mercy. Blind Bartimaeus, Cries out,
the Lord is marching toward Jerusalem, gone through Jericho, marching
toward Jerusalem, knowing he was going to the cross. The scripture
said he set his face as a flint. His hour has come. Nothing's
going to stop him as he marches toward Jerusalem, knowing he'll
be crucified. There he goes, all kinds of people
are calling his name. And then there's a cry from the
crowd, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And the scripture
says, Jesus stood still. He always hears that cry. You ask the Lord to give you
what's coming to you, you ask the Lord for justice, you ask
the Lord to give you your fair deal, He'll do it. He'll do it,
but don't think He stops in mercy. But if you ask the Lord for mercy,
the scripture says He delights in mercy. And do you know there
has never been a sinner who ever asked for mercy, that He turned
away. You see, the reason they asked
for mercy is because He is there and He caused it to happen. He is the Savior of sinners,
and wherever you find a sinner needing mercy, you find the Savior
waiting to give mercy. He delights in mercy. Where is He? He's wherever there
is a cry for mercy. Now, you cry for mercy when your
sin is all your fault. You do not have a sense of entitlement.
You don't sit in judgment on God saying, I think this is wrong
and I think this is unfair. You realize that the only thing
that's fair to you is hell. And when you see that, that you're
a guilty sinner deserving damnation, only then will you cry for mercy. God be merciful to me, the sinner. And you're gonna find out when
you make that cry, he's there and he hears because he delights
in mercy. Where is he? He's wherever there's
a cry. for mercy. Oh, I'm thankful for
where He is. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to todd.neidert at gmail.com
or you may write or call the church at the information provided
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