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. In John chapter 6, verse 45,
the Lord Jesus Christ says this, it is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Therefore, that hath heard and
learned of the Father cometh to me. I've entitled this message,
Taught of God. And I love the Lord's words,
it is written. The Lord appealed to the Old
Testament scriptures as absolute truth. It is written. Now, the New Testament canon
had not yet been completed, and all they had was the Old Testament
scriptures. But did you know the gospel is
the same in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament?
There are not two gospels. There are not two ways. The way
of the gospel has always been the teaching of Scripture. And the Lord appeals to the Old
Testament Scriptures, a passage from Isaiah chapter 54. We'll
look at it in a few moments. But he says, it is written, they
shall all be taught of God. My response to that is, Lord,
Teach me. Don't leave me to myself. Don't
leave me to my own understanding. Be my teacher. Enable me to hear from and to
learn of you. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Who is meant by all?
Is that talking about every man without exception? They shall
all be taught of God? Obviously not. The same all that
the Lord spoke of in the preceding verses when he said in verse
37 of this same chapter, all that the Father giveth me. shall come to me. The all refers
to the elect. And here is what always happens
when a man is taught of God. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore,
that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh to me. Now, insofar as our experience
goes, our salvation is coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
not responding to an altar call. It's not rededicating my life.
It's not straightening up things in my life. It's coming to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Peter said, to whom coming. That's what a believer is always
doing. He is always coming to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now in verse 41 of this And here's what led up to the
Lord saying this. After the Lord gave this message,
the Jews then murmured at him. They grumbled in disapproval. The Jews then murmured at him
because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
They didn't like that. And here's why. And they said,
is not this Jesus? The son of Joseph, whose father
and mother we know. We know his mom and dad. We know
his brothers and sisters. We know his birthplace. We know
his birthday. What's he saying? I came down
from heaven. That's speaking of pre-existence
before his coming. What's he saying? I came down
from heaven. They grumbled at this. If I said to you, I came down
from heaven before my birth, you'd probably grumble too. I
can understand they're having a hard time with this, but I
also know this, these same people were the people who the day before
had eaten food that he created that very day. 5,000 men plus
women and children, probably 20,000 people, maybe more. were completely filled with a
meal that came from two sardines and five biscuits. He did at
that time what only God could do. He brought matter into existence
which was not in the universe before. He created food and fed
20,000 people and they were all filled with this food, and there
were 12 baskets left over. So they ought to be listening
to what he's saying. He does what only God could do. But when
he made this claim, I came down from heaven, I am the bread that
came down from heaven, they murmured. They said, it's Jesus, the son
of Joseph and Mary. We know his mom and dad. What's
he speaking like this for? And look at the way the Lord
replied to them. Jesus therefore answered, they're
murmuring, they're complaining, they're unbelief. And said unto
them, murmur not among yourselves, no man, and I'm talking about
you, you are murmuring, no man, no man at all can come to me. except the Father which has sent
me draw him. You're murmuring at me. You are
unable to come to me, except the Father which has sent me
draw you. You're not being drawn because
you're murmuring. If you were drawn, you'd come
to me. And you'd be raised up on the
last day, talking about the day of resurrection. You'd be raised
up incorruptible. You'd be raised up justified.
That last day where speaks of the day when eternity will begin
and everybody will be in conscious, eternal existence, either in
heaven or in hell. If you come to Christ, you'll
be raised up to conscious, eternal existence in heaven in perfect
likeness to Christ. And he says, you're murmuring.
You cannot come to me except the Father which has sent me
for you. As a matter of fact, he repeated
that again in verse 65, Therefore said I unto you that no man can
come to me, except it were given to him of my father. You can't
come to me except God gives you the grace to do it. If he leaves
you and I to ourselves, we will never come to Christ. Now, there is salvation for all who
come. This isn't excluding anyone who
comes. Nobody can say, well, I wanted
to come, and I tried to come, but I wasn't allowed. No, the Lord said, all that the
Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me
I will in no wise cast out. If you come, I don't care who
you are, If you come to Christ, you will be received. He said, him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out. If you come, you will be received. And the Lord says, no man can
come to me, except the father which has sent me, draw him. No man has the ability to come
to me, except the father which has sent me, draw. And that word,
draw, means drag. Drag. Now, that doesn't mean
when you're brought into heaven, you're brought in unwillingly,
trying to resist, and the Lord's got you by the hair and dragging
you in. No, you're made to feel Christ to be irresistible, and
you're drawn to Him. That's what it is to be drawn.
Where are you getting this drag from? What about when James said,
do not the rich men draw you before their judgment seats?
That doesn't mean they're just inviting you in. They're forcibly
bringing you before their judgment seats. Now for you to come to
Christ, you're going to have to be forcibly caused to by the
irresistible and invincible grace of God. Now somebody says, why
is that? That's an easy answer. Sin. Sin. You and I are so sinful. Now let me back this up with
the scripture. We're so sinful we are unable to come to Christ
because of our sinfulness. Not because God's preventing
us from coming, but because of our own personal sinfulness. Hear God's testimony in Genesis
chapter six, verse five. And God saw the wickedness of
man. Now put your name in there. I'm
gonna put my name in there. and God saw the wickedness of
Todd was great in the earth, and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. When God looks within my heart
and within your heart, he sees that every imagination of the
thoughts of our heart is only evil continually. Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 9,
Jeremiah says, the heart is deceitful above all things, desperately. And that word desperately means
incurably wicked. Now the heart, the understanding,
it's not talking about the muscle that pumps the blood, it's talking
about the whole man, the understanding, the will, the affections. desperately evil. No love for
God, no will for Christ, no understanding of the gospel. That's what's
in the heart of the natural man, and that's why he cannot come. Now, intellectually, we can understand
a lot of things. I mean, there's some people can
understand, maybe have the brilliance of Einstein, understand the theory
of relativity, and understand E equals MC squared, and know
all the laws of physics, and brilliant, capable of building
technology that just blows my mind. greatly intelligent people,
but no matter how smart you are, here's what the scripture says,
the natural man, that's what you and I are by nature, receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him, neither indeed can he know them, because they're
spiritually discerned. No man can come to Christ because
of his sinfulness, and my dear friends, that's our crime. That's
our crime. That's our wickedness. We're
so bad that we cannot come to Christ unless God irresistibly,
invincibly draws us. Now, thank God, there is a vast
number of men that he does draw. known in the scripture as the
elect. The Lord said regarding these
people, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me. You see, he said in John
6, 37, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise, for no reason cast out. Now, he's going to draw
some people to Christ. Now, you can argue with this
and say, well, how come he doesn't draw everybody? You can say,
Lord, draw me. That's what the little Shulamite woman said.
Draw me and we'll run after thee. Oh, Lord, draw me. I know that if you don't draw
me, I won't come. so would you be pleased in your
mercy to draw me." Now the Lord says in verse 45, he says in
verse 44, no man can come to me except the Father which has
sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at that last day.
It's written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught
of God. Now, the Lord is saying what
I'm saying is only what was already written in the prophets. They
shall all be taught of God. Now, I want to turn to Isaiah
chapter 54 for a moment and look at where this is written. We
read in verse 13, and all thy children shall be taught of the
Lord. Every believer is a believer
because he's taught of the Lord. Now, if the Lord doesn't teach
me, I will not be taught. But if the Lord teaches me, I
am taught. Taught of God. I've heard from and learned of
the Father when God teaches. I've heard people say, God's
trying to teach me something. God doesn't try to do anything.
If He teaches, you're taught. And look what He says in verse
13. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and great
shall be the peace of thy children. Watch this. If God teaches you,
you're going to have great peace. Now, does that mean you never
have turmoil? Does that mean you never worry?
Well, you shouldn't, but you will because you have an old
nature. But if God teaches you, you will have great peace. Now, what's this great peace
all about? If my salvation is dependent
in any way, if it's contingent on anything, if it's predicated
on anything that I have to first do before I can be saved, I have
no peace. If my salvation is dependent
upon my faith, or my repentance, or my holy living, or my ability
to stop committing some particular sin, I have no peace. But here's the peace that every
believer has. Having been justified. By faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, my peace is that everything
that God requires of me, He looks to His Son, Jesus Christ, for. And because of what Christ did,
God is completely satisfied with me. He's not looking for anything
else. He was delivered for our offenses,
raised again for our justification, therefore being justified. By faith we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. God's at peace with me, and I
am at peace with Him. I am satisfied to be saved by
Christ. Great shall be the peace of thy
children. Look in verse 14. He says, In
righteousness shalt thou be established. Now, the reason I have this great
peace is I have righteousness. I'm established in righteousness.
And let me say this, it's not my own righteousness. It's the
righteousness of Jesus Christ. That is my personal righteousness
before God. the very righteousness of Jesus
Christ. This is why I can have boldness
in the day of judgment. I'm not worried. Why? Because
I have the righteousness of Jesus Christ. My sin truly became His
sin. He put it away. His righteousness
He gives to me. And I stand before God and hear
these words, Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
It's God that justifieth. Who is He that condemneth? It's
Christ that died, yea, rather that's risen again. What great
peace. Having made peace through the
blood of His cross. Now when God teaches you, you
have great peace and that great peace comes from righteousness. The perfect righteousness of
Christ. He takes it this far in the 17th
verse. This is the heritage of the servants
of the Lord and their righteousness. is of me, saith the Lord. Their personal righteousness
is of me. In Jeremiah 23 verse 6, The Lord has given this name,
Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord, our righteousness. And then in Jeremiah
chapter 33, we read these words, this is the name wherewith she
shall be called. The church, every believer, Jehovah
T'kenu, the Lord our righteousness. Now that's where this peace comes
from. His righteousness being my personal righteousness before
God. Oh, if God teaches you. great
will be your peace, and your peace will be because of His
righteousness." Now, verse 45, it's written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore,
that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. Now here is the evidence of being
taught of God. I come to Jesus Christ. Here is the evidence of election. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. This is the motion of spiritual
life. It's not a physical coming. The
Lord said, you will not come to me that you might have life.
You come to him, you have life. And this is the motion of spiritual
life, coming to Christ. Now, when you come somewhere,
you leave someplace to go somewhere else. I leave salvation by works.
Let's be real simple. I completely leave salvation
by works. I can't be saved by what I do. By grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. I leave salvation by works, and
I come to the Lord Jesus Christ. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Now here's the big question.
What does it mean to come to Christ? You know, it's nothing
physical. walked out of my bedroom into
my living room this morning. It was a physical thing. I left
the bedroom, came into the living room. This is not physical. This is purely spiritual. What
does it mean to come to Jesus Christ? Well, we read in Mark
140 of a leper. And the scripture says, Behold,
a leper came to him. Now we know this man came to
Christ. And we can learn what it means
to come to Christ by seeing how this man came to Christ. This is what coming to Christ
looks like. In Matthew chapter 8, this same
story of the leper says, behold, a leper came and worshiped him. As a matter of fact, Luke's account
says a man full of leprosy. That's very significant. Did
you know that in Leviticus chapter 13, when we have the laws of
the cleansing of the leper, the only time you could be pronounced
clean is when you are completely full of leprosy. If you had any
healthy flesh, you were not pronounced clean. But when you were completely
covered with leprosy from the top of your head to the soles
of your feet, the priest pronounced you clean. You see it as only
sinners, people who are nothing but sin, that's all they have,
that God saves. This leper came full of leprosy. Behold, a leper came and worshiped
him. Now, this has got to be settled
before we go anywhere else. He is worthy to be worshiped
for who he is without reference to what he does or does not do
for me. If he sends me to hell, he's
still worthy of worship. And that's got to be settled
first. Behold, there came a leper and worshiped him saying, Lord,
He knew He was the Lord, the Lord of creation, the Lord of
providence, the Lord that controls every event, the Lord of salvation,
salvation's in His hand. Do you know that Jesus Christ
is Lord? He's everybody's Lord. You don't make Him Lord, the
Father made Him Lord. He is the Lord. Lord, if you
will, He submitted to the sovereignty of Jesus Christ. Can you imagine
this leper coming into Christ's presence and saying, Lord, I
will that you make me clean. You don't come into God's presence
like that. You say, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. People argue about free will.
There's no such thing. My will's controlled by my evil
nature and my only hope of being saved is that he wills to make
me clean. Lord, if you will, you can. You have the ability to make
me clean. I can't make myself clean, but
you can. And that's what the Lord did
on Calvary's tree. By one offering, he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Lord, if you will, you have the
ability to make me clean. Here's what I need. I need to
be made clean. I'm filthy. I can't make myself
clean. The only one who can make me
clean is you, if you will. It's all up to you. I don't have
a sense of entitlement. I know you can send me to hell,
but if you will, you can make me clean. You know what the Lord
did? Scripture says he was moved with
compassion. He's always moved by compassion
to somebody that comes to him like that. And he said, I will. Be thou clean. And the scripture says immediately,
his leprosy was cleansed. Now, my dear friend, Don't worry
about anything but this, coming to Christ the way this man did. You come full of sin, you acknowledge
his lordship, he's the Lord, he's the sovereign of the universe,
and you say to him, if you will, it's up to you, You can, you
can pronounce me clean. If you will, you can make me
clean. I'm filthy, I can't make myself
clean. If you will, you can make me
clean. You'll hear these words, I will, be thou clean. We have
this message on DVD, CD. You can get it on our website.
This is Todd Kniber, praying that God will make Himself known
to you. Amen. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to todd.kniber at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
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