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'm preaching from John chapter
4, and I'm asking this question, when will a man receive Christ? Now before I read the text, let
me answer this question, and I hope the question will be answered
through the preaching of this message. But a man receives Christ
when Christ is given to him. If you haven't received Christ,
he was never given to you. And a man receives Christ when
he knows who he is, when he is revealed in the gospel. That is when a man sees Christ. when he sees who he is and what
he did. Now, there's no such thing as
God giving something to someone and them not receiving it. If
he gives, you will receive. And if you receive, it's because
he has given. Now, our text is found in John
chapter four, verse 45. We read, then when he was come
into Galilee, the Galileans received him. having seen all the things
that he did at Jerusalem at the feast, for they also went unto
the feast." Now, it said of these Galileans that they received
him. Now he had gone into Nazareth,
the place of his raising, a city in Galilee, and they rejected
him. As a matter of fact, after he
was finished preaching, they tried to murder him and throw
him off of a cliff. But he, passing through their
midst, went his way. You see, his time was not yet
come. But now he comes into this city in Galilee, and they received
him. You and I will not be saved. We will not enter heaven if we
do not personally, intelligently, willingly, and gratefully receive
the Lord Jesus Christ. And let me make another statement
that's equally true. I Corinthians 2.14 says, The
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him. Neither, indeed, can he
know them. He lacks the ability to know
them, because they are spiritually discerned. Now, if I do not receive
Christ, I will not be saved. I will not enter glory. And it's equally true that the
natural man, that's what you and I are by nature, the way
we're born into this world, born dead in trespasses and sins,
the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
He is unable to because they are spiritually discerned. And I have to be born of the
Spirit. I have to be given a new heart
that will receive Christ. So here we have two truths that
are not in conflict. They're both necessary for us
to understand. I won't be saved if I don't receive
Christ. And I cannot receive Christ except
God do something for me. Now in our text, the Galileans
received him. They received him. As a matter
of fact, when you read Luke's account, it says they received
him being astonished at his doctrine. They heard what he said. They
were amazed by it. They loved it. The scripture
says he spake as one having authority. When they heard what he said,
it recommended itself as the very word of God. He spake with authority. And what does that mean? Does
that mean he spake with a very deep authoritative voice and
people were intimidated by what he said? No, not at all. What
he said recommended itself as the very word of God that a man
must bow to. He spake as one having authority
and not as the scribes. Now, let me read this verse of
scripture again. Then when he was come into Galilee,
the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did
at Jerusalem. Now, what is it that caused them
to receive him? They saw all the things that
he did. And that's what I want to major
on for a few moments. All the things, all the things,
not most of the things, all the things that He did. Now there we have the person
and the work of Jesus Christ. He, the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. They saw who He is. Now, they
saw him doing the things that only God could do when they saw
the miracles that he performed. They knew the things he was doing
was only that which God could do. They saw all the things he
did. He raised the dead. He controlled
the weather. He brought matter into existence
that was not before in the universe. Only God can do that. They saw
the things He did. And that is why they received
Him. They welcomed Him when they saw
the things He did. Now, I need to first say what
it doesn't mean to receive Christ. I say that because men make the
act of receiving Christ the thing you need to do before God can
save you. That's why I'm saying I need
to deal with what receiving Christ does not mean. Now, in the message of I'm going
to call it false Christianity because that's what it is. False
Christianity. It's goes like this. God loves you. God wants to save
you. God has a wonderful plan for
your life. Jesus Christ loves you. Jesus
Christ died for your sins. He made salvation possible for
you. God the Holy Spirit is calling you. God wants to save you. Christ wants to save you. The
Holy Spirit wants to save you, but he cannot unless you receive
him. You're first going to have to
receive him before he can save you. Now this is the teaching
of false Christianity. Let's take Peter and Judas. Peter
we know was saved. Judas we know was lost. Christ called him the son of
perdition. Now, if God loved Judas and Peter equally, if God
willed the salvation of Judas and Peter equally, if Jesus Christ
paid for the sins of Judas and Peter equally, he died for Judas
sins and he died for Peter sins. You know what that would mean?
That would mean God's love didn't save Peter. He loved Judas the
same way. It didn't save him. It would
mean God's will didn't save Peter. Why? He willed the salvation
of Judas the same way he did Peter. It would mean the blood
of Christ. didn't save Peter because he
shed his blood for Judas just as much as he did for Peter.
It takes God out of the equation in salvation and puts salvation
dependent upon what you do, whether or not you decide to receive
him or whether you decide to reject him. Now that makes salvation
dependent upon man. And if salvation is dependent
upon man, no one will be saved. If salvation is dependent, contingent,
conditioned upon anything that I must do before God can save
me, that is a message of salvation by works. Salvation by law. It's a denial of salvation by
grace. Now, so when I'm talking about
receiving Christ, I'm not talking about your act of reception being
the determining factor as to whether or not you'll be saved.
Now, it's true, you and I will not be saved apart from receiving
Christ. But this act of receiving is
not the act of salvation. I'm not saved because I've received
Christ. I'm saved because Christ died
for my sins. I'm saved because God elected me before time began. I'm saved because God the Holy
Spirit gave me a new nature that believes the gospel, that has
faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ and repentance toward God. I'm
not saved because of something I have done. I'm saved because
of what He has done. Salvation is not what the sinner
does for God. It's what God does for the sinner. And even the act of receiving
Christ is the gift of His grace. Now, they received Him. The people in Nazareth rejected
Him, but they received Him. The scripture says in verse 45,
they received him having seen all the things that he did at
Jerusalem. Now, they were at Jerusalem when
he came into Jerusalem and drove the money changers out. This
was very early in his public ministry. They saw this. They
saw him say to his enemies, destroy this body in three days, I'll
raise it up. He spoke of his own resurrection and him being
the one who would raise himself. He did many miracles before them.
We've not told what these miracles were, but I know this, the miracles
he did are miracles that only God can do. Can a man raise a
dead man? Only the God man can. Can a mere
man give sight to the blind? Only the God-man can. Can man
under any circumstance control the weather? No, the God-man
can. Can man create matter that was
not in the universe before? No, but the God-man can. He did
what only God could do. They saw the things that he did. And when scripture says they
saw the things he did, that means more than a physical sight. They
had a perception. They had an understanding because
God had revealed something to them. They had an understanding
of the things that he did. Now I want to spend a few moments
talking about the things he did. He is the God-man. He's the second
person of the Trinity. Let's consider the things he
did. Well, do you know before time
began there were some things he did? Now somebody says, how
can you talk about things that happened before time began? Because
the Bible does. God is the eternal God. And in
eternity, before there was a creation, Christ stood as the surety of
the people God gave him in eternal election, and he guaranteed their
salvation. He said, this is the will of
him that sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should
lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. And also
before time began, everything that takes place in time He purposed. Do you know there's nothing that
happens that is not His will being done? Now somebody's thinking,
what about all the terrible things? What about all the evil things?
What about the tragedies and the disasters? Is that His will
being done? Yes. I don't pretend to understand
why he does everything he does, but I know his character. And
I know that everything he does is right, just, holy, and true
because he does it. And I know what he does, he can
do something nobody else can do. He always brings good out
of evil. So whatever it is, I know that
there's some very painful things to think of people experiencing,
but he has decreed everything. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. He declareth the end from the
beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done,
saying, My counsel shall stand, I will do all my pleasure. Now this is who he is. This is
who he is. Somebody says, I don't like that.
I do. I'm glad it's that way. I would be scared to death if
it wasn't that way. But the Lord Jesus Christ stood as the surety
of everybody that He saved and guaranteed their salvation by
what He would do for them, and He decreed every event that would
take place. Jesus Christ created the universe. What did he do? Jesus Christ
created the universe. Now, it only makes sense to think
that God created the universe. When people are atheists and
they don't have a reason for creation, it's really irrational. Every cause Every effect must
have a cause. Something must have caused this.
We're born with this knowledge. We see this creation. We see
somebody made this, and he's all-powerful, and nobody made
him. He is eternal. Everyone is born
with that knowledge. But you can have that knowledge
and miss the gospel altogether. But listen to this, it was Jesus
of Christ, the God-man, who said, let us make man in our own image. It was Jesus Christ, listen to
this scripture, John 1.1, in the beginning was the Word, the
Word was with God, the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by him and
without him was not anything made that was made. Jesus Christ
created the universe. It was Jesus Christ who said
to Adam, and the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die."
You see, this was all a part of His purpose. Was Adam wicked
in what he did? Was he responsible for what he
did? Absolutely. But it's still all according
to His purpose. Christ could have kept him from
falling, but He didn't, because it was His purpose. You see,
if Adam didn't fall, there would be no cross. There would be no
manifestation of the glory of God. Everything is for the cross.
Now, in time, the Lord didn't have a body. He was Spirit, just
like His Father and like His Son. But in time, Some 2,000
years ago, Christ took upon himself flesh. He became a man. And as a man, he kept God's law
perfectly. He never sinned. He never thought a sin. He never
acted out a sin. He knew no sin, and he was incapable
of sinning. Is God capable of sinning? No.
Is Jesus Christ capable of sinning? No. He kept God's law perfectly. That's what he did. What did
he do? He kept God's law perfectly,
worked out a perfect righteousness. What did he do? He died. Now, why did he die if he was
never guilty of a sin? because he willingly took upon
himself the sins of God's people, and he became guilty of the commission
of those sins because he took them to himself. Now, he never
sinned. Don't anybody misunderstand me. Even when he was made sin,
he never committed a sin. But he became guilty of the commission
of the sins of everybody he died for. And when he was nailed to
a cross, it wasn't as a victim. He was put there by the justice
of God as the sin-bearing substitute. You remember when those men crucified
Him, Scripture says they were doing whatsoever God's hand and
counsel determined before to be done. This was God's justice
against sin. And when they took Him down from
the cross, what did He do? He died. They took down a dead
corpse. His heart was not beating. He
was not breathing. He was dead, graveyard dead. What did he do? Three days later,
he was raised from the dead. That's what he did. Now, why? Because he paid for all those
sins that he died for. He put them away. He made them
not to be. The scripture says he was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. When He
was raised from the dead, every believer was justified before
God, made without guilt. Oh, the glorious things He did.
He was raised from the dead. He ascended back to the Father.
And right now, He's ruling and reigning. Somebody says, what's
He doing right now? I can tell you what He's doing. He's sitting.
at the right hand of the Father. He's not pacing back and forth,
frustrated because his will's not being done. He's sitting
in perfect power and satisfaction, and he's sitting there as the
intercessor of his people, the great high priest. Paul put it
this way, who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that dies. as His
only ground of intercession, His death in behalf of His people.
And nothing else needs to be said. I need no other argument.
I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that He died for me. Who is he that condemneth his
Christ that died? Yea, rather that's risen again,
who's even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us. What's he doing now? He's ruling
and reigning, making intercession for his people. And listen to
this, he's coming again. He's coming again. Everybody's
gonna know who he is when he comes, but he is coming again. Somebody once said, the Old Testament,
somebody's coming, the gospels, he's here, the epistles, he's
coming again. He's coming again to receive
every believer to himself. Oh, the things that he did. Now, the text says, When he was come to Galilee,
the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did. Now, if you ever see who he is
and what he did, you will receive him. You'll receive him joyously. You'll receive him willingly.
You will receive him gratefully, but you will receive him. You
see, when we receive him, we receive his words. If you don't
receive everything he says, you've not received him. We receive
his words. I think of John chapter six,
where he brought a message. And in that message, he stated
election. All that the father giveth me
shall come to me. He stated his Intention. This is the will of him that
sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I'd lose nothing.
I'm not going to lose anybody I died for. He's talking about
the definite, successful atonement he accomplished on Calvary's
tree. He talks about total depravity in this message. No man can come
to me. except the Father which has sent
me draw him." You can't even come unless the Father draws
you. That's total depravity. I mean, he said some things that
when he was finished with the message, the people said, these
are hard sayings. Who can hear them? Who can expect
to be listened to such teaching as this? These are hard sayings.
And then the Lord said to them, Does this offend you, what I've
said? Does this offend you? What and
if you shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before?
What he's saying is if you're offended now, you're really going
to be offended then when you see me at the right hand of the
Father. And then he said this with regard to his words, the
words that I speak to you, their spirit and their life. And everyone who has been born
of the Spirit and has spiritual life, they receive His words. He that is of God heareth God's
words, you therefore hear them not, the Lord said, because you
are not of God. Now to receive him is to receive
his words, and to receive him is to receive his benefits. Acts 10.43 says we receive the
remission of sin. Romans 1.5 says we receive grace
for obedience. 2 Corinthians 4.1 says we receive
mercy. Hebrews 9.15 says we receive
the promise of eternal inheritance. Romans 5.17 says we receive the
gift of righteousness. Now do you hear that? Righteousness
is not something you do to become. Righteousness is a gift you receive. The very righteousness of Jesus
Christ, His law-keeping, His personal obedience, is a gift
that you receive when you receive Him. We read in Galatians 4-5,
we receive the adoption of sons. We really can say, this is my
Father's world. I'm His son. I'm His child. We
receive the atonement, the reconciliation. Romans 5, verse 11. Acts 1.18
says we receive power to be his witness after the Holy Ghost
has come upon us. Now, we receive him. We receive
him intelligently. Now by that I'm not talking about
IQ. I'm talking about we know who
it is we're receiving. We see who he is according to
his word. We receive him intelligently.
He reveals himself, we receive him. We receive Him completely. There's no part of Him that we
do not receive. We receive Him exclusively. When
we receive Him, we exclude all other ways but Him, and we receive
Him gratefully, thankfully. We receive Him. He gives Himself to us, and we
received Him. Now, in John 1, verse 12, we
read, as many as received Him. To them gave he the power to
become the sons of God, even to them which believe on his
name. Now His name is the person behind
the name. It's not just talking about articulating
audibly His name. His name is who He is. It's the
person behind the name. We receive Him. We rely on His
righteousness to save us. We rely on His sovereign will
to save us, to will our salvation. We rely on His grace to save
us. We rely on His power to save
us. We rely on His wisdom to save
us. Every attribute of God we're
relying on. Now that's what it is to receive
Him. When you receive Him, you believe
on His name. And then John tells us with regard
to these people who believe on His name, which were born. Here's
why they received His name. They were born. Not of blood,
not because your mom and dad are Christians. not of the will
of the flesh, not as an act of man's free will, not the will
of man, not because a bunch of men said we're going to get together
and pray for this person until they're saved. They are born
of God. Now we have this message on DVD
and CD if you can get it off our website or call the church
or write, and we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg,
praying that God will be pleased to make himself known to you.
Amen. To receive a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send
a request to todd.nyberg at gmail.com, or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.