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 the fourth
chapter of Hebrews, and I've entitled this message, The Word
of God. We read beginning in verse 12
of Hebrews chapter four, for the word of God is quick. The word quick means living. The word of God is living. and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even
to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints
and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents or
intentions of the heart. Neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in His sight, the Word of God's sight. For all things are naked. There's no hiding from Him. All
things are naked. You can't cover yourself and
make yourself look different in His sight. All things are
naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."
All of us have to do with Him. All of us must give an account
before Him who sees all. the Word of God. I'd like to
quote a verse of Scripture from Psalm 138, verse 2. Listen carefully. Thou hast magnified
thy Word above all thy name. What a statement. God has magnified
His Word above all Now, I hope by the end of this message, we'll
have some slight idea of what that awesome statement means. Thou hast magnified thy word
above all thy name. Now, the writer to the Hebrew
says the Word of God is quick, or living, and powerful. What is meant by the Word of
God? Well, there's the written word,
the holy scriptures, inspired by God. Now, if we don't have
an inspiration given directly from God, we can't know anything
for sure with regard to the character of God. We can only guess. My
guess is as good as yours, but he's made himself known, his
character in his word. And then we read of the living
word. The Lord Jesus Christ is called
the word. As a matter of fact, in Revelation
chapter 19, he's called the word of God. He is the Word of God. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God as a distinct person, and the Word
was God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Word of God. And then there is the gospel
message. Paul said to Timothy, Timothy,
preach the Word, the Gospel message. Now, somebody may think, well,
which one of those three are meant by the Word of God? All
three. They cannot be separated. The Word The message, the Lord
said, the words that I speak unto you, their spirit and life,
the Word from the Word, from the Scriptures that reveal the
Word, the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God
from the Word of God that reveals the Word of God, the gospel message
from the scriptures which reveal the person of Christ. Now, that's
the Word of God he is speaking of. The written Word, listen
to this, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. Literally,
God breathed the breath, the life of God. And then there is
the Living Word. In the beginning was the Word,
the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's called the Word
of God in Revelation chapter 19. And then there's the Word
preached, the gospel message, being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible. by the Word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever." Now, this is the Word that the preacher
brings. There's no power in the preacher's
Word. He's just an instrument of bringing the Word of God. James 1.18 says, of his own will
begat he us through the word of truth. Now, I love Paul's
exhortation to Timothy. Timothy, preach the word. Does the word declare itself
to be without error, inspired by God? Then preach it. Don't
apologize for it. Preach it. Does the Word declare
that God is absolutely sovereign in all things, the first cause
behind everything, God over all, blessed forever? Then preach
it. Don't apologize for that. Does
the Word declare that men are unable to save themselves, dead
in sins, completely dependent upon God to do something for
them? Then preach it. Does the Word
declare that God, of His own sovereign will, elected a people
before time began? Well, if it does, preach it.
Does the Word declare that Christ accomplished salvation? He didn't
make salvation available. He doesn't offer salvation. He
accomplished salvation by mighty work on the cross. When He said
it is finished, salvation was finished. Then preach it. Does
the Word declare that God saves by grace only? Then preach it. Preach the Word. The Word of God, the written
Word of God, the living Word of God, the gospel message are
inseparable. Now, I've entitled this message,
The Trinity of the Word. Now, the word trinity is not
found in the Bible. The doctrine of the Trinity is
on every page. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, in Genesis
1, verse 1, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the
earth. God is in the plural. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. You remember when God said, let
us make man in our own image. The Trinity is right there. The
Trinity is on every page of Scripture, and the Word of God as a Trinity
is Like these three are one, John said that with regard to
the Trinity in 1 John 5, these three are one. With regard to
the living Word, the written Word, and the Word of which Paul
exhorted Timothy to preach the gospel message, these three are
one. Now, the first thing the writer
to the Hebrew tells us is the Word of God is quick. Now, when
we think of quick, we think of fast, but that's not what the
word means. The word means living. You've
heard the saying, I've cut my finger to the quick. When you're
into the living flesh, it hurts. The word of God is living. Now, this book is an utterly
supernatural book. utterly unique book. It is other. It's God's revelation
of himself. There's no book that can be compared
to this book. I think it's almost humorous
that men write these confessions of faith that they think will
summarize the message of this book, when this book stands by
itself, it doesn't need men's help. This is the Word of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is quick. He is alive. I've heard people
say, Jesus Christ is alive and well. I don't like that. He's not alive and well. He's
alive. John 14, 6 said, he said, I am
the way, the truth, and the life. And the gospel message, that's
the word that begets life. The Lord said, the hour is coming,
and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God, and they that hear shall live. The word of God is quick,
and the word of God is powerful. It means effectual. Oh, I have
so much confidence in the gospel I preach because it's not according
to my ability to present it. It's not according to my ability
to persuade men. Preach the gospel, it does the
work itself. The word of God is powerful. Effectual is what the word means. God said concerning his word
in Isaiah 55, 11, so shall my word be that goeth out of my
mouth. It shall not return unto me void.
but it shall accomplish that which I please. And it shall
prosper in the thing whereunto I have sent it. And that is true
with regard to the written word. God blesses it. That's true with
regard to the word preached. God blesses it. It's powerful.
It always does what God intends for it to do. But that is totally
true concerning the living word, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's effectual. He doesn't do anything in vain.
He's never a failure. He said, this is the Father's
will which sent me, that of all which he has given me, I should
lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. The Lord
came to save the elect. That was his intention, and he
did it when he said it is finished. Oh, he prospered in what he did.
It was no failure. Whatever he intended to do, that's
what he did. The Word of God is quick and
powerful. And next it says, the Word of
God is sharper than any two-edged sword. The Scriptures are called the
sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. It said of Christ,
out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword. And in another place it
says, out of his mouth goeth a sharp two-edged sword. and His countenance was as the
sun shining in His strength." And notice what it says about
the Word of God being this sharp two-edged sword that is used
for cutting. Look what it says it does. For
the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul
and spirit. Now, right off the bat, that
tells me that the soul and spirit are two different things. And
only the Word of God can discern and divide asunder the soul and
the spirit. Now, what's that all about? Everybody
has a soul. You have a soul. I have a soul. That's what animates us. We have
a soul. That's what's intelligent. That's
what thinks. We all have a soul. That's what
differentiates us from beasts. We have a soul. But not everybody has a spirit.
You see, when Adam died in the garden, you'll remember God said,
in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. He didn't die
physically. His soul didn't die. but his spirit died. And that is why the scripture
says, you hath he quickened or given life to who were dead in
trespasses and sins. Your body wasn't dead. Your soul
wasn't dead, but your spirit was dead. And when God gives
someone the new birth, they're given spiritual life. life that
was not there before. Now they now possess a soul and
a spirit. Every believer has two natures. The unbeliever only has one nature.
He's got the nature that's in his soul. The believer has a
nature of his soul, he still has that, but he now has a new
nature, a nature of his spirit, the new man, the spiritual man. And the old man is nothing but
sin. The new man is nothing but that
which comes from God, born of the Spirit. He cannot sin. Now somebody says, How do you
tell the difference between the two? If I have two natures, how
can I tell the difference between the two? Well, if you're a believer,
you do have two natures, but they all come out, both come
out of one consciousness. And really, you can't tell the
difference. And Peter put it this way. He called this new
man, the hidden man of the heart, even a meek and quiet spirit,
which is not corruptible. It's not even subject to corruption.
Now, Why does Peter call it the hidden man? Because me and you
really can't see it. We can't look at something we've
done and say, well, that was the new man that did that, and that
was the old man that did that. No, we can't do that because
both men come out of one consciousness if we're believers. But we know
from what the Word of God says that we have these two men, and
it's only the Word of God that can discern between the two.
It divides asunder the soul and the spirit. It's a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart. For the word of God is quick
and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the
joints and marrow. And it's a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart. Only the word of God can see. You and I can't. I can't see
into your heart. You can't see into my heart.
God sees into both of our hearts. And look at this, verse 13. Neither
is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight. But all things are naked and
opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." Now, God
sees things as they are. All things are naked and open
unto him. He sees things as they really
are, and how He sees things is how they really are. Now, you and I can't see like
this. I remember hearing one man say, we're all three different
people. We're the person we think we are, we're the person others
think we are, and we're the person God knows we are. And I believe
that to be a very accurate description. God sees things as they are. Because you and I can't see things
as they are, we really can't make judgments concerning anything
we see. Now, we're to listen to the gospel
we hear and make a judgment, is this the gospel of the scriptures?
We can make that judgment. But as far as the way someone
conducted themselves under some certain situation, we don't know
what was behind it. We don't know what they were
going through. We don't know what caused the action. We are
unable to make an accurate judgment about anything. But that's not
the case for God. All things are naked and open
with the one with whom we have to do." Listen to this scripture,
Genesis 6, verse 5, and God saw. God sees real well. He sees perfectly. And God saw. that the wickedness
of man, me and you are included in this group, and 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. That's what God saw. When He
looks in your heart, whether you see this or not, all things
are naked and open with Him. He sees into our hearts. He knows,
I love that scripture in 1 Samuel 16, the Lord seeth not as man
seeth. Man looketh on the outward appearance,
the Lord looketh on the heart. And God saw that the wickedness
of man, every man, Me, you, was great in the earth and that every
imagination, he's not even talking about the works now, every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil, continually, non-stop. Now, I can't look into your heart
and see that. I know it's so because God says
it is in his word. You can't look into my heart
and see that. You know it's so because God
says it in His Word, but God does see things as they are. Understand this. How God sees
is the way it is. You and I just don't really see
anything. We see through a glass darkly. We don't really understand because
there's so much we don't see. There's so much we do not understand. But with God, all things are
naked and open with him. He sees things as they are. Now I'd like to close by giving
you some scriptures regarding what he sees. Now, how he sees
things is as they are. I was getting ready to say, would
you agree with that? I hope you do. But it's true
whether you and I agree with it or not. God sees things as
they are. In Luke 16, verse 15, the Lord
said this, that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination
in the sight of God. You can just write that down
with regard to anything, and the reason that's so is because
we're so sinful. That's why this is so, because
we're so sinful. The things we highly esteem are
things we ought not highly esteem. The things we ought to hate we
love, and the things we love we ought to hate. And our Lord
tells us that which is highly esteemed among men, and you think
of all the things men highly esteem, power, prestige, all
the things they think they can get, it's an abomination in the
sight of God. In Acts 4, verse 19, Peter and
John answered and said unto them, whether it be right in the sight
of God to hearken To you, more than God, judge ye." You make
that judgment. It's obvious. For we cannot but
speak the things which we've seen and heard. Peter said, make
this judgment. What should we do? That which
is right in the sight of God, or do what you say? That's a
no-brainer. Acts 8, verse 21, Peter said
to Simon Magus, thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Now, Simon Magus had impressed
many people. He believed himself to be somebody. You can read about him in Acts
chapter 8. He made out himself to be some great one, and many
people looked to him, trusted him, were impressed with him.
But Peter says to him, thy heart is not right in the sight of
God. Now, what was wrong with his
heart? He said, you thought the gift of God could be bought.
You proved by that you have such a low opinion of God that you
think he could accept something that comes from you. And you
demonstrate such a high opinion of yourself that you think you
have something God could accept. Your heart is not right in the
sight of God. Romans 3, 19 and 20, we know
that the law, whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them
that are under the law that every mouth may be stopped and all
the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, there shall no
flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. All God's law does is condemn
me and you in God's sight. You take all ten commandments,
you and I have broken them all, and we've broken them all non-stop. There is no flesh that could
ever be justified in His sight because by the law is the knowledge
of sin. 1 Corinthians 1.29 says that
no flesh should glory in his presence, and that's the same
word, in his sight. Now, God is such that no flesh
is going to be able to glory in his presence as if they have
some power. God stands alone. He has no law
over His head that He has to answer to. He's God, and He answers
only to His own attributes. He's God, and no flesh is ever
going to glory in His sight. Ephesians 1 verse 4 says, according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him or in his sight. Now, if God chose me to be holy
and to be without blame before him, you know what? I am holy
and without blame before him. And the reason I am is because
of what Christ has done for me. Not because of what I did, but
because of what Christ did. And then when Paul charged Timothy
to preach the Word, he made this charge in God's sight. In God's
sight. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2.17,
in the sight of God speak we of Christ. The only thing that will deliver
man from the fear of man in his preaching and being afraid to
tell the truth is the fear of God. If I'm afraid of God, if
I have the fear of God in my heart, I'm more afraid of Him
than I am of what any man thinks. And the one we want to please
in our preaching is God Himself. not men. Hebrews 13, 21 says,
He works in us that which is well-pleasing in His sight. That
desire you have for Christ, that's Him working in you, that which
is well-pleasing in His sight. He gets all the glory. James
4, 10 says to humble yourselves in the sight of God. If I ever
see who he is, I'll humble myself in his sight." 1 Peter 3, 4,
Peter speaks of the hidden man of the heart, and that which
is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet
spirit which is in the sight of God of great price. You see, this is God's work.
He's the one who gave this meek and quiet spirit, and it's in
His sight of great price. Colossians 1.22, Christ is said
to present every believer holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in His sight, in God's sight. Now listen to me. This is what
Christ did for every believer. Now you may feel yourself to
be very sinful. I may feel myself to be very sinful because I am.
But yet this is what God says because of the blood of Christ,
because of the work of Christ. He presents every believer to
God holy, unblameable, and unreprovable." Now, He doesn't present them
as if they were holy and blameable and unreprovable. He presents
them holy and unblameable and unreprovable. That's what the
blood of Christ accomplished. It makes every believer that
in the very sight of God. Jude 24. now unto him that is
able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before
his presence." And that's the actual same word in the original,
in his sight. He's enabled to present everybody
he represented faultless in the very sight of God. And how God sees things is how
they really are. Every believer, because of the
blood of Jesus Christ, is faultless in the sight of God. And that is what the Word of
God does. The Lord Jesus Christ, His Gospel
message from the Scriptures presents every believer wholly unblameable
and unreprovable in His sight. Amen. To receive a copy of the
sermon you have just heard, send a request to todd.neidert at
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