Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neiberg. 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, Consider. Our text is found in Hebrews
chapter 3, verse 1. The writer to the Hebrews says,
Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider. There's where the title comes
from. Think about this. Think attentively. Consider the
apostle and the high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. Writer to the Hebrews addresses
those who can be termed holy brethren and partakers of the
heavenly calling. That describes every believer.
Every believer is a holy brother, chosen to be holy, redeemed and
made holy by the Holy Spirit. And they have been called by
God with this special calling. And they're called upon, and
you and I are called upon. Every man ought to consider this. The apostle and the high priest
of our profession. Now, our profession is speaking
of what every believer believes. The word means to speak the same
thing. Every believer believes the same
thing. And it has to do with the apostle
and high priest of our profession. Now the word apostle means sent
one. I know there were the twelve
apostles, but this is not speaking of those apostles, but he that
is sent of God. Christ Jesus is the sent one. He was sent of God. I'm so thankful. He said, I came
down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him
that sent me. And 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. Faith is They said, what must
we do that we might work the works of God? This is the work
of God, that you believe on him whom he hath sent. He is the
apostle, the sent one of our profession, and he's our great
high priest. Now, a priest is someone who
represents men to God. He takes that man and brings
him to God. That is the Lord Jesus Christ.
I can't come on my own. God's holy, I'm sinful. The only
way I can come is if Christ presents me as my great high priest. I think one of the best examples
we have of what that means is in verse John chapter two, verses
one and two. These things write unto you that
you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous and
he is the propitiation of our sins. That word means the sin
removing sacrifice. Now our great high priest is
our advocate before the Father and he makes his clients plead
guilty. And he makes all of his clients
not guilty. What a advocate, what a great
high priest he is. He brings his own blood. He doesn't
bring the blood of a goat or a bull or a sheep. He brings
his own blood and he's perfect. And he brings us to the Father
through himself. Now consider the apostle and
high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. Now I want to focus
on this word, consider. Consider. I want us to consider
what the Bible says to consider, and I've got seven or eight verses
where we read of this word, consider. Now, in Acts chapter 7, Stephen
is speaking of Moses, and he says, beginning in verse 30,
And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the
wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in the midst
of a flame of fire in a bush. Now, do you know the story? Moses
was out in the wilderness, tending the sheep of his father-in-law,
And he looked upon a bush that was on fire, and it could not
be consumed. Now, I don't know how long Moses
looked at that bush. Maybe it was struck by a bolt
of lightning and started burning. And maybe while Moses was in
that area, he looked, the bush never was consumed. The fire
kept going. Verse 31, when Moses saw it,
he wondered at the sight, and as he drew near to behold it.
Now that word behold is the same word in the original translated
consider from the verse of scripture we just read. When he drew near
to consider it, the voice of the Lord came unto him. Now let's consider this sight
that Moses considered. Did you know that God calls himself
Him that dwelt in the midst of the bush? Now, God spoke to Moses
out of that bush. Consider, that bush, that fire,
did not need the energy of the wood of that bush to keep burning. And that fire could not consume
that bush. And think of those two things.
The fire did not need the energy of the wood to keep burning. And that fire could not consume
that bush. Now that speaks of the independence
of Jesus Christ as God. He has no needs. As that fire did not need the
wood of that bush to continue its flame. Jesus Christ has no
needs. That can only be said of God
Almighty. Jesus Christ is God. He has no needs. He has life
in Himself. Now you think of how dependent
you and I are. We're dependent upon God to give us our next
breath. The only reason our heart will
pump again is because He wills it to pump. We're totally needy. We need food. We need water.
We need shelter. We need... Christ has no needs. Now listen to me very carefully.
Did you know that Christ doesn't need you? He doesn't need your
money. He doesn't need your talents.
He doesn't need your gifts. He doesn't need anything that
comes from you. As a matter of fact, all you
have, He gave you in the first place. He does not need you. You need Him. You desperately
need Him. Now, what about that fire that
could not consume that bush? When the fire of God's wrath
fell upon Christ, and that's what happened on Calvary's tree,
he was forsaken by God. He felt the awful frown and the
fury of God against sin. That's why he was there. But
the wrath could not consume him. Consider that. Now, in 1 Kings
chapter 18, when the fire of God fell down upon Elijah's sacrifice,
the scripture says the fire fell down, it burned up the stones,
it burned up the wood, it burned up the dust, it licked the water
up. Elijah had doused it to make
sure that people could see this was not trickery. I mean, everything
was soaked, and when that fire came down, there was nothing
left. The fire consumed the sacrifice
and everything associated with it. But when the fire of wrath
came down upon Christ, this is the one time the sacrifice consumed
the fire. Christ consumed the fire. He satisfied God so that God
would say, there's no fury in me. He completely satisfied God. What a beautiful type of the
gospel for us to consider. the fire that didn't need the
energy of the wood, and the fire that could not consume the bush. The deity and the perfect humanity
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then in Luke chapter 12,
verse 24, the Lord said, consider the ravens. Consider the ravens. How they
sow not, neither reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn,
and God feedeth them, how much more are you better than the
fowls?" Now consider the ravens. God provides for them. They don't
have storehouses. They don't have barns. God provides
for them. They never worry. God provides
for them. Do you know there's nothing more
unreasonable and sinful and unbelieving than worrying? God provides. To worry about anything materially,
God will give you what you need. To worry about anything spiritually,
God has provided all that he requires for every believer. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not? With Him also
freely give us all things. Consider the ravens. They don't
worry. They don't build barns and storehouses
to try to take care of things if things go wrong. They're heavenly. Father feeds
them. And then he speaks of the lilies
in that same chapter. Luke chapter 12, verse 27, here's
the word consider. Consider the lilies. The beautiful
lilies. How they grow. I can't help but
think they don't read self-help books to teach them how to grow.
Consider how they grow. They grow by the power and grace
of God. They toil not, neither do they
spend. They're not working to make and
sew together and toil and labor for their own covering. They
toil not, neither do they spend. Yet I say unto you that Solomon
in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Now these
lilies, they have a garment. They're arrayed with something
infinitely more glorious than the glory that Solomon himself
had. Solomon was not arrayed like
one of these, and they didn't work for this. They didn't toil
for this. They didn't come up with a garment
that they made. This is talking about what a
believer is arrayed in, what a believer is clothed with, the
righteousness of God. Revelation 19 verse 8 says, to
her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen. clean and white. And this fine linen is the righteousness
of the saints. Now, what is the righteousness
of the saints? The righteousness of Jesus Christ. Philippians chapter 3, verse
9, Paul said, Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in him,
not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith. Oh, what a covering. You don't
have to worry about coming up with your own clothing, your
own covering before God. If you're a believer, Christ's
righteousness is your covering before God. I think of that parable
in Matthew chapter 22 of the wedding feast. Without getting
into the first part of the parable, at the end of the parable, the
king comes in and sees someone without a wedding garment. What
did you have to have to be at the wedding feast? A wedding
garment. And every wedding garment was
provided for the guests. You came to the wedding, you
were given the garment. Someone was there without a wedding
garment. And what did the king say? Friend,
how camest thou in heaven without a wedding garment? The scripture
says he was speechless. Probably the first time in his
life he'd ever been speechless. And the king said, bind him hand
and foot and cast him into outer darkness. It is only the righteousness
of Christ, the wedding garment, that God will accept. Consider
the lilies. They toil not, neither do they
spin. Yet I say unto you that Solomon
in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Believer,
you have nothing to worry about with regard to Judgment Day because
you have the very righteousness and merits, the obedience of
Jesus Christ as your righteousness before God. Now in Acts chapter
11, Verse 6, Peter had been given a vision. And when I had fastened
mine eyes and considered, now here's this word considered,
and what this vision was, was certain unclean animals according
to the law. There were things that the Levitical
law said were unclean and you were not to eat. Now, these unclean
animals came down to Peter in a sheet in this vision that he
had. And it was opened up and he heard
a voice. It was the voice of Christ. Arise,
Peter. Kill and eat. And Peter said,
Not so, Lord. Nothing unclean or common has
ever come into my lips and my taste." Now, he shouldn't have
said that to the Lord. The Lord said, kill it and eat
it. And this was done three times.
And Peter saw this vision three times. And then it was let back
up into heaven. And you know what the voice said
to Peter? What God has cleansed, call not thou common. Now, the whole Levitical law
has been done away with and fulfilled in Christ. Don't you go back
to that law. It's been fulfilled in Christ.
This takes away all distinctions between men, Jew and Gentile.
Well, Peter always did have a hard time loving Gentiles, and he
didn't want to eat with Gentiles, and he didn't want to go in with
Gentiles. And God is teaching him all distinctions
are taken away. There's no Jew and Gentile. There's
no black and white. There's no bond and free. There's no rich and poor. All
are one in Christ Jesus, and all these fleshly distinctions
are gone. There's not racism. People talk about racism, and
indeed the very thought of it is evil, but did you know there
are not different races? There's one race, the human race. All distinctions between the
flesh have been taken away. And listen to this, what God
has cleansed, don't you call common. God has cleansed every
believer and made them clean through the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And don't you dare call that
common. Now, I'm going to spend a quicker
time getting through these other ones. In Romans 4.19, it says,
with regard to Abraham, not being weak in faith, he considered
not his own body, now dead. Now don't consider yourself. Don't consider your works. Don't
consider your own body. Dead, that's all it is. Dead
in sins. Don't look to yourself for anything
to save you. Look to God's promise. He considered not his own body,
now dead, nor yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. He staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God. Now, in James chapter one, we
read, but be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the
word, and not a doer, he's like unto a man beholding his natural
face in a glass." Now, don't miss that, his natural face.
This man that's a hearer of the Word and not a doer is like a
man who looks in the mirror and sees what his natural face looks
like. Now, if I look in the mirror
of the Word of God, what does God's Word tell me that I am? When I look in the mirror of
the Word, Where the scripture says, 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. Now do you hear that? That is
what the reflection of the mirror of God's word says about me and
you. Only evil continually. Now this man that's a hearer
of the word and not a doer only, It says in verse 24, "...he beholdeth
himself, and goes his way, and straightway forgets what manner
of man he was." He forgets that he's a sinner. Now the only way
you can hear the gospel is as a sinner. If you're anything
better than that, you can't hear the gospel. The gospel is the
sinner's religion, and the only way you can hear is as a sinner. When you're nothing but sin,
it's easy to trust Christ as your righteousness before God
because you really believe you don't have any. But whoso looketh into the perfect
law of liberty and continues therein, he doesn't forget what
manner of man he was. This man being not a forgetful
hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in
his deed. How is he a doer of the work?
Well, the Lord put it this way. This is the work, this is the
work of God, that you believe on him whom he has sent. There's the doer of the work.
And there's the man that is blessed in his deed. Matthew chapter seven, I believe
this may be the most oft quoted passage in the Bible. Judge not
that you be not judged. Now, everybody uses that passage
of scripture. Don't judge me. Don't judge me. Judge not that you be not judged.
Don't judge me. Even if you hear something that's
contrary to the scriptures as far as a false gospel, error,
and say you shouldn't judge other people's religion, judge not
that you be not judged. Don't judge me. And the Lord
goes on to say, for with what judgment you judge, you shall
be judged. And with what measure you meet,
It shall be meted out to you again. Now that is not saying
that if you judge somebody, you won't be saved. If that's the
case, no one will be saved. We're all so judgmental. I'm
judgmental. I judge people all the time.
You do too. It's wrong. It's hypocritical, but we all
do it. But what the Lord is saying is
if you judge, you'll be judged. If you're critical of somebody
and if you judge them and act moral superior, holier than thou
to them, they're going to see every flaw you have. They're
not going to like you. They're gonna be looking for
the flaws and they're gonna judge you. With the same judgment you
judge, you should be judged. And with what measure you meet,
it'll be measured out to you again. You know, you find this
is true. If someone is not judging you,
you're okay with them. You like them. If somebody's
judging you and criticizing you, you see every flaw they have. As the Lord said, it would be.
But look what the Lord says next. He says, in Matthew 7, 3, let me read it
exactly as it is stated. I don't want to read this wrong.
Matthew 7, verse 3, and why beholdest thou the mote, the splinter that's
in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam, the log that is
in your own eye. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother,
let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and behold, a beam
is in thine own eye, thou hypocrite. Now consider the beam that is
in your eye. You won't even be able to see
the splendor in your brother's eye if you see the beam in your
own eye. Why do you not consider the beam that's in your eye? Now I love what Paul said in
Romans chapter 2 verse 1. He said, Therefore thou art inexcusable,
O man, whosoever thou art that judgest For thou that judgest
condemnest yourself, for you that judge do the same things. Whatever you're judging your
brother for, you're guilty of the same thing or worse. It's
pure hypocrisy. Somebody says, no, I'm not doing
the things he's doing. God says you are. Who am I supposed
to believe, God or you? God says you are. Oh, always
consider the beam that is in your eye. And the last one is
found in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 25, let us consider one
another to provoke unto love and to good works. Here's what
that means. I'm to treat you. The Bible doesn't
tell you how to treat me. It tells me how to treat you.
I'm to treat you in such a nonjudgmental, gracious, non-manipulative, kind,
loving, merciful, forgiving way that you're provoked to love
me. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good
works. I don't want to provoke you to
irritation by be treating you wrong, but I want to treat you
in a kind, gracious, Merciful, forgiving, non-manipulating way. I can't stand it when people
are trying to manipulate me and then they're good to me trying
to manipulate me to get something. No, that's not provoking to love. Provoke people to love by the
kind way in which you treat them. Consider. I hope we'll all consider
these things. This is Todd Nyberg. praying
that God will be pleased to make himself known to you. That's
our prayer. 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
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