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. The writer to the Hebrews says
in Hebrews chapter 3, verse 1, wherefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling. consider the apostle and high
priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. Now, the people that he
calls upon to consider the apostle and high priest of our profession
are called two different names. First, holy brethren. And second, partakers of the
heavenly calling. Now, what I would like to do
is both this week and next week, spend our time on those two terms,
holy brethren. And Lord willing, next week,
we'll consider partakers of the heavenly calling. Now the writer
to the Hebrews calls these individuals, and this describes every believer
without exception, holy brethren. Now what is meant by the word
holy? The word means set apart, other,
sinless, venerable. When the seraphims
cried out around the throne with regard to the Lord in Isaiah
chapter 6, they said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. The whole earth is filled with
his glory. Holy is the Father. Holy is the
Son, the Holy One of Israel. Holy is the Spirit. He is the Holy Spirit. Holiness cannot sin. Holiness is immutable. The holiness of God is absolute. The scriptures are called the
holy scriptures. They are without sin. They are
without error. Believers are called believers
two times, Christians two times, and saints 61 times. saints, holy ones. Every believer fits this description,
holy brethren, other, not of this world, sinless. Question, how can that be? You
listen to these descriptions of what every man is by nature. We read in John 6, verse 5, 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. Jeremiah said in Jeremiah chapter
17 verse 9, the heart, this is talking about my heart and your
heart. The heart is desperately wicked, deceitful, above all
things, incurable. Who can know it? Paul said in
Romans 3, verse 10, there's none righteous. No, not one. There's none that understands.
There's none that seeks after God. They've all gone out of
the way. They've together become unprofitable. There's none that
doeth good. No, not one. I'd like to read one other passage
of scripture from the book of Job. Job chapter 15, verse 14. What is man that he should be
clean? And he which is born of woman, that he should be righteous.
Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints. Yea, the heavens
are not clean in his sight. How much more abominable and
filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water. Now, would this be true of those
who are described as holy brethren? Did they somehow miss out on
all of this? No. Then how can they be called,
with those descriptions I just read of them, how can they be
called holy brethren? How can you, how can I be called
holy brethren? a holy brethren, and we be truly
holy brethren. Now, as I said, the word saint
means holy one. And I'm not talking about saint
in the way religious people think men acquire a certain amount
of good works and good deeds and therefore become saints. That is just contrary to all
that's holy and all that's true. You don't become a saint by your
good deeds. You're a saint because God made
you a saint. If you're a saint, there's one
reason, God made you a saint. Now, this thing of being holy,
I know this, I will not be in heaven if I'm not a holy brethren. The writer of the Hebrews said
in Hebrews 12, 14, follow peace with all men and holiness without
which No man shall see the Lord. If I am not a holy man, I will
never see the Lord. Now, when Christ revealed himself
to Peter, you know what Peter's response was? Depart from me. I am a sinful
man, oh Lord. I'm full of sin. You don't want
to have anything to do with somebody like me. When he found out who
Christ was, and this is the response of everybody who ever finds out
who Christ is, you see that you are a sinful man, full of sin. Not a mixture, full of sin. And the only way you and I are
gonna see that is if we see who Christ is. Somebody who's never
seen who Christ is, they don't look at themselves in that light.
They make mistakes, they do bad things, they commit sins, but
sinful, full of sin, nothing but sin. No man believes that
about himself but a holy man. You see, it takes a holy nature
to recognize sin. Now, how can somebody like Peter
or me or you who are sinful be holy? Hebrews 2 chapter 11 says,
Both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all
of one. Now here is the first beam of
light we have regarding how a sinful man can be holy. Both he that
sanctifyeth, or makes holy, and they who are sanctified, or are
made holy, are all of one. Now what this refers to is the
eternal union that exists between Christ and every believer. They are all one with Him. Now I'd like to read you a passage
from Ephesians chapter five. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that
he might sanctify, make it holy, and cleanse it with the washing
of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a
glorious church. not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blame before
Him. Now, the reason a man or a woman
can be holy is because they are eternally united to one with
Christ. Now, this can only be believed.
It can't really be grasped, but it can be believed. 1 John 4,
17 says, as he is, so are we in this world. Is he holy? So
are we. Like the vine and the branches.
The same stem that goes through the vine goes through the branches,
and there's no connecting point. Every believer is eternally united
to Christ. He said, Behold, I've loved you
with an everlasting love. Of Him, Paul said in 1 Corinthians
1.30, of God are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto
us. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
holiness, and redemption. I'm holy for this one singular
reason. He is my holiness. That's just what the Bible teaches.
Yes, it is. And that's why every believer
can be called a holy brother. Now, let me bring this up again
before we go on. Paul said in 1 Timothy 1.15,
this is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I used to
be chief before God saved me. I misquoted that. Paul says,
of whom I am right now, present tense, the chief. In Romans 7, verse 24, Paul said,
O wretched man that I used to be before God saved me. No, O
wretched man that I am, present tense. Both of these I am's are in the
present tense. And in reality, it is only the
holy brother, the holy one who can see himself in that light. Now listen to this statement.
All the righteous believe themselves to be wicked. And all the wicked
believe themselves to be righteous. Now, how is it that a sinful
man can be holy? And I'm talking about truly holy.
I'm not talking about holy in name only, but I'm talking about
holy in God's sight. And how God sees things is the
way they are. You and I can't see things as
they really are, God does. And every believer is called
holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. How can a sinful
man like Paul or me or you be holy before God? God. Now, the reason any of the holy
brethren are holy brethren is because they were chosen in Christ
before the world began to be holy. And if God chose you to
be holy, holy you are. Ephesians 1.4 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. Now, if you are a holy brethren,
it's because God elected you before time began to be holy
and without blame before him. Thank God for election. You know, if a man doesn't believe
and preach election, he just doesn't believe and preach grace.
Elections, who God is, thank God for election. The reason
I am holy is because God chose me to be holy. By the witch will, Hebrews 4,
9, and 10, by the witch will, by God's will, we are sanctified,
we are holy. That's what the word means. through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. Now, this holiness that
I have, this sinlessness that I have is not just because of
some arbitrary choice of God where he said, well, that one's
going to be holy and that one's not, and therefore I'm going to view him
as holy. Not at all. Through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ, I am actually made sinless, holy. without blame. You see, the Lord
Jesus Christ bore my sin in his own body on the tree. And you know what he did with
that sin? He put it away. He was punished
for it. It became his. He was punished
for it and he made complete satisfaction to God for that sin so that God
is completely satisfied with me. He doesn't have any reason
to be mad. I am holy in his sight. I am sinless in his sight by
virtue of what the Lord Jesus Christ did for me. Wherefore
by one offering he hath perfected forever. them that are sanctified. Now, not only was I chosen to
be holy, but I'm declared to be holy by the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I am in Him sinless. I've already read that scripture.
Husbands, love your wives as Christ also loved the church
and gave himself for it that he might present to himself a
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blame before him. You know why that a believer
is holy and unblameable and unapprovable in God's sight? Because of the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the blood does. That's
what his precious blood does. It makes me holy without sin. If Jesus Christ died for you,
you are holy. You are without sin. Now, not
only were the holy brethren chosen to be holy, willed to be so by
the eternal purpose of God, not only are the holy brethren declared
to be holy because of the blood of Christ putting away their
sins and making them to be without sin. But every believer is made
to be holy. They're given a holy nature. They're given a sinless nature. Now, before Adam fell in the
garden, he did not have a holy nature. If he had a holy nature,
he would have never fallen. He had an innocent nature, but
that nature was mutable. It was subject to change, but
a holy nature is unable to sin. That's what holiness is. It's
an inability. ability to sin. It's a holy nature. Now, where in the world would
somebody get a holy nature like this in light of all the horrible
things you've read about man, his wickedness great in the earth,
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart, only evil continually,
a heart that's deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
How can someone like that be called holy? Well, in the new
birth, regeneration, listen to this scripture. Second Thessalonians
2.13 says, we're bound to thank God always for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord. Because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit. Now that is the new birth. That is the regenerating work
of the Holy Spirit. When you're born again, you're
birthed by the Spirit of God. Can the Spirit of God give birth
to that which is unholy? Absolutely not. He's the Holy
Spirit. Now that which is born of the
flesh is flesh. It'll never rise above that.
But that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Peter said being born again not
of corruptible seed, not of Adam's fallen seed, but of incorruptible,
not even subject to corruption, by the Word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. Now, in I Peter chapter 1, I
mean chapter 3, he called this holy nature the hidden man of
the heart in that which is not corruptible, not subject to corruption,
unable to sin. The hidden man of the heart in
that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and
quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. Now, I love the way Peter calls
this the hidden man of the heart. You know, you can't see a holy
nature. If you can look at anything you've
done and say, well, I think that's holy, you don't even know what
holy is. Holiness is the hidden man of the heart. We have a holy
nature, but we also have a sinful nature. If we're believers, we
have two natures. And that holy nature and sinful
nature are like hot and water, hot and cold water coming out
of the same faucet. It comes through one consciousness. We have two natures, one holy,
one sinful, coming out of the same consciousness, and that
makes it to where I can't see something as holy. I believe
it's there because I've been born of the Spirit, but it's
the hidden man of the heart. Let me read you a passage of
scripture in 1 John 3, verse 9. Whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin. Isn't that what holiness is? Doth not commit sin. I've heard people say, well,
that means the tenor of his life is not sin, or he doesn't practice
sin. Now, I want you to be honest. Do you practice sin? Of course
you do. Is sin the tenor of your life?
Of course it is. You've got an evil nature. But
if you're a believer, you also have a holy nature that does
not commit sin. That's what the Scripture says.
He that's born of God Whosoever is born of God doth not commit
sin. That holy nature never commits
a sin. For his seed, the seed of God,
remaineth in him, and he cannot sin. He lacks the ability to
sin. Could God the Father sin? No.
Could God the Son sin? No. I've heard people say, well,
He could have sinned. No, He couldn't have. If He could
have sinned, that would have made Him mutable. He would no
longer be God. He didn't have the potential
to sin. Somebody says, well, what was
there in His temptation then if He couldn't have given in
to it? He experienced all the shame and degradation of sin
without ever committing sin when he was made sin. That's why he
can be touched by the feeling of our infirmities, but he himself
could not sin. God, the Holy Spirit cannot sin. Can that which is birth of God
sin? No. That's what the scripture says.
We read in 1 John 5, 18, we know that whosoever is born of God
sinneth not. But he that's forgotten of God
keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. You know, just as the Lord said,
the prince of this world has come and found nothing in me,
there's nothing for him to work with, there's nothing for Satan
to work with in the new nature. Now in the old nature, he has
plenty to work with. But in the new nature, the wicked
one cannot touch that one who is born of God. Now, question. How can I know if I have this
holy nature? I can't see it. I can't look
at myself and say, yep, holy, sinless. I only believe that by faith,
not by my experience. How can I know if I have this
holy nature? Let me quote II Thessalonians
2.13 once again. We're bound to thank God always
for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through Sanctification of the
Spirit. That's regeneration. That's that
new nature. And belief of the truth. If you believe the truth, if
you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, If you believe
He is the Christ, you have a holy nature, a nature that does not
commit sin. Sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. The Lord said, sanctify them
through thy truth. Thy word is truth. And the evidence of having a
holy nature is not looking at your conduct. Now, I pray that
our conduct will always honor the Lord. I'm not in any way
being dismissive of the importance of my life. But I can't look
at anything about me and say, yep, that's holy. If I did it,
oh, there's sin in it. If I preach, there's sin in it.
If I pray, there's sin in it. If I love, there's sin in it.
I've got a selfish motive in everything I do. I can't look
at anything and say, yes, that's holy. Here's the evidence of
holiness. Believing the gospel. Believing that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. You take that thief on the cross,
He knew who Christ was. The other one didn't. He did.
How did he know? The Lord revealed him to him.
And he knew who Jesus Christ was. He knew he was God. He knew
he had never sinned. He knew that he was the Lord.
He knew that he would not stay dead, but he would come back
as a mighty reigning king. How did he know these things?
Because he knew who he was. And you know what that is? That's
the new birth. You can't know who Jesus Christ
is truly. You can't truly know him unless
you've been born of the Spirit. And if you're born of the Spirit,
you see who he is. And you believe on him and you
rely on him only. That is what a holy nature does. It looks to Christ. And a holy
nature, the only reason you see yourself as so sinful, if you
do, is because you have a holy nature. Someone who has no holy
nature is a stranger to what sin is in the first place. They
think it's, well, it's do's and don'ts. If I don't do this and
if I do that, then I'll be holy. No, you've missed what holiness
is altogether, if that's what you think. A holy nature is the
fear of God that looks to Christ only and is afraid to look anywhere
else. Now, every believer is a holy
brethren. Elected to be holy, declared
to be holy by what Christ did on the cross, and made holy by
the Spirit of God in the new birth. And this is what every
believer really is, a holy brethren. We have this message on DVD and
CD. If you call the church, write,
email, 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 your request
to todd.nyberg at gmail.com or you may write or call the church
at the information provided on the screen.