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. In Genesis chapter 25, verse
11, we read these words, and it came to pass. Now that is
a phrase that you will always read in the scripture hundreds
of times. And it came to pass. God purposed it, and it came
to pass. Everything that takes place in
this life has this as its summary, and it came to pass. And it came to pass after the
death of Abraham that God blessed his son Isaac. I've entitled this message, God
Blessed Isaac. Now, I am greatly interested
in this thing of being blessed by God. You see, God is the blessed
one. You know what that means? He's blessed in himself. He does
not need us to bless Him. We need Him to bless us. He is independent, having no
needs. That's who God is. And He is
the Blessed One. Melchizedek said, Blessed be
the Most High God. The Apostle Paul said in Ephesians
chapter 1 verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the blessed one and he
delights in blessing. You know, the scripture says
regarding Him, He delights in mercy. He delights in showing
mercy to sinners. That's the character of God.
He delights in blessing. Now, His blessing was first mentioned
in creation with regard to the fish and the birds. The scripture
says He blessed them and said, multiply. It was said with regard
to our first parents that God blessed them. It's then said
with regard to the Sabbath day. You can read about that in Genesis
chapter 2, how the Lord blessed that day, now the Sabbath day.
Under the Old Testament covenant, the Jews were forbidden to work.
They were to rest on that day. But what that pictures is the
rest every believer has. We don't work for our salvation.
We rest in Christ. And then we read that God blessed
Noah and his sons. Do you know that they were the
only men on the earth that God saved? He destroyed the rest
of the earth with a flood. And there were only eight men
and women who were saved at that time. Now that's the scriptural
account. You can say, well, how, why is that? I can't answer that
other than this is God's purpose, and God makes it known that only
eight souls were saved at that time, and how blessed by God
they were. When God first appeared to Abraham,
He called him out of idolatry and said, Blessing, I will bless
thee. And multiplying, I will multiply
thee. And I will bless them that bless
thee. And I will curse them that curse thee. In thee shall all
the nations of the earth be blessed. Paul said, blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings. Now, before we go on, who's the
us? That can be said of every son
of Adam and daughter of Adam. Who is the us he blessed? With the same us that is referred
to in Romans 8, 31, we said, if God be for us, who can be
against us. This is talking about God's elect,
those for whom Christ died. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings, every single one of them. There's not one we don't
have. in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now, in this passage of
scripture that I just read, Abraham is a type of Christ. Listen to
the language. And it came to pass after the
death of Abraham that God blessed his son Isaac. It was not until
after the death of Abraham that Isaac received these blessings. Now, what do we learn from that? Every blessing we receive has
this as its source, the death of Christ. Now, most people,
even though they claim to believe Christianity as such, really
believe in what is called karma. If you do good things, good things
will happen to you. If you do bad things, bad things
will happen to you. What kind of karma do you have?
Do you have a good karma or a bad karma? And your blessings will
come according to your karma. Now that's not what the gospel
teaches. Any blessing I receive from God,
he doesn't bless me because of me doing good. He blesses me
because Christ died, period. That is the only source of God's
blessing. You see, the blesser, God, has
made a way for him to be just and consistent with all of his
attributes, and yet pour his blessing on unworthy sinners
because Christ died. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely
give us all things? You see, every blessing any sinner
receives has this as its source, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ made a way for God to
be just, and yet pour out his blessing on someone that is not
just in themselves. Now, all of Isaac's blessings
were given to him because of his connection with Abraham.
You know, if you look at the life of Isaac, he was a dysfunctional
man in many ways. I mean, you look at the way he
showed favoritism to Esau simply because Esau got him the venison
that his soul loved. And you look at the deceit that
took place in that family between Jacob and Esau because Rebekah
loved Jacob. Isaac loved Esau. And he was,
as far as men goes, he was just as weak and sinful as any other
man. But every blessing he had was
because of his connection with Abraham. And every blessing that
the believer has is because of their connection with the Lord
Jesus Christ, simply being found in him. All of God's blessing
is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Now Isaac was blessed
of God before he was born. His name was given before he
was born. And do you know everyone that
God blesses was blessed by God before they were born, before
the foundation of the earth. Jeremiah 31.3, God says, behold,
I've loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving
kindness have I drawn thee. Isaac was supernaturally born.
His birth was a miracle of God. His dad was 100 years old and
his mom had already gone through menopause. So his birth was miraculous
and every believer's birth is miraculous. More miraculous than
the birth of Isaac in that the same power that raised Christ
from the dead raised them from spiritual death and gave them
life. What a miraculous birth the new
birth is. being born of God. Isaac's blessings
displayed God's sovereignty in blessing. What about his brother?
Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman
shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. Now, if you've
been blessed with salvation and someone else has not, what's
the difference between you and them? Is it because you were
better? More righteous? Is it because you exercised your
will and they didn't? No. If you're blessed of God,
it's because God made a difference. For the children, speaking of
Jacob and Esau, being not yet born, neither having done any
good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. And Isaac was blessed with a
substitute. You remember in Genesis chapter
22 when Abraham took him up to the top of Mount Moriah in obedience
to God to offer him as a burnt offering? But what did Isaac
get? A substitute in his room and
in his stead. And every believer has this blessing. Christ is their substitute. He died for them. Now, I have to say this. Most
of what goes under the name of Christianity says that Jesus
Christ died for everybody with that exception and made their
salvation possible if they only do their part. Now, my dear friend,
there's no gospel in that, none at all. The gospel is that when
he said, it is finished, my salvation was completed, that he did it
all. And everybody he died for must
be saved. Isaac was blessed with a substitute.
And so is every other believer. God blessed Isaac. Now what does
God's blessing look like? I want to have the same blessing
Isaac has. I hope you want to have the same
blessing Isaac has, to be blessed by God. What does God's blessing
look like? Most people, when they think
of blessing, they think of material blessing. They think of having
plenty of money in the bank. They think of having good health.
They think of having a minimal amount of trial in their life.
Everything is easy. Everything is downhill. Oh, I'm
being blessed by God. The rich man, in Luke 16, had
material blessing. He was rich. Lazarus was a beggar,
poverty-stricken. Which one was blessed of God?
Lazarus was. The rich man wasn't. The rich
man had health. Lazarus didn't. Now, the health
wealth preachers would say, Lazarus didn't have enough faith. That's
why he was in the position he was in. And somebody that preaches
anything like that just doesn't know God. They wouldn't say anything
like that if they did. The rich man had health. Lazarus was filled with sores,
had dogs licking his sore, laying at the gate of the rich man. The rich man, he was living the dream. He was
clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. He had a good life. He had a
prosperous life. Lazarus had nothing but trouble. Which one was blessed of God? You see, health, material blessings,
I'm thankful for health, I'm thankful for material blessings,
but you know, they can be indicative of God's curse if it makes you
not even see your need of Christ. You know, there are some people
that have so much of this world, they don't need anything else,
and it ends up being a curse to them and nothing more. I know who was blessed of God,
Lazarus was. You see, his blessings were what
the Bible calls spiritual blessings. And the only kind of true blessings
there are, are spiritual blessings. Let me show you that from the
scriptures. In Ephesians one, I've already quoted this twice.
Let me quote it again. Verse three, blessed be the God
and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. according
as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world."
What a blessing to be chosen by God. Chosen that we should
be holy and without blame before Him. What a blessing to be holy
and without blame before the living God. In love having predestinated
us. What a blessing to have God predestinate
me to be conformed to the image of His Son. He went on to say
wherein He has adopted us to be His children, and He's made
us accepted in the Beloved in whom we have the forgiveness
of sins. These are spiritual blessings.
These are the blessings that are brought into heaven. Those
other blessings are not necessarily blessings. Like I said, I'm thankful
to be able to pay my bills. I'm thankful for what health
I've had. I've had my health taken away before. I've had cancer
twice. I know what it is to suffer physically in that sense. But
you know what? God gave me that. God healed me. And it was all
according to His purpose. Praise God for whatever He sends
my way. Now, the blessings. are spiritual
blessings, to have righteousness before God, to be accepted by
God. Now, what do these blessings
look like? What do they look like? Now,
one of the things I love about the Sermon on the Mount is the
Sermon on the Mount, the Lord tells us who is blessed. You know, I have people say to
me quite often, I'm blessed. And I suppose they mean, well,
they're saying what I have, God gave me. I think that's what
they're saying, but they're making a statement, I'm blessed. Or
sometimes people say, bless you. And I think, well, can you do
that? Only God can truly bless. But our Lord shows his divine
authority in the Sermon on the Mount when he tells us who the
blessed are. He's the one who knows, and he
tells us who the blessed are, and he tells us who the blessed
are in what is known as the Beatitudes. And in these beatitudes where
the Lord says, blessed are the poor, blessed are they that mourn,
blessed are the meek, blessed are they which hunger and thirst
after righteousness, blessed are the merciful, blessed are
the pure in heart, blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are
they who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, We find out what a believer
is, who really is blessed of God. Now here is one who God
has blessed. This is the way Isaac was blessed
when he was blessed of God. This is the spiritual blessings. Blessed, here's who the Lord
calls blessed. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of God. Now, what does that mean? Well,
if you're poor, you don't have anything to bring to the table.
You don't have anything. You're poor. There's not one
thing you could bring to God that he could accept. You're
poor. You're poverty stricken. You
have no righteousness. You have no merit. You have no
ability. You have nothing that you can
give to Him that He can accept. You're poor. That means you believe
you're a sinner in the scriptural sense of the word. You believe
that all you do is sin, whatever it is. If you did it, it's sin.
You believe that you cannot not sin. You can't go five seconds
without sin because of your nature. You believe that your sin is
all your fault. You're not blaming your circumstances.
You're not a victim. You believe your sin is all your
fault. And you really believe because of your own personal
sinfulness, you can't sit in judgment on anybody for anything. And you realize that you have
no claims on God because you're poor. You don't have a penny
to pay. Now, what does the Lord say about
this poor person? Blessed are the poor in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You see, it's only that poor
person who has nothing that trusts Christ as everything. If you
have anything, you can't trust Him as everything. It's only
when you have nothing that you can trust Him as everything. That's what a poor person does.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
God. And secondly, he said, blessed
are they that mourn. Now that almost seems like a
contradiction in terms, doesn't it? Blessed are they that are
mourn? It almost seems like an oxymoron. Blessed are they that
mourn? For they shall be comforted.
Blessed are they that mourn? Well, this is speaking of mourning
over sin. Only a believer mourns over sin. Now, an unbeliever might mourn
over the consequences of sin, getting caught, getting exposed.
The unbeliever might mourn over the consequences of sin in his
life, how it's hurt him, how it's hurt others. But the believer
mourns over the sin itself. Oh, your sin is ever before you. You're always plagued with this
sense of sin. Paul spoke of it in Romans chapter
7 when he said, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? And with regard to mourning over,
say, the loss of a loved one, It's a difficult, difficult time,
but in time, it'll get better. But do you know with this kind
of mourning, it never gets better. You're always mourning over your
sin. It's always there. David said,
my sin is ever before me. But here's the promise, blessed
are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. It's only
the one that mourns over sin that's going to be comforted.
Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem, and say unto her, her warfare is accomplished. Her iniquity is pardoned. for she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins." Now there's a state of
blessedness, to mourn over your sin. And then thirdly, the Lord
said, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Now, the world looks at meekness and weakness because they don't
really understand what meekness is. Meekness is an attitude toward
God, that He is God, the first cause of all things, and whatever
He sends my way, I'm to thank Him for, and I'm to receive it
with meekness, not murmuring and complaining, because He is
the one who sent it. Now, the flesh struggles against
that, but the spiritual man doesn't. You see, every believer has two
natures, a fleshly nature and a spiritual nature. And the spiritual
nature, we're going to get to that in a minute when we talk
about the pure in heart, but it receives what God sends as
best. And I think the best illustration
of this is David when he's leaving Jerusalem. brokenhearted because
his own son wants to kill him, and he's fleeing for his life,
and a man by the name of Shimei starts throwing rocks at him
while he's leaving, saying, you're a bloody man, you're getting
what you got coming, what goes around comes around. You're getting
what you deserve. You've been a rebel against the
house of Saul, and now it's coming back to haunt you. His servant,
Abishai, says, you want me to go cut his head off? David said,
no. The Lord said, curse David. He is only saying what the Lord
told him to say. Now that is meekness. Everything
that happens, God is in control of, and he sent it for good,
wise, and holy purposes. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ
is said to be meek and lowly in heart. Blessed are the meek. For they shall inherit the earth.
And the Lord said, Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after
righteousness. That's the fourth beatitude.
Now, when you're hungry, it's because you don't have any food
in your stomach. And you can't produce anything that will take
that hunger away. It's got to come from outside
and be brought to you. Now, when you hunger and thirst
after righteousness, it's because you believe you don't have any,
but oh, how you hunger and thirst after His righteousness. Seek
ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Paul said,
oh, that I may wait in Christ and be found in Him, not having
my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is
through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith. You hunger and thirst for His
righteousness. And then, blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy. Now, you don't obtain mercy because
you're merciful. You're merciful because you have
obtained mercy. God has had mercy on you. And if you are not a merciful
person, God has never had mercy on you. And you know what is
more ugly than an unmerciful person? What an ugly person. How unlike Christ that person
is. But oh, how blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy. And then the Lord said, blessed
are the pure in heart. Now, pure in heart means pure
in heart. The only way that can be understood
is in light of the new heart God gives in the new birth that
really is pure. You see, every believer has two
natures, a holy nature and a sinful nature. You say, well, how can
that be? Well, that's the new nature is
given to you in the new birth. Well, how can you tell which
one is acting the new or the old? Well, they both come through
one consciousness and you're always going to be aware of your
sinfulness. But if you have a new nature, you do have a pure heart.
That's the heart that believes. That's the heart that loves.
That's the heart that repents. Blessed are the peacemakers. They are the children of God. Now, God's people are peacemakers. Now, Paul did say, as much as
in you is, if it be possible, as much as in you is, live peaceably
with all men. There are some people you can't
live peaceably with. They're enemies of the gospel,
and you're just better off staying away from them. But every believer
wants peace because of the gospel of peace. Christ made my peace
with God. I'm at peace with him through
what he did. I want to have peace in my home. I want to have peace with you.
I don't want to be contentious. I want to be a peacemaker. Those are the children of God.
And finally, he said, blessed are they that are persecuted
for righteousness sake. Now listen real carefully. That
doesn't mean you're going to be persecuted because you gave
to feed the poor. That doesn't mean you'll be persecuted because
you gave a big gift to a hospital to help fight cancer. That means you're persecuted
because you maintain that the righteousness of Jesus Christ
is the only righteousness there is. And when you maintain that,
you will be persecuted. Men will revile you and speak
all manner of evil against you falsely for his sake. They're
going to say, well, he doesn't care anything about good works.
He doesn't care anything about obedience. He's looking for an
excuse for sin, just talking about Christ's righteousness
being the only righteousness. Isn't he concerned about personal
righteousness? Well, I'm like Paul. 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 faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith. That's the only
righteousness I know. Now, those people are the people
who are blessed of God. They are poor, they mourn, they're
meek, they hunger and thirst for righteousness, they're merciful,
they're pure in heart, they're peacemakers, and they're persecuted
for righteousness' sake. These are the people that have
been blessed by God for Christ's sake. Now, we have this message
on DVD and CD. If you call the church right
or email, we'll send you a copy, or you can get the message off
our website. 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.nyberg at gmail.com or you may write or
call the church at the information provided on the screen.