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 reading from 2 Chronicles
29 and verse 36. And I've entitled this message,
Sudden Grace. Sudden Grace. And I think you'll
see why I entitled this message when I read this verse. And Hezekiah
rejoiced. and all the people that God had
prepared the people, for the thing was done suddenly." Everything
that took place in 2 Chronicles 29 is what God had done. He had prepared the people. That
is why they did what they did, and it was done suddenly. Sudden grace. Now, in this 29th chapter of
2 Chronicles, we read of a true revival that took place. And everything that took place
in this revival is what God had done. And it was done suddenly. Now listen to this statement
very carefully. Grace is what God does. Grace is not offered to you. Grace is God's action. By grace you are saved. It's not thrown out there up
for your acceptance or rejection. If God gives you grace, that's
because he saved you. By grace, you are saved. God's grace is what God does
because of who he is. He is gracious. He said, I will
be gracious. to whom I will be gracious. He
gives his grace to whoever he's pleased to give it to. Somebody
says, well, that's not right. He ought to give it to everybody.
Well, when you say that, you're saying he ought to give it to
you. When you say that, you're saying I deserve it. No, you
don't. God gives his grace to who he will. I will be gracious
to whom I will be gracious. But he's gracious because it's
his nature. He's holy. He's absolutely just. He's altogether sovereign. He's
immutable. He's independent. He's all-powerful. He's all-knowing. Thank God he
is gracious. He delights in mercy, and grace
is what God does. Election. God choosing who he
would save before the time began is what God does. Redemption,
the actual payment of sins, is what God does in His Son. Justification, taking a sinner
and making them stand without guilt, is what God does. Regeneration, giving someone
a new heart, life from the dead, that's what God does. To preserve
someone, to keep someone, is what God does. God does. Grace is what God does. And what took place in 2 Chronicles
49 was done suddenly. A great revival took place. Now I must admit, I'm very skeptical
of what men call revival. But I love to see what God does
when he brings about a true reviving. And this revival took place in
the hearts of individuals. And I pray that this is what
takes place with me and you. God doing this for us, and God
doing this suddenly. Now, Hezekiah, he was a young
man, only 25 years old. In chapter 29, verse 1, Hezekiah
began to reign when he was 5 and 20 years old. A young man that
God greatly used. Now, this man was the son of
Ahaz. And under Ahaz, you can read
about the great decline that took place in 2 Chronicles 28. Things were very bad, and evidently
it affected Hezekiah. He was in disagreement with his
father. And as soon as he got on the
throne, things began to change. You see, God's hand was upon
this man. Let's read. Hezekiah began to
reign when he was 5 and 20 years old, and he reigned 9 and 20
years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter
of Zechariah. And he did that which was right
in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father
had done. Now, when God does a work of
grace, here's the one thing people are concerned with. What's right
in the sight of the Lord? Not what's right in the sight
of men or man's religion or denominations. What is right in the sight of
the Lord that dominates the thinking when God does something. And Hezekiah did everything according
to David, not Ahaz. But David was a man after God's
own heart. Hezekiah was a man after God's
own heart as well. And he did everything the way
David did it. He, in the first year of his
reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the
Lord and repaired them. You see, his father Ahaz had
closed them. And it doesn't take much imagination
to understand what the door represents. Christ said, I am the door. Now Ahaz, had the door shut under his reign
of false religion, and God allowed that to take place. It was all
according to his purpose so he could bring about this great
revival. But now the doors are opened
once again. Christ said, I am the door. By me, if any man enter. Now, the only way I'm gonna enter
is if I'm in Him, by me, if any man enter. He shall be saved. Now, let's consider this door,
the Lord Jesus Christ. I love how He gives us this illustration
of who He is. He's a door. What's a door? A
door lets people in. It lets people out. It keeps
people in. It keeps people out. Christ is
the door. And He's a door without a doorknob.
He is an open door to every sinner. He's already open. Come and welcome. There's nothing that can hinder
you in coming if you're a sinner. And He's a closed door. to everyone
who is not a sinner in their own eyes. They have something
they can bring to God. They find Christ to be a closed
door. Now, the gospel is inclusive. It lets people in. It's exclusive. It keeps people out. If you're
a sinner, there's nothing to keep you from coming through
the door. Christ is the Savior of sinners. If you have any personal
righteousness, you'll find that Christ is a closed door to you. Now the first thing he did, and
this is where true revival begins, it begins with Christ. not with
man and his need, but Christ, who he is and what he did. The
doors were opened into the temple. And then when the doors were
open, He brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered
them together into the East Street and said to them, hear me, you
Levites, sanctify yourselves and sanctify the house of the
Lord your God and your fathers and carry forth the filthiness
out of this holy place. Now, when Christ is preached,
the filthiness is seen for what it is. and carried out. Now, under the reign of Ahaz,
idols had been brought into the temple, false concepts of God. And Hezekiah, as soon as he's
brought into office, says to the priests, get them out. You
see, where the truth is loved, the false will be hated. And if the false is tolerated,
if he leaves the idols and the filthiness. And that's what it's
seen when you see Christ. You see, human work says filthiness,
it's abhorrent to you. It was the Hezekiah. Get this
stuff out of the temple. When the truth is preached, the
false will be seen for what it is. Now look in verse six, for
our fathers, when Christ is seen and the filthiness is removed,
sin is seen for what it is. Look what he says. Our fathers
have trespassed and done that which was evil in the eyes of
the Lord our God." They've forsaken Him. They've turned away their
faces from the habitation of the Lord and turned their backs.
Also, they've shut up the doors of the porch that He had opened
back up. And they've put out the lamps,
they've put out the light of the gospel. And they've not burned
incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place under the God
of Israel. They've not seen the need of the intercession of Christ.
The only way they can come into God's presence is by Him. And
His sacrifice is all they've got. They've stopped that. Wherefore,
the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath
delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, to hissing, as
you see with your eyes. For lo, our fathers have fallen
by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are
in captivity for this." It's all our fault. Now sin is not
seen until we see that our sin is all our fault. We can't blame God's sovereignty.
We can't blame our circumstances. Our sin is all our fault. We've got ourselves into this
mess. Now next, Hezekiah said in verse
10, now it's in my heart. to make a covenant with the Lord
God of Israel that his fierce wrath may turn away from us. And he knew why that was in his
heart. The Lord put it in his heart. So he says, my sons, be
not now negligent. Now, when the Lord does something
for a man or woman, they're no longer negligent in the things
of God. Now, if God's hand's not on you,
you can take or leave worship. You can be negligent in the things
of God. If you can squeeze them into
your busy life, okay, but if not, that's okay too. But when
God does something for you, you're no longer negligent in the things
of God. Now that's what he says to these
people, My sons, be not now negligent, for the Lord hath chosen you
to stand before Him, to serve Him, that you should minister
unto Him, and burn incense. And these are the ones who came
into the temple and got all the filth out. Now, look what he
says in verse 20. After the filth was brought out
of the temple, verse 20, then Hezekiah the king rose early
and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house
of the Lord, and they brought seven bullocks, seven the number
of completion. He's gonna talk about the animals
for sacrifice. And seven rams, and seven lambs,
and seven he goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom. Now
you understand when God does a work of grace, that the only
hope you have is the sacrifice of Christ. Your song is what
can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. When God does a work, people
understand the necessity and the completeness of the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That number seven, the number
of perfection and completion. And look what it said with regard
to the sacrifice. So they killed the bullocks,
and the priests received the blood and sprinkled it on the
altar, Likewise, when they killed the ram, they sprinkled the blood
upon the altar. They killed the lambs, they sprinkled
the blood upon the altar. They brought forth the he goats
for a sin offering before the king and the congregation and
they laid their hands upon them. And this is very important. This
is what took place also on the great day of atonement. The priest
would lay his hand on the head of the sacrifice and it would
signify the transference of sin. The sin of the people would be
placed upon the scapegoat, and my dear friend, sin can't be
two places in once. If my sin was placed upon Christ
by God the Father, it's not on me. Now that's the way I'm to
understand the sacrifice. My sin became His sin. He put it away. The transference
of sin was taking place in this great sacrifice. And look what
it says in verse 24, And the priests killed them, and they
made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar. Now this
is what the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished. Reconciliation. Now what that means is God has
no reason to be angry with me. The sin has been removed. Having made peace, Colossians
1.20, having made peace through the blood of his cross. Now let
me pause. Somebody says, I've made my peace
with God. You're in trouble then, because
it wasn't good enough. The only one who can make peace
with God is Christ Jesus by his blood. You see, his blood satisfied
all the demands of God, having made peace by the blood of his
cross, by him, to reconcile all things to himself. By him, I
say, whether they be things in heaven or things in earth, and
you that were before time alienated. and enemies in your mind by wicked
works. Yet now hath he reconciled. And this is his work. You didn't
cooperate in this. Yet now hath he reconciled in
the body of his flesh through death. This is what his death
did. It reconciled everybody he died
for to present you. Holy. and unblameable and unreprovable
in His sight. Now that's what the glorious
atonement of Christ accomplished for all for whom He died. Complete
reconciliation so that I stand before God holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in His sight. And notice it says in verse 24,
And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation
with their blood upon the altar to make an atonement for all
Israel. Now, that atonement was not for
all the sins of the world. That atonement was for all Israel. Now, please listen to this very
carefully. I want you to, I want to understand
it. I want you to understand it.
Jesus Christ, when he died on Calvary's tree, was not simply
making salvation available to you if you'll do something to
make it work for you. Jesus Christ died for the elect. those the Father gave him before
the foundation of the world. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. He didn't lay down his life for
goats. He laid down his life for the sheep. Now, most religion
teaches that Jesus Christ died for all men and paid for all
men's sins. Now, if he did die for all men
and pay for all men's sins, if that is the case, there is no
hell. Everybody he died for will be saved. All men, with that
exception, will be saved. But the scripture won't support
that. There is a place called hell and there are people there
suffering under the wrath of God. Now, somebody says, why
are you making an issue of this? What I want you to see and what
I want to see is everybody that Christ died for must be saved. His death is sufficient. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died. No other argument is needed. I need no other argument. I need
no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that he died for me. Now, if he can die for somebody
and they wind up in hell, I know I'll wind up in hell. That's
my point. That's the point of the scriptures. That's why the
scripture makes an issue of this. He died for Israel. He paid for their sins. In verse 25, he said, the Levites
in the house of the Lord, remember this is what the Lord had done
for the people. He said, the Levites in the house of the Lord
with cymbals and psalteries, with harps, according to the
commandment of David, and of Gad the king seer, and Nathan
the prophet, for so was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets.
Scriptural worship was brought back. They left that, but now
they're It's brought back, and we read in verse 26, and the
Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with
the trumpets. The trumpets. Oh, the significance of the trumpet
in scriptural worship. I love it where Paul says in
1 Corinthians 14, seven and eight, even things without life giving
sound. Whether piped or harped, except they give a distinction
of the sound, hath not been known what is piped or harped. And
if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself
to battle? So likewise ye, except ye utter
by the tongue words easy to be understood. How shall it be known
what is piped or harped? If the trumpet gives an uncertain
sound, how shall it be known what is spoken? Now, may the
Lord speak through the trumpet sound of the gospel. This trumpet
is a very scriptural instrument, and it is by the trumpet sound,
words easy to be understood. Sound it out clearly as a trumpet. May the Lord enable me to be
a trumpet at this time and speak to you words easy to be understood. The Bible is the inspired word
of God. Everybody knows what that means.
You might not agree with it, but every word of this book is
the inspired word of God. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. Second Timothy 3.16. We don't
go to the Bible to prove what we believe. We go to the Bible
to find out what to believe. This is the inspired Word of
God. We've got to begin here. If we
don't have this, we don't have anything. The Bible is the inspired
Word of God. It's not denominations' thoughts. It's not men's thoughts. It's
not preachers' thoughts. It's God's Word. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. And the Bible is given to tell
us who God is. The things you think and the
things that I naturally think about God, they're all wrong.
Write that down. Any thought you have about God
is a wrong thought. He said, thou thoughtest I was
altogether such a one as yourself. And that's what men think. They
think, well, God's like I am. No, he's not. He's not like you
in any way, in any respect. He's other. He's holy. He's absolutely sovereign. He's God indeed and not just
God in name. To say He's sovereign means He's
God. He controls everybody, every
event, and everything. He's sovereign in creation. He
spake the world into existence. He's sovereign in providence.
Everything that happens, He's the first cause of. He suffered
in salvation. That means it's up to Him as
to whether or not me or you will be saved. It's up to Him. We
have no control. He has absolute control. Now, if you really believe that,
you're going to ask Him for mercy. If you disagree with that way,
you just don't believe God, period. But if you believe that, you're
going to ask Him for mercy. Now, that's easy To understand,
God really is God. He's in absolute control. And
men really are the way the Bible describes them to be. Dead in
sins. What can a dead man do? Nothing
but stink. That's it. If God leaves me and
you to ourselves, we will not be saved. We are dead in sins,
unable to do anything but sin. But we preach what the Bible
says of God's salvation. Now this is easy to understand.
God chose who'd be saved before time began. Somebody says, that's
deep. It's just so. I don't understand that. Yeah,
you do. You understand exactly what's said. You may not like
it. You may not agree with it. But this is what the Bible says.
God, before the foundation of the world, chose who would be
saved. And Christ represented those people. 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. I pray not for the world, but for them which you have given
me, for they are thine." He's a successful Savior. If He died for you, you must
be saved. God's grace actually saves. It's
not an offer. God, the Holy Spirit, comes invincibly
and irresistibly and gives life to all the Father chose and all
the Son died for. And every one of those people
will persevere to the end. Now that is plain words. That's the sounding of the trumpet. Now we read in verse 28, and
all the congregation worshiped. Oh, there's worship when the
door is opened, when the filth is removed, when the atonement
of Christ is preeminent, His work on Calvary's tree, when
clear words, plain words, the trumpet is sounded, and all the
congregation worshiped, and the singer sang, and the trumpeter
sounded, and all this continued until the burnt offering was
finished. And when they'd made an end of
the offering, the king and all that were present with him bowed
themselves and worshiped. When God does this work of grace,
there is worship. You will only worship an absolute
sovereign God. Now, if you can manipulate him,
if you can get him to respond to what you want him to do, that's
not worship. You only worship when you bow
before an absolutely sovereign God. Now in verse 36, there's
some other things in this chapter, we don't have time to look at
them right now, but here is the way this ends. And Hezekiah rejoiced. And all the people that God had
prepared, the people, Everything that happened, happened because
He caused it. He had the doors opened once
again. He had the priests remove the
filth from the temple. Salvation by works, false gods,
false idols. He caused the men to not be negligent
in this thing. They were very diligent about
the things of God. He's the one who caused the atonement
to be preached, the complete sacrifice of Christ, and what
it accomplished, complete reconciliation through sin being transferred,
the sins of God's people to the goat, and God's wrath came upon
it to picture Calvary's tree, and the complete reconciliation
that took place for all of Israel. He is the one who caused the
trumpet to be sounded clearly. This was God's work. Hezekiah
rejoiced in all the people that God had prepared the people,
for the thing was done suddenly. You see, when God does something,
no one can resist. That's why it is done suddenly. Oh, for sudden grace for me and
you. This is Todd Nybrandt. Praying
that God will be pleased to reveal Himself to you with sudden grace. Amen.