Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nybert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 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 going to read a passage from
Luke chapter 5, and I have entitled this message, Am I a Sinner? I hope you'll consider that.
We're not asking if somebody else is a sinner. Am I a sinner? May each one of us ask ourselves
that question. We already know everybody else
is sinners, but am I a sinner? In Luke chapter five, we read
in verse four, Now when he had left speaking, speaking of the
Lord Jesus, he said unto Simon, launch out into the deep and
let down your nets for a draft. Now they had been fishing all
night. and they hadn't caught anything.
And these men made a living fishing. They understood fishing. And I'm sure when the Lord made
that request, after they'd already began washing their nets and
were probably very tired, he was thinking, should we launch
out again? But look at Peter's answer. And
Simon Peter answering said unto him, Master, We have toiled all
the night and have taken nothing. We understand fishing and we
have taken nothing. And then he says, I think in
a way to humor the Lord, he had some respect for the Lord's teaching. He did not yet know who he was
because he called him master, teacher. He's going to call him
Lord after this. But now he's in respect to him
as this great teacher. He says, Master, we have toiled
all night and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word, I
will let down the net. And when they had this done,
they enclosed a great multitude of fishes. And their net break. And they beckoned unto their
partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and
help them. And they came and filled both the ships so that
they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw, now he
saw something that he had not previously seen. He saw that
the reason those nets were filled was because the Lord said to
those fish, get in the net, and they got in the net. And he knew
this was what only God can do, what only the Lord can do. He now knew who the Lord was. Now, hear his response. When Simon Peter saw, he fell
down at Jesus' knees, the place of worship, saying, depart from
me, O Lord. I am a sinful man. You don't want to have anything
to do with me. Depart from me. I am a sinful
man. You see, he didn't know he was
a sinful man until he found out who the Lord was. And when he
saw who the Lord was, he saw who he was, a sinful man. Now this word sinful is the same
word that's generally translated sinner. It's the same word that
the publican in the temple used to describe himself, God be merciful
to me, the sinner. A sinner, an especially wicked
man, one devoted to sin. When you see you are a sinner,
all sense of personal merit, personal rights, and entitlement
dissipates. You know you are a sinner. Now, when I hear people respond
to the gospel in a way where they're questioning God's fairness,
for instance, they hear of election and predestination, how God elected
who would be saved, and He predestinated who would be saved, and people
say, well, how could it be fair for Him to elect some and not
save everybody? Or I hear people respond to the atonement of Christ
when they hear that Christ died only for the elect and accomplished
their salvation. They say, how could that be fair?
Now, the only way you can call into question the fairness of
God is if you don't really believe that you are a sinner. Because
if you really believe that you are a sinner, If God passes you
by and let you go to hell, this is still true, he is worthy of
all worship. Just and holy is his name. Now, am I a sinner? That's what I titled this message. Am I a sinner? Not are you a
sinner? I already know you are. You see, we all have an amazing
ability to see clearly the sin in others that's really not so
bad in ourselves. We're always quick to justify
and vindicate ourselves and what is so horrible in others is really
not that bad in us. You see the splinters in your
eye are magnified to the point that I don't see the beams in
my own eye. And when it's like that, it's because I'm not seeing
myself as a sinner. Now, I've even heard people almost
seem to justify themselves, at least I know I'm a sinner. Well,
that's like saying, at least I know I'm a murderer, or at
least I know I'm a thief, or at least I know I'm an adulterer.
Does that make it any better? Does that make the sin any less
guilty? No, it doesn't. Now, I'm asking
the question again, am I a sinner in the biblical sense of the
word? Somebody says, well, isn't everybody sinners? Well, yes,
but you're talking about generic sinners. Well, you're just putting
yourself in the group of everybody else. And that's not what I'm
asking at all. I'm not asking you if you're a generic sinner.
I'm asking myself if I am a sinner in the biblical sense of the
word. Now, not everybody is a sinner
in their own eyes, in the biblical sense of the word. Am I a sinner
in the biblical sense of the word? The question's important. Not am I elect. Not am I saved. Not did Christ die for me. Not
have I been born again. That's not the question I'm asking.
I'm asking this question, am I a sinner? And in reality, all
of those other questions can be answered by your answer to
this question and my answer to this question, am I a sinner? Now, to answer that question
honestly and accurately, I'm going to have to understand what
the Bible means by sin and what the Bible means by the word sinner. Now, when I understand the biblical
meaning of the word sinner, and I know that that's what I am,
I'll totally understand what Peter meant when he said, depart
from me, Lord. You don't want to have anything
to do with me. I am a sinful man, a man full
of sin. The sinner is the one who commits
the sin. I've heard preachers say, God
loves the sinner, but he hates his sin. You know, that's not
found in the Bible. God doesn't put sins into hell. He puts the
individuals who committed them into hell. A sinner is the one
who commits the sin. Now, if there's a God, and there
is, There is. There is such a thing as sin. Now, if there's no God, who's
to say what's sin and what's not sin? Who's to say that there
is sin in the first place? After all, isn't it survival
of the fittest? But if there is a God, and there
is, there is sin. Now, what does God call sin? I'm gonna give several scriptures
with regard to this. The first scripture I wanna give
is sin is the transgression of the law. First John chapter three,
verse four. Sin is the transgression of the
law. And he's speaking of the Ten
Commandments. Now somebody says, what about
somebody that's never heard of the Ten Commandments? There are
many people who have never even heard of the Ten Commandments.
How can sin be the transgression of the law to them if they've
never even heard the Ten Commandments? Well, Paul tells us in Romans
2.16 that the law is written in the heart. Every man and woman
born into this world knows that it's sin to lie, that it's sin
to steal, that sexual sin is sin, that it's sin to murder. On and on, the law is written
in men and women's hearts. We're born into this world with
that knowledge. Sin is the transgression of the
law, so no one is without excuse. Everybody knows the difference
between right and wrong. They're born into this world
with that knowledge. Now, let's think of the Ten Commandments
for just a moment. Real briefly, the Ten Commandments. You'll have no God before God.
No idolatry. Don't take his name in vain.
Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. Honor your mother and
father. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt
not commit adultery. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt
not covet. the Ten Commandments. Now, if
somebody hears those Ten Commandments and they may say, well, I wouldn't
say that I actually put something before God. I'm not perfect,
but I don't put things before God, and I've never bowed down
to an idol. And I try to be reverent. I try
to keep from taking his name in vain. And as far as the commandment
with regard to Sabbath, it's irrelevant in our day. That was
back with the Jews. I try to honor my parents. And
I've never murdered anybody. And I may have bad, unclean thoughts,
but I wouldn't call myself an adulterer. And, well, I may stretch
the truth, but I'm not a liar. And I don't covet things. I'm not a greedy man. Sure, I'm
a sinner, but I wouldn't identify myself like that. My dear friend,
what kind of sinner are you then? If you're a sinner, that means
all you do is break every one of those laws all the time. You have not kept one commandment
one time. And if somebody says, I just
can't see that in myself, there's only one reason, because you
haven't seen who you really are. And you haven't seen who God
really is. If you've seen who God really is, you'll see all
the law does is condemn you. The scripture says, by the law
is the knowledge of sin. The law wasn't given to help
you keep it. All it does is expose our disobedience. By the law is the knowledge of
sin. We know that what thing soever the law saith, it saith
to them that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped. And all the world stand guilty
before God. Now, by the law is the knowledge
of sin, and sin is the transgression of the law. Am I a sinner? Yes, I am. Yes, I am. I have not kept one of those
commandments one time, and if I think I have, all I prove is
I don't understand God's holy law, nor my own sinfulness. Romans 14.23 says, Whatsoever
is not of faith is sin. Whatever is not generated from
faith, the gift of God's grace, whatever it may be, is sin. You know, when the Lord said
in John chapter 16, when he has come, speaking of the Holy Spirit,
he will convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of
judgment, of sin, because they believe not on me. If you even think that faith
is in your ability, that you can believe whenever you decide
you want to believe, you prove you don't really believe you
are a sinner, and whatsoever is not generated from saving
faith is sin. James said, to him that knoweth
to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. Do you know to do good and yet
you don't do it? I'll be honest, that would describe
my life, that would describe your life. Am I a sinner? Yes, I am. And then James also
tells us that to show respect of persons is sin. to give someone a different standard
than somebody else by how they can benefit us. And we look at
one person in one light and another person in another light. That's
to show respect of persons. Really, there's only one person
who has never shown respect of persons, and that is God himself. And He demonstrated on the cross
when He showed no respect of persons to His Son, the sins
of God's people became His sins and God punished Him. God didn't show respect of persons
with Him. But to show respect of persons,
to give people different standards, is sin. Listen to this, Proverbs
24 verse 9, the thought of foolishness. Somebody says, well, God can't
condemn me for my thoughts. Yeah, He can. The thought of
foolishness is sin. And then in Proverbs 21, verse
4, we read, a high look, the look of pride, a high look, a
proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked is sin. That high
condescending look, that proud heart, pride's the most baseless
thing in the world. What do you have that you didn't
receive? Now, if you received it, why do you glory as if you
didn't receive it? It's baseless, it's groundless,
it's wicked. A high look, a proud heart, and
the plowing of the wicked is sin. Now, I can't think of anything
that seems more wholesome than plowing. You go out and plow
the ground, dig the furrows to plant food to say to feed the
poor. If a wicked man does it, it's sin. No matter how innocent
it may appear, it is sin. John put it this way in 1 John
1.8, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the
truth is not in us, we've lost our credibility. If we say we've
not sinned, I'm including everything, my preaching, my praying, my
witnessing, my Bible reading, my effort at good works. You
know what it is in and of itself? Sin. If we say we've not sinned,
we make him a liar because he says we have. And his word does
not dwell in us. John tells us that all unrighteousness
is sin. Any lack of perfect conformity
to absolute righteousness is sin. This is who God is. Romans
3.23 says, All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of
God. Anything in your life fallen
short of the glory of God? Everything. Then, according to
the Scriptures, it is sin. Now, the first time the word
is mentioned is with regard to Cain bringing that wrong offering.
Abel brought the blood offering, saying, I can't be accepted by
God in any way apart from the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the coming Lamb. Cain saw no necessity in this.
He brought the wrong offering, the best works of his hands,
the fruit of the ground. And God rejected him. He had no respect to his offering.
You see, he demonstrated a wicked heart. Did he think God could
accept something he brought? He proved such ignorance of himself,
ignorance of the character of God, and he was upset that God
rejected his work. And his countenance was fallen,
and God said, why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, shalt
thou not be accepted? But if you don't do well, if
you bring the wrong sacrifice, if you don't look to Christ,
sin lieth at the door. Sin is the cause. Now, I repeat
the question. Am I a sinner? Looking at what God says with
regard to sin. I'm not asking if you feel like
you're a sinner. From these scriptural testimonies, are you a sinner? Now, if I am, in the biblical
sense of the word that I've just read, that I've just commented
on, what the scripture says with regard to what sin is, how God
defines it, what the sinner is. Number one, I cannot not sin. You think about what I just said.
I lack the ability to not sin. All I do is sin. Whatever comes from my flesh,
Paul said, I know me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. All I do is sin. And listen,
this sin I'm talking about is all my fault. I can't blame it
on somebody else. I'm not a victim. I'm not a victim
to my circumstances, to my environment. My sin is all my fault. Yes, I'm a sinner by nature,
but I'm a sinner by choice too, and a sinner by practice. This
is all my fault. And if I'm a sinner, in the biblical
sense of the word, I don't have room to stand in judgment on
anybody for anything. For me to judge anybody is the
act of hypocrisy, if I really am a sinner. And if I'm a sinner,
that means I have no claim on God. If God passes me by, if
God refuses to show me mercy, if God sends me to hell, just
and holy is His name. I have no claims on God. I forfeited them by my sin. Am I a sinner? Paul said in Romans
7.13, but sin that it might appear sin. You know, sin is very deceitful.
It'll trick you. Very deceitful. Sin that it might
appear sin, working death in me by that which is good. That's
talking about the law, exposing it. That sin by the commandment
might become exceeding sinful. Am I right now, present tense,
exceeding sinful? Am I a sinner? The answer to
that is yes, I am. Let me say this. I didn't become
that way when I sinned. I sinned because that's who I
am. That's what I am. That is how
I was born. Now somebody says, how in the
world did that happen? Well, the scripture says, by one man,
sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so that death passed
upon all men, ended all sin. You see, when Adam sinned, he
did so as a representative man, and you and I sinned in him,
and when he died, We died in him and we're born into this
world dead in sins. Now we have physical life, we
have a soul, we have a body, but we're born into this world
spiritually dead, completely depraved. Genesis 6, 5 said,
God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Now, with regard to everything
I've been saying, I want to read a passage of scripture from Romans
chapter 5. Beginning in verse 20, Paul makes
this statement, and it's so important for us to understand this. He
said, moreover, the law entered, talking about God's holy law,
that the offense might abound, not to restrain it, but that
the offense might abound and overflow to where you see that
everything you do, are, think, and breathe is sin. The law entered
that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. And did you hear that? There's
one place where grace abounds, the place where sin abounds. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, Now, how much choice do you have in this thing of dying?
Can you prevent it with perfect health practices and never being
exposed to any kind of disease or sin? No, you will die in sin. Now, as the fence abounded, grace
did much more abound, that as sin hath reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, If you're a place where sin abounds,
you're a place where grace abounds. Now, I want to close up by looking
at one scripture found in 1 Timothy 1, verse 15. And before I read
that passage of scripture, let me say that if in my preaching
I said to you, God loves you, Christ died for you, God the
Holy Spirit is calling you, God wants to save you, God wants
to forgive your sin, If I spoke like that, I'd be lying on God. You say, preacher, what do you
mean by that? Well, I don't know if God loves you or not. I don't know
if Christ died for you or not. I shouldn't tell somebody I don't
know whether it's true with regard to them that God loves you, Christ
died for you, and God the Holy Spirit's calling you. He does
not save everybody. He said, I pray not for the world,
but for them which you have given me. He said, I lay down my life
for the sheep. Not everybody's a sheep. There
are goats also. It would be wrong for me to assure
you that God loves you, Christ died for you, and God the Holy
Spirit is calling you. Well, how can I know if He's
doing this for me? I ask you to turn to 1 Timothy
1 if you've got a Bible. I suppose this is my favorite
verse of Scripture. This is a faithful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Doesn't say believing
sinners, doesn't say elect sinners, doesn't say born again sinners,
doesn't say good sinners, there's no such thing as a good sinner.
He said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Now, are You
a sinner, am I a sinner? If I am a sinner, listen to me,
if I am a sinner, that means Christ Jesus came into the world
to save me. And my dear friend, he never
fails in his intention. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. If I am a sinner,
Christ came to save me. And that's exactly what he did.
When he said, it is finished, my salvation was accomplished. I'm saved by what somebody else
did. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am the chief. Now there's hope for
sinners. And if you come as a sinner to
Christ and believe on him and ask him to save you, he will
save you. He has never turned down a sinner. He's called the friend of publicans
and sinners. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom Paul said, I am chief. He didn't say,
I used to be chief before God saved me. He said, of whom I
am the chief. Are you a sinner? Well, if you
are, Christ Jesus came into the world to save you. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Now, we have this message on
DVD, CD. If you call the church, write,
We'll send you a copy. 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 a request to todd.nyberg at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.