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 Nibert. I've entitled this morning's
message, The Doctrine of the Church. Now, by that I'm not
speaking of the doctrine the church holds to. The true church
holds to everything in the Word of God. I'm wanting us to consider
what the teaching of the Scripture regarding the church is. What is this thing of church? In Acts 20, verse 28, Paul is
speaking to the Ephesian elders, and he says to them, take heed,
therefore, unto yourselves. and to all the flock over the
which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church
of God." which he hath purchased with his own blood." Now, two
things are said concerning the church in this verse of scripture. Number one, it's to be fed. That
means it's a living organism that needs to be fed. It's not a building. It's not
a denomination. Denominations are purely man-made. You find no support for those
in the scripture at all. The church is a living organism. not organization, organism, that
needs to be fed. And the church is called a flock,
a flock of sheep. And it was purchased by the blood
of Christ. Feed the church of God, which
he hath purchased with his own blood. What a price! Think of
the value that God has placed upon the church. God Himself,
in the person of His Son, purchased the church with His own blood. Now, let me give you some things
this church is called in the New Testament. Now, first of
all, the church was in the Old Testament. Stephen spoke of the
church that was in the wilderness. The church did not begin in the
New Testament. All of God's people have always
been the church. This is not a man-made institution. It's not something that was just
developed in the New Testament. God's people have always been
His church. Now, listen to this scripture.
In Ephesians 1.23, the church is called His body. the body of Jesus Christ, the
fullness of Him that filleth all in all." What a name for
the church. The church is called the temple
of God, His dwelling place. The church is called His brethren. Both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one, for the which cause he's
done shame to call them brethren. Inasmuch as you've done unto
the least of these my brethren, you've done it to me." The church
can be called the brethren of the Lord Jesus Christ. The church
is all of those who are united to Him. When we're taught to
pray, our Father, who art in heaven, that is the unified prayer
of every believer, the entire church. The church is said to
be His bride. Husbands, love your wives as
Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. In the Song of Solomon, Christ
says with regard to the church, I am ravished by thy love. Thou art all fair. There is no
spot in thee. What a privilege to be a part
of the church, a part of the saving work and love of God in
Christ. In Revelation 1, we read where
he walks in the midst of the golden candlesticks, and he tells
us the golden candlesticks are the seven churches. seven local
churches spoken of in Revelation 2 and 3. The Lord said, I will
declare thy name unto my brethren. In the midst of the church will
I sing praise unto thee. It's only in the midst of the
church that we will hear this song. Now, let me say this. Church attendance is indeed important. Now, I know preachers love to
level people about church attendance and try to make them feel guilty,
and you ought to be here, and why weren't you here, and all
that kind of stuff. And I'm sure I've done that before,
but it's wrong. It's an exercise in futility. It's pointless to
try to ream out people about whether or not they're in church.
But let me do say this. Christ is in the midst of the
church. He has promised where two or
three are gathered together in my name. There I am in the midst
of them. That's why I want to be in church,
in the public assembly of God's saints, TV preaching. is no substitute
for being in the church, hearing the gospel of God's grace. Now,
I've heard people say, well, I don't want to be legalistic
about church attendance. Well, I don't either. But I don't
say, I don't want to be legalistic about coming home tonight. I'll
go ahead and stay out all night. No, it doesn't work that way.
If he is in the midst of the church, if he has promised to
be there, I want to be there. Now, by definition, church means,
here's what the word church means, a called out assembly. A called out assembly. An assembly is where people meet
together, called out by God, a called out assembly. When you gather together, several
times Paul said with regard to the church, when you gather together,
And that's what's going on in church. It's the gathering of
God's people together to worship him, to hear the gospel preached,
to encourage one another. Sheep were meant to be in flocks. Sheep were meant to be in flocks. A sheep that is not in a flock
is either a sick sheep or a lost sheep. Sheep were meant to be
in flocks. You know, you can't, the most
pure, I don't know what word to use, but the best worship,
the best private worship that I ever experienced is in the
public worship of God. I'm worshiping privately, corporately
with God's people, but the Lord is speaking to my heart in the
preaching of the gospel. And the most true private worship
I ever experienced is during the public worship, the public
assembly of God's saints in the church. Now, the first mention
of the church is found in Matthew chapter 16, where the Lord said
to Peter, he said, thou art Peter upon this rock. This confession
of me, I will build my church. Now that's the first mention
of the church in scripture. Now Christ is the builder of
the church. Our philosophy of church growth
is this, the Lord added to the church daily, such as should
be saved. And the church is built on this
rock this confession of Christ. Upon this rock, I'll build my
church. He's not saying he's gonna build
the church on Peter. Peter was a sinful, fallible man like I
am, like you are. You can't build the church on
a sinful man. He's talking about Peter's confession
of Christ. You remember when the Lord said,
whom do men say that I am? And they said, well, they put
you in some high cotton. Some say you're John the Baptist,
others Jeremiah, one of the prophets. He said, whom say ye that I am? And Peter answered, Thou art
the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now, here is the confession
that Christ builds his church upon, who he is. He's the Son
of God. You know, everything the church
believes is predicated upon who He is. He is God the Son, the
Creator, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Absolute
Lord of Lords and King of Kings. He's the Son of God. He is God
the Son, the Second Person, and He's God's Christ. Now that word
Christ is not his last name, Jesus Christ, it has to do with
his offices. Christ as God's prophet, Christ
as God's priest, and Christ as God's king. Now I love the way
the Lord is a prophet like no other prophet, because every
other prophet said, thus saith the Lord. He never said that.
He said, I say unto you. He is a priest like no other
priest. Every other priest offered up the blood of sacrificial animals. He offers up his own blood to
the Father and represents his people because of his sacrifice.
That's why God can accept them. and he's a king like no other
king. Every other king has borrowed
authority and they're gonna die. He's the king of kings and he's
the king of the universe. That means his will always is
and must be done. The church is built upon this
confession of Christ. Now, this word church is known
in two senses in the scripture. Both of these are very important.
First, there is the Universal Church. The universal church
is all of God's elect to ever be. Every believer to ever live. Stephen, as I've already referred
to, spoke of the church in the wilderness in the Old Testament.
Abel was a member of the church. Did you know that? This is not
simply a New Testament invention. This is every believer to ever
live. Noah was in the church. Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, David, Solomon. These were all church members.
Peter, James, Paul, John. These were all church members. Now, this is the church of which Christ
said he builds. Upon this rock will I build my
church. Singular, not churches, but church. This is speaking of all of God's
elect. This is the church which he purchased
with his own blood. Now I'd like to read some verses
out of Hebrews chapter 12 that speak very clearly about this
universal church. Beginning in verse 12 of Hebrews
chapter, I'm sorry, beginning in verse 22 of Hebrews chapter
12. But you are come unto Mount Zion unto the city of the living
God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of
angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn. whose names are written in heaven."
Now, here the church is called the General Assembly and the
Church of the Firstborn. and their names are written in
heaven. Now here's the only truly scriptural
church roll. You know, churches have what
they call church rolls, and they have to clean them up every so
many years and get rid of certain names of people that don't come
anymore. And there's really, as I see it, there's no scriptural
precedent for having a church roll like that, but there is
this church roll. the ones whose names are written
in heaven in the Lamb's Book of Life of the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Now that is the church role I'm
interested in. This church role never needs
to be purged. It never grows. It's never diminished. It's all of the company of God's
elect, their names written in heaven. the universal church,
the elect of God, His temple, His bride, the Lamb's wife. That is the universal church
for which He purchased with His own blood. And then there are
local assemblies. I pastor a local assembly, the
Todd's Road Grace Church. Local assemblies. You can read
about seven of them in the second and third chapter of Revelation.
You remember the seven churches in Asia. We're going to consider
that in just a moment. But there are local assemblies. Unlike the church universal,
every local church has a mixed membership. You remember the
Lord gave the parable of the tares and the wheat? And in that
parable, the worker said, you want us to root up the tares?
And the Lord said, no, don't try to root the tares up because
you don't know the difference between a tare and wheat. You'll
rip them both up. So let them alone and it'll all
be seen on judgment day who was real and who was not. You'll
always have tares and wheat. And you and I, for the most part,
maybe for all the part, don't have enough understanding to
understand really who is the tare and who is the wheat. You
know, people say, well, we want a pure church membership. Well,
if you want a pure church membership, you better get out of it then,
because you'd ruin it. It doesn't work that way. In
the church, you have a company of sinners. Still sinners. Sinners saved by grace. Somebody once said to me with
regard to our church, they said, there's just too much sin in
your church. I'd agree. Any sin is too much sin. But
if someone would withhold joining up with a group of people because
there's too much sin there, that's an act of pure hypocrisy. That's
all you can call it. You think you're above those
people? You think you're better? Well, you're dead wrong. The
church is a company of sinners saved by the grace of God. You see, Christ Jesus came into
the world not to save church members, not to save pure church
members, not to save the good or the religious or the moral.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am
the chief. Now, the local church is made
of men and women, like me and you. Flawed individuals, sinners
saved by grace. And another thing about a local
church, unlike the universal church, no local church lasts. they will all come to an end. I know that there's some people
who think that they can trace their roots all the way to John
the Baptist and their trail of blood and all that kind of trying
to prove how we're a pure church and we can trace our one church
came from another and came from another. You can't really do
that. It's impossible. And every church will end at
some point. Error will creep in. They'll
lose their first love. The Lord will cause the candlestick
to be removed. All those churches in Asia, the
seven churches, where are they now? Where's the church at Ephesus
now? Where is the church in Philippi
now? They've gone. And if the Lord
doesn't come back first at some point, the church I pastor will
maybe continue to be a religious institution, but the spirit of
God will leave. The candlestick will be removed.
That's happened in every local church. That doesn't happen with
the universal church. They're eternal. But with every
local church, you have a mixed bag of men and women Now, Paul
said in 1 Timothy 3 with regard to the church, beginning in verse
14, These things write unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly.
But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest
to behave thyself. in the house of God, which is
the church of the living God. And this is talking about a local
assembly or local assemblies. The house of God, which is the
church of the living God. And look what he calls the church,
which is the pillar and the ground of the truth. Now this local
church made up of A mixed assembly, people who really are believers
and people who are not believers, weed and tares, is called by
Paul the pillar and the ground of the truth. You see, the church
upholds the truth concerning who God is. who men are, and
have God save sinners by Christ. The church is the pillar and
the ground of the truth, the truth of the gospel, the truth
of salvation by grace, the truth of the completeness of the salvation
that's in Christ, the truth of what it is to rest in Christ
and look to Christ and come to Christ, how he is all in salvation. The church is the pillar and
ground of the truth. You know, I don't really believe
in any of these parachurch organizations. God works through the church,
not these parachurch organizations. God works through the church. It is the pillar and the ground,
the foundation of the truth. I've heard people say, well,
the church is in such bad shape. It's become so worldly, and the
world's coming to the church. No, it hadn't. Maybe in these
religious institutions that are called churches, but not the
church of the living God. It's in good shape. You see,
it's the church of Christ. It's the church that belongs
to Him. It's the church that He has built, and He does not
make any mistakes in His building. The church is in good shape,
and God does not work independently of the church. Somebody says,
well, can He? Well, that's not the question,
does He? Of course he can, if that's what
he was pleased to do, but he works through the church. I think of when Paul and Barnabas
are called to be missionaries unto Macedonia, he said, for
the church to call them out. That is the church. What a blessing
and privilege it is to be in the church. Now, the scripture
says he makes known to the church the manifold wisdom of God. Now, that's how important this
thing of being in the church is. This is how God speaks. This
is where he is. This is his building. This is
his temple. This is his bride. This is his
body. The church of the living God. Now, I would like to close by
looking at some things the Lord says to the churches in Revelation
2 and 3. There he's speaking to the seven
churches of Asia. And there's obviously not time
to go over everything he said to those seven churches, but
to five of those churches, he gave a direct rebuke that I need,
that you need. Now, what did he say to these
churches? Well, he said to the church at
Ephesus, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left
thy first love. Now, I shudder at leaving my
first love. That's what he said to the church
at Ephesus. What language shall I borrow to thank thee, dearest
friend, from this thy dying sorrow, thy pity without end? O make
me thine forever, and should I fainting be, O let me never,
never outlive my love to thee. I do not want to be somebody
who loses his first love. And then he said to the church
at Pergamos, I've got a few things against thee because thou has
them there that hold the doctrine of Balaam, and you also have
them there that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. You can read
that in his letter to the church at Pergamos. Now, the doctrine
of Balaam is the doctrine of compromise. You'll compromise
the truth in order to keep from offending people and to get along
with the world. That's what Balaam did. He taught
the children of Israel to marry the Moabites. And through those
intermarriages, they came to tolerate their false gods and
compromise. And he said, you've got them
that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. That means above
the people is what the word means. It's a clergy lady mentality. There's the clergy, and then
there's the laity. Christ says, I hate that. All of God's people are God's
clergy. And then he said to the church
in Thyatira, I have a few things against thee because thou sufferest
that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach.
and to seduce my servants, and so on. They allowed someone who
was not preaching the gospel to be in their midst, and even
suffered her to teach. And he said, I've got that against
you. And then he said to the church at Sardis, these things
saith he that hath the seven spirits of God, I know thy works,
that thou hast a name that thou livest, and are dead. You're living in the past. You're
living on your past experience. Faith is never any good simply
from the past. Like yesterday's manna, it will
breed worms and stink. Faith in Christ is always in
the present. I am looking to him right now
while I'm speaking to you as all I have to make me accepted
before God, and I am relying wholeheartedly on Him. Now, people hide in false refuges,
generally something in the past or something in the future. I'm
hiding in some past experience or past revelation, or I'm looking
to something I'm going to do in the future. Those are false
refuges. We're to look to Christ right
now. And then he said to the church
at Laodicea, I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor
hot." You say, I'm fine, I'm in good shape. So then, because
thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I'll spew thee
out of my mouth, because thou sayest, I'm rich, increased with
goods, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Now, this is something that scares
me to death. I don't want to be lukewarm.
Let me be white hot. Let me be cold, but don't let
me be in a neutral state." Oh, what needful warnings to the
church. Now, I want to invite you to
come to this local assembly, Todd's Road Grace Church, to
hear the gospel and to meet with the saints of God. Now, we have
this message on DVD and CD. If you call the church, write
or 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.