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 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 Nyberg. The title for this morning's
message is, Who Shall Be Saved? Our text is found in Mark chapter
13, where the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking, and he says, Now
the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father
the son. And the children shall rise up
against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. Now those are very strong words,
and the Lord is speaking of those who are opposed to the gospel,
will even betray to death their own family members because of
their hatred of the message of the gospel. Now look in verse
13, and the Lord says to his disciples, And you shall be hated
of all men for my name's sake. But he that shall endure to the
end, the same shall be saved. Be saved is in the future tense. You could just as easily say,
he that endures to the end shall be in heaven. Who shall be saved? Who shall be in heaven? Now, here is a sobering thought
to think of. You and I will soon die, either
tomorrow, in the next five minutes, or 50 years, it doesn't matter,
it's still soon. All the things that we think
of as being so important, we will see are not important, not
in light of this day. And you and I will spend eternity
either in heaven, in the presence of Christ or in hell. Now, I don't know how to describe
very well either place. I know that hell is a place of
the justice of God. It's God meting out perfect justice
for a punishment that is eternal because of the sins men have
committed. And with God, the punishment
always fits the crime. He's not being too severe. God
will reward the righteous, but he will punish the wicked. The
people in hell deserve to be in hell, but there is a place
called heaven, a place of bliss that I don't even know how to
describe. I know Christ is there, and I
know everybody there that is there has been saved and has
been perfectly conformed to his image. Those who shall be saved
are those who shall be in heaven. You and I will spend eternity
in one of those two places. Now, I can't help but be struck
with what the Lord says prior to saying who shall be saved.
Brothers shall betray brother to death. Siblings will cause
each other to be put to death. Now, have you ever seen anything
in the gospel that would stir up that kind of rage? You know,
most preachers preach a God nobody to be mad at, nobody would be
afraid of, kind of a peanut God that can't do his will unless
we let him. Now, such a God does not exist,
but nobody's mad at that God, but the God of the Bible. The
God who is absolutely sovereign. That's who God is. He controls
everybody and everything. He's the first cause of every
event. Doesn't matter what it is. He's
the cause of it. He's God. He's in absolute control. Your salvation is not up to you.
It's up to Him. Salvation is of the Lord. Now, that God, men get mad at. They think, well, that's not
fair for him to be that way, for him to save one and not save
another, to not love all men the same and die for all men
the same. That's not fair. Men sit in judgment on God and
get angry with him. Now, the brother shall betray
the brother to death, and the father, the son, and the children
shall rise up against their parents and shall cause them to be put
to death. They'll be so angry over this gospel that they believe. Now, let me pause for just a
moment, and what is it that creates this kind of animosity? What
is it that creates this war, as it were? Well, in war, what's
going on? When one nation rises up against
another nation, it's because that nation perceives that the
nation that they're fighting is trying to take something from
them, and they are protecting what they believe is their right.
or they are trying to take something from another nation that they
believe is their right, and they justify themselves, and therefore
you have war. Why, even when we are allied
with some other nation to help them, it's because we have self-interest
involved. If we didn't have any self-interest,
we would not participate in that. Men will rise up and kill other
men when they think something is being taken from them that
belongs to them. Now in the gospel, if I preach
the gospel in such a way as you don't perceive anything is taken
from you, if you preach the gospel in such a way that I don't perceive
that anything is taken from me, I'm okay, you're okay, Everything's
fine. Let me give you an example. Without
any question, the Bible teaches that God elected a people before
time began to be saved. That's not up for debate. It's
what the Bible teaches. Now, if someone says, well, I
don't agree with that, I don't believe that, I will not worship
a God like that. Now, if I would say, well, that's
okay, you're still saved, I mean, it's just my opinion and your
opinion, you're still saved, we're both going to the same
place, even though we believe totally differently, you're not
gonna get upset with me. You're gonna say, well, he can
believe what he wants, you know, it's okay, as long as I'm still
saved. But if I preach election, the God of election, in such
a way as to say, if you reject election, you reject God himself,
you're rejecting who he is. And if you reject who he is,
you're not saved. Now we have a problem. Now people
are going to get upset. Now people are going to become
angry. As long as you can reject the truth and still be saved,
I'm okay, you're okay, everything's fine. But when there is I perceive
I'm losing something by it. Why? If what he's saying is so,
then I'm not saved. He's implying that I'm not saved.
That's when people get upset because they think something
is being taken from them. And that's what the Lord is talking
about when he talks about in these family situations, all
these things that take place. Now, he says in verse 13, you
shall be hated of all men. for my namesake, and indeed,
every one of the apostles except for John was put to death, martyred,
hated because of the gospel they preach, and John died on the
Isle of Patmos in banishment. You shall be hated of all men
for my sake, but he that shall endure unto the end the same
shall be saved. Now who shall be saved on that
great day? I think of the majesty of this
scripture in Matthew chapter 25, when the son of man shall
come in his glory and all the holy angels with him Then shall
he sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be
gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from
another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. The sheep are the saved, the
goats are the unsaved. Who shall be saved on that day? Now I've got several statements
from the scripture that answer that question. Who shall be saved?
Who will be in heaven? First, the people who shall be
saved are the people who are already saved. Now, what do you
mean by that? Preacher, well, here's what I
mean. 2 Timothy 1.9 says, he saved
us. He didn't offer salvation to
us. He didn't make salvation available
to us. He saved us. The people who will be saved
are the people he has saved. He saved us and He called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Now think of this scripture,
He saved us and He called us. Which came first, the saving
or the calling? The saving. He saved us. And because He saved
us, He called us. He called us with a holy calling,
not in response to something we've done. but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. I love the scripture in Matthew
121, thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people. from their sins. The people that
he saved before the foundation of the world are the people who
are designated as his people. Who will be saved? The people
that he has saved. Who shall be saved? The ones
who must be saved. Let me repeat that. Who shall
be saved? the ones who must. There is a necessity for their
salvation. The people who must be saved
are the people who shall be saved. Peter said in Acts chapter 4
verse 12, there's none other name under heaven given among
men whereby we must be saved. You see, everybody that God elected
must be saved. Everybody that Christ died for
must be saved. Everybody that God the Holy Spirit
gives eternal life to must be saved. There is a necessity to
the salvation of everybody God saves. Who shall be saved? The people He saved, the people
who must be saved. And I love the way Luke summarizes
the message of the day of Pentecost when 3,000 people were added
to the church and more were added. Luke says it this way, he added
daily to the church, such as should be saved. Who shall be
saved? Those who should be saved. Everybody he has saved. Now, who shall be saved? I love this, John chapter three,
verse 17 says, for God sent not his son into the world to condemn
the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He's called in 1 John 4, verse
14, the Savior of the world. God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life." Now, I love that verse
of Scripture. I know that that verse of Scripture
is used by religious people to teach that God loves all men
without exception. And Christ died for all men,
without exception. And let me say this, if you preach
that, you're not preaching the gospel, because you're making
salvation dependent upon what man does. God's done what He
can do, and now it's up to you to do your part to make you saved.
That's salvation by works. And as far as that goes, listen
to this scripture. God so loved the world, thank God for that,
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
on him should not perish, but have eternal life. Oh, I love
the whosoever's in the Bible. Whosoever. Are you a whosoever? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, who shall be in heaven? Those people in the world that
God so loved that believe the gospel. that call upon the name
of the Lord. You see, this message we give
indiscriminately to all men in the sense that if you believe,
you'll be saved. The Lord said, all that the Father giveth me
shall come to me and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise
cast out. If you come, you will be received. The door is wide open for anybody
who will come. Who shall be saved? All of those who believe. And then in Romans 11, verse
26, we read this statement, all Israel shall be saved. All Israel. No Israelite is accepted. All Israel shall be saved. Now, I realize some people say,
well, that's talking about this end time revival where many Jewish
people believe the gospel. Well, I hope that takes place,
but that's not what the text says. The text says all Israel
shall be saved. Who is Israel? All of the elect
of God, every believer. He is not a Jew, which is one
outwardly. but he is a Jew who is one inwardly. They are not all of Israel who
are of Israel. Neither are they children because
they are the seed of Abraham, but in Isaac shall thy seed be
called. That is, they that are the children
of the flesh, these are not the children of the promise, but
the children of the promise are counted for the seed. You see,
all of Israel is every believer, the true Jew. That's not talking
about that nation in the Middle East. Every believer is a true
Israelite. We are the circumcision. It's
not like God has one plan for the Jews and one plan for Christians.
No, that's foolishness. We are the circumcision, which
worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no
confidence in the flesh. Who shall be saved? The Ethiopian
eunuch said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And their reply,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now, believe on the Lord. That means he's the one who is
in absolute control. He's the Lord. He's the Lord
of creation. He's the Lord of providence.
He controls everything. He's the Lord of salvation. That
means if you're saved, it's up to him. He's got to save you.
You are in his hands. He's the Lord. He's Jesus. He's
the Savior. He's the Christ. He's God's prophet
like no other prophet. He never said, thus saith the
Lord. He said, I say indeed. He's God's
priest, the priest after the order of Melchizedek. He doesn't
bring the blood of a sacrificial animal that can't take away sins,
but he brings his own saving blood. He's God's king. He's
the one whose will is always done and who has the power to
save you and give you eternal life. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved. Who will be saved? Those who
believe. on the Lord Jesus Christ, they
shall be saved. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God raised
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Who shall be saved? The Lord said, I am the door. What a name for our Lord. Now, obviously, He's not a literal
door. He's the Son of God. But He is
the way into heaven. He's the door into heaven. He's
the door into the kingdom of God. A door lets people in. I am the door by me. If any man
enter in, He shall be saved. Now, if you're saved, you know
the only reason you're saved is because of the door, the Lord
Jesus Christ. You couldn't come in on your
own. You couldn't come in pleading your works or your experience
or your efforts or your knowledge. You come in only by the door,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and anyone who enters in by the door shall
be saved. Now, who shall be saved? Who's going to be in heaven?
What the Lord tells us, he that endures to the end. Now, when he's talking about
enduring unto the end, in the context, he's talking about conflict.
You're hated. The world has no love for you
or the gospel you believe. There's disagreement. And a lot
of people, I think of the parable of the sower, the people who
receive the word with joy immediately. I mean, as soon as they heard
it, they said, I like this. But when persecution arises because
of the word, they leave. They said, I didn't sign up for
this. They don't like the results that come from believing the
gospel and having men despise you for it. No love for the gospel
you believe. He that endures to the end. Not he that begins, but he that
endures to the end. The same shall be saved. Now,
what this is talking about is the preservation and the perseverance
of everybody that God saves. Now, what is the evidence? What
is the evidence that God chose me to salvation? What is the
evidence that Jesus Christ died for me and put away my sins? What is the evidence that God
the Holy Spirit gave me a new nature and birthed me into the
kingdom of heaven? What is the evidence that God
has done something for me? I persevere all the way to the
end. I don't quit. The Lord said,
if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. But understand this, this thing
of continuing all the way to the end. That does not mean remaining
religious all the way to the end. There are a lot of people
who remain religious all the way to the end. And as a matter
of fact, when they stand before God on Judgment Day, they're
going to bring that up, Lord, Lord. Have we not preached in
your name? In your name, have we not cast
out devils? In your name, have we not done
many wonderful works? They bring this all the way into
the judgment day. And that's when Christ says,
depart from me. Ye that work iniquity, I never
knew you. Now they remain religious unto
the end. But this is not what the Lord is talking about when
he says, he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. Now, who is this one who endures
to the end? It's the one who perseveres in
looking to Christ only as all they have. Now, let me repeat that. The
one who perseveres to the end is the one who perseveres in
looking to Christ only as all they have. We are made partakers
of Christ, Hebrews 3, 6, if we hold the beginning of our confidence
steadfast to the end. Paul said in Colossians 2.6,
as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, how did you receive
him? Empty handed. You didn't have anything to bring
to the table. You didn't have any contributions to make. All
you could claim as your own is your sin. Nothing else. All you
had for God to accept you is for Him to look to Christ for
everything He requires of you. The only righteousness you had
is His. The only sin payment you had
was the payment He accomplished. Your only hope of being accepted
by God was Him. I mean, he's all you had for
salvation. You didn't have anything else
to plead but him. Now here's the key to perseverance.
You never graduate past that. You know religious people, they're
always talking about changed lives and how the Lord has delivered
them and they don't do this anymore and they don't do that anymore.
They're ex-sinners is what it comes down to. They're ex-sinners.
They can just boast about themselves and so on and their hope is found
in what they think about themselves. Well, they've left the gospel
a long time ago if that's their attitude. The only hope any believer
has, is that at all times, everything God requires of me, He looks
to His Son for, and He is all I have. I'm like that thief. Lord, remember me. when you come into your kingdom. Not remember my works, not remember
all the good things I've done, not remember all the religious
things I've done. Lord, remember me in mercy when
you come back as a mighty reigning king. Now it's he that endures
to the end that shall be saved. That means somebody who is dead
in sins is going to be brought to the place where they're perfectly
conformed to the image of Christ, and in heaven God's going to
look them over, and he's going to say, I don't remember your
sin. Not because he forgot it, but because there's nothing there
to remember. You stand perfect in God's sight. Now who is it that shall be saved?
He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. Who
shall be saved? Let me close with this, sinners.
Christ Jesus. came into the world to save sinners,
of whom I am chief. Who shall be saved? The people
he intended to save, sinners. Now we have this message on DVD
and CD. If you call the church right
or email, 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. or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.