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 Neibert. I'm going to be speaking this
morning out of Genesis chapter 15. And I've entitled this message,
History, His Story. Now in this passage of scripture,
the Lord tells Abraham what's going to happen for the next
400 years. He gives the history of what
would take place before it took place. Remember the scripture
says, known unto God are all his works from the beginning. And he tells Abraham of what's
going to happen to his descendants. And he gives 400 years of history
before it took place. Now, beginning in verse 12 of
Genesis chapter 15, and when the sun was going down, a deep
sleep fell upon Abram and lo, and horror of great darkness
fell upon him. And he, the Lord, said unto Abraham,
know of a surety, know this for sure, this will take place. Know of a surety that thy seed,
thy descendants, shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs
and shall serve them and they shall afflict them 400 years. And also that nation whom
they shall serve will I judge. And afterward shall they come
out with great substance and thou shalt go to thy fathers
in peace, and thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation,
they shall come hither again, your descendants, they're going
to leave that place they've been for 400 years, and come again,
for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." Now, in this
passage of Scripture, Abraham is given a detailed vision as
to what will take place to him and his descendants. They will
go down into Egypt. Perhaps you're familiar with
the story of the children of Israel going into Egypt and becoming
a nation of slaves for 400 years. Now, in 1620, the pilgrims landed
in Plymouth. That was 401 years ago, and I
want you to think of all the history that has taken place
during that 400-year period. Now, verse 14, he says, you'll
be there for 400 years, and also that nation whom they shall serve
will I judge. Now here he's talking about God
judging the Egyptians with the ten plagues. You're probably
familiar with the story. He judged the nation of Egypt
with ten plagues so that they let the nation of Israel go.
Look what it says. It says, and afterward they shall
come out with great substance. The Egyptians wanted them out
and they gave them all kinds of wealth, anything they asked
for, they gave to them to get them out of the country after
the country had been devastated so much by these plagues that
the Lord sent. And he says in verse 15, and
thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace. You're going to die
in peace. Thou shalt be buried in a good
old age, but in the fourth generation, this is when they will come back.
In the fourth generation, they shall come hither again. They're
going to come back to this place that I'm speaking to you from
right now, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. Now, God saw how evil the Amorites
would become. And he was going to drive them
out of that land and bring Israel back in. Now that lets us know
that Israel was not brought into the promised land because of
any personal goodness on their part. But the Amorites were dispossessed
because of their own sinful wickedness. So when that comes, God says,
I'll drive them out and you will be brought back in. Now concerning
this prophecy in Genesis chapter 15, Joseph, The great-grandson of Abraham
spoke of this prophecy. Now, Joseph has said to them,
you're going to come back. God will surely visit you. and
you're gonna come back to the promised land, and when you do,
take my bones with you back to this land. Now, in Exodus chapter
two, this is a very important passage of scripture, when God
is getting ready to deliver the children of Israel and bring
them back to the land, we read in verse 23, and it came to pass
in process of time that the king of Egypt died, the Pharaoh. And
the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage. Now, they were used to build
the pyramids. They were slave labor. And what a difficult life that
must have been. And they sighed by reason of
the bondage. I don't think at this time they
knew God, but God knew them. That's what I'm interested in.
I'm interested in him knowing me. Now Paul said to the Galatians
that you've known God or rather are known of God. And look what
it says concerning God and God heard their groaning and God
remembered his covenant with Abraham. Now God told Abraham,
I'm going to give you a seed. and they're going to inherit
this land. And they're going to be a nation of slaves for
400 years. And after that, they're going
to come back here. After I judge this land, God remembered his
covenant. And that's such an important
word in the scripture. God remembered His covenant. God is a covenant-making, covenant-keeping
God. And He remembered that covenant
that He made with Abraham. And because of that, he brought
the children of Israel back. Verse 25 actually says, and God
looked upon the children of Israel and God had respect unto them. Now the respect he had to them
was because of the covenant that he made. and because they were
seen in the Lord Jesus Christ. God had respect unto them. Now, hence we have 400 years
of history before it took place. Now, I repeat the title of this
message, History, His Story. Now, history is everything that's
taken place up to right now. in my life, in your life, in
the world. History is everything that's
taken place. Now, we're not talking about
an interpretation of history, we're just talking about what
has taken place. History is His story. His purpose, His will is always
done. And I don't care if you're a
believer or an unbeliever, His story is revealed in you. You are going to be used as an
instrument in his story, his purpose, his glory. History begins with the purpose
of God. Romans chapter eight, verse 28
says, and we know that all things work together for good. to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose. We read of the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will. The Lord said, not a sparrow
falls to the ground without your heavenly father. Now hear this,
everything that takes place Everything that takes place is his purpose
being done. God is a God of purpose. And his purpose is always done. I love that scripture in Proverbs
chapter 16 where it says, the lot is cast into the lap. That
seems to be a thing of chance and luck. The lot is cast into
the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Now, people who are foolish enough
to debate over God's purpose and God's predestination, the
Bible does teach predestination. God predestinating who would
be saved before time began. The Bible does teach God's absolute
sovereignty over all things. Now those who are foolish enough
to debate over God's purpose and predestination are only doing
what they were predestinated to do. Now listen to this statement. God is completely sovereign over
the free and uncoerced actions of men. Now, you and I do what
we want to do. We're not forced to do things
by some invisible power. We do what we want to do. But
everything we do is under the control of the absolute sovereignty
of God. Even the thoughts that come through
our mind, God does all things according to his purpose. Now,
I've heard preachers say, God has a wonderful plan for your
life. as if he's got this plan, but it won't come to pass unless
you tap in and make it come to pass. Now that's absolute foolishness,
and you will not find the word plan in the Bible. God doesn't
plan anything. Men make plans, and they're always
foiled, but not God. God is a God of purpose, and
His will is always done. Now perhaps you're familiar with
the story of Joseph, Abraham's great Grandson, this is how the
children of Israel ended up in Egypt. Now, Joseph was the favorite
of Jacob. Jacob was the grandson of Abraham.
And Joseph was his favorite son of the 12 sons. And his brothers
were jealous of him. And his brothers sold him into
Egypt. They did not like this man. And
through an amazing process of events, Joseph becomes the most
powerful man in all of Egypt. He's brought into prison. He
interprets some dreams. Some people tell Pharaoh about
him being able to interpret dreams. Pharaoh's had a dream. Joseph
interprets it. God's going to send seven years
of plenty. And after that, seven years of
famine. And Pharaoh makes Joseph the
most powerful man in all the land. If you were going to eat,
It was up to Joseph. And Joseph brings his brethren,
Jacob and his 11 brothers, into Egypt. And they fared well for
a while. But in the process of time, another
Pharaoh was raised up who didn't know Joseph. And they made all
of Joseph's brethren, the entire nation of Israel, the children
of Israel, a nation of slaves, building the pyramids. Now, God
says that's going to happen 400 years, and then I'm going to
come back. I'm going to judge that nation,
Egypt. The people are going to be set
free. They're going to leave with great
substance, and they're going to come back into this land.
Now look in verse 12, or verse 13. He's heading to Abram. Know
of a surety that thy seed, and this is such an important word
in the scripture, know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger
in a land that is not theirs. Now, I would like to read a passage
of scripture from Galatians chapter three, verse 16. Now, to Abraham
and his seed were the promises made. He saith not unto seeds,
plural, as many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ. Now Jesus Christ is the seed
of Abraham. Now no doubt Jesus Christ made
Abraham, but Christ came in the flesh through the loins of Abraham,
and he is the seed of Abraham. Now look in verse 26 of this
same chapter. Paul says, For you are all the
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as of you
as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There's neither
Jew nor Greek, there's neither bond nor free, there's neither
male nor female, for you're all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye
be Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to
the promise. Now this is, if I would understand
the gospel, I'm gonna have to understand this thing of seed,
the seed of Abraham. Christ is the seed of Abraham.
Every believer is the seed of Christ. Now here is a scriptural
illustration in Hebrews chapter 7. We read where Abraham paid
tithes to Melchizedek. And when he paid those tithes,
Levi, his great-grandson, who had not yet been born, paid tithes
as well. For he was yet in the loins of
Abraham when Abraham paid those tithes. When Abraham paid the
tithes, his entire seed paid the tithes. Now here's the gospel. When Christ lived, all of his
seed lived, all of those in him. When Christ kept the law, all
of his seed kept the law. When Christ died under the wrath
of God as the sin-bearing substitute, all of his seed died under the
wrath of God. When Christ was raised from the
dead, all of his seed was raised from the dead. Now this is the
gospel. Christ, the seed. All nations
will be blessed in him, and every believer is his seed. What he did, they did as their
representative. Now, the land that they come
back to represents heaven. And no one is going to enter
into heaven until the Amorites are first dispossessed. Now,
two times, God says to Israel, your father was an Ammonite.
And the only way the seed of Christ is going to enter into
heaven is when their old man, their sinful nature, is laid
down and dispossessed, and then they'll enter into glory. History is story. Now this story begins with the
word of God. I love the way God says, know
this of a surety. Know this of a surety. It's utterly
certain because God said it. Known unto God are all of his
works from the beginning. He said, I declare the end from
the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not
yet done, saying, I will do all my pleasure. My counsel shall
stand. Know of a surety that thy seed
will be a stranger in a strange land. Now, no doubt this is talking
about his physical seed, but it typifies something else. It's
talking about the seed of woman, the Lord Jesus Christ coming
to this earth and being afflicted. The son of God being afflicted
because he came as the sinner's substitute. He's called a man
of sorrows, acquainted with grief. Psalm 88, 15 says, I'm afflicted
and ready to die from my mother's womb. He came as the sinner's
substitute, and all his seed was in him, being afflicted by
as they are in him. Now, he said, your seed, in verse
14, they'll afflict them 400 years,
and also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge. Now
this was talking about the 10 plagues that came to Egypt, his
judgment on that land, but this is also talking about the judgment
that took place on the cross. Now have you ever understood
why Jesus Christ was nailed to that cross? He was nailed to
that cross because judgment was taking place. You see, the sins
of the elect became his sins. When he was dying on Calvary
tree, it was not the innocent dying. It was the guilty dying
because the sins of his people actually became his and he became
guilty before God of the commission of those sins. He who knew no
sin was made sin. And God's wrath came down upon
him and killed him. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. And you know what happened out
of that death? Scripture says he was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. Every body he died for was justified. You know what that means? If you're justified, you have
no sin. God's holy law looks you over
and says, there's no fault in that man. He has kept me perfectly. There is no sin. This is the great mystery of
the gospel, how God can be just and justify the ungodly. The moment Christ died, all of
the elect were justified. Perfectly. Completely. Eternally. Gloriously. Literally. Actually. Justified. Not just
as if I have no sin, but I have no sin. I stand before God without
guilt. because of the judgment that
was accomplished on Calvary's tree. Christ saved everybody
he died for. That's what happened as a result
of that judgment. Oh, the children of Israel come
out, and the scripture says they came out with great substance.
Now, I love thinking about the Egyptians wanted them out. And
they said, here, take this, take that, whatever you want. There
it is. Go on, get out of here. You've been the means of our
destruction. They wanted them out. And they went out with great
substance, great riches. That's where they had the stuff
to make the tabernacle that was made of so much gold and silver
in the wilderness and the beautiful tapestries and so on. It came
from what the Egyptians gave them. They left a wealthy nation. And because of the death of Christ,
every believer has great substance. Not only am I justified, I'm
accepted. All that Christ is, I have. Listen to this scripture. As
he is. 1 John 4, 17. As he is. Why is he? Well, he's
perfect. He's beautiful to God. God is
well pleased with him. He's utterly holy. He's righteous. He's without sin. He has the
ownership of everything because of who he is. As he is, John
said, so are we in this world right now. Now, if you lack anything,
you're not going to love God. You're going to resent him. You're
going to think he's too harsh. You're going to think he's too
strict. You're not going to love him. The only way you're going
to love God is if you see that all that he requires of you,
you have in Christ Jesus, accepted in the beloved. They went out,
the scripture says, with great substance. And then he says to
Abraham, individually, he talked about all the children of Israel
going out with great substance, and that's what all every believer
has in Christ Jesus, And then he says to Abraham, and thou
shalt go to thy fathers in peace. Peace. Utter peace with God. God doesn't
have any reason to be mad at you. He doesn't have any reason
to be disappointed in you. You are perfectly accepted the
peace of justification, the peace of standing before God's law
without guilt. You're going to go to your fathers
in peace. And thou shalt be buried in a
good old age. Now, this is the heritage of
every believer. They're going to go to their
grave in peace, buried in a good old age. Now, whatever that age
is, with a believer, it's a good old age. Doesn't matter what
the age is. And some of these believers might
go to their grave in great pain, unable to even think because
of the pain they're in, their body wracked with pain. There
are others who go to death shouting hallelujah. glorious in their
death, but they both go in equal peace because Christ is their
peace. Some may have great fear as they die. They're made to
look to themselves and their works to some extent, and they're
thinking, maybe I won't be saved after all. Others have full assurance
of faith, knowing that Christ is their righteousness before
God. Now, the one who died in fear and the one who died in
faith, they still both died in peace, the peace of what Christ
accomplished for them. God's at peace with them. and they go to their death in
a good old age. I love the scripture in Revelation
14, 13. Blessed are the dead. Did you hear that? Blessed are
the dead who die in the Lord. Yea, from henceforth, yea, saith
the Spirit, they have rest from all their labors. You see, while
they lived in this earth, they labored with sin. They struggled
with sin, but now no more. And the scripture says their
works do follow them. Now, this is very important.
They don't come out in the front as the cause of their salvation.
Neither do their works walk along the side as evidence of their
salvation and a reason for assurance. You can't look at your works
and say, well, I must be saved. Look how good I'm doing. but
there will be works that prove you really believed what you
said you believed. There always will be works that
prove that you really did believe what you said you believed. I
think a beautiful example of that would be Lott. Lott didn't
look back. He didn't look back to his works.
His wife did, she became a pillar of salt, but it was seen that
Lot really believed what he said he believed. And then the final
statement in this 400 year prophetic history of the children of Israel,
but in the fourth generation, they shall come hither again
for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full, it's not yet
complete. God knew it would be complete, and at that time, he
would dispossess them from the land, and then the children of
Israel would enter. Now, here is the point. Two times, God said to Israel,
your father was an Amorite. These Amorites represent the
flesh, the sinful nature. Now, when God saves somebody,
They're given a new nature that they didn't have before. You
have the nature of your first birth, a sinful nature, and the
nature of your second birth, a holy nature, the new nature,
being born of the Spirit. But when you enter heaven, that
old nature is put down, and you enter heaven, you won't even
remember what it's like to be a sinner, perfectly conformed
to the image of Jesus Christ. Now we have this message, history,
his story, on DVD and CD. If you call the church, write,
email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Niebuhr, praying
God will be pleased to make himself known to you. To receive a copy
of the sermon you have just heard, send a request to todd.niebuhr
at gmail.com, or you may write or call the church at the information
provided on the screen.