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 Nybert. In Genesis chapter 15, verse
7, the Lord, God of glory, makes this promise to Abraham. He said, I am the Lord that brought
thee out of Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit
it. Now here we have an unconditional
promise of God. Now let's look at Abraham's response. And he said, Lord God, whereby
shall I know that I shall inherit it? Now, what a question. God says, I will give you this
land. And Abraham's reply, how can
I know? Well, because God said, nothing
else is needed. Abraham, God said, you shall
inherit the land. God cannot lie. God cannot go
back on his word. The fact that he said it was
enough. And I could see where the Lord
could have rebuked Abraham for this, because I said it. You
don't need to be calling into question what I say, but the
Lord did not rebuke Abraham. You see, according to the scriptures,
he knoweth our frame. he remembereth that we are dust. And he tells Abraham how he can
know. He said in verse nine, he said
unto him, take me, an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat
of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle
dove, and a young pigeon. Now those are the five sacrificial
animals of the book of Leviticus. And he said, take these for me.
This is not for you, this is for me. Now, the only way you're
going to know is when you see God is satisfied. You're not gonna find any satisfaction
about yourself, not true satisfaction, until you see God's satisfaction
with the sacrifice. He said, take these things for
me. Now, I've entitled this message,
How Can I Know? How can I know that I am a Christian? How can I know that God has done
something for me? How can I know that I'm saved? I have heard people many times
say, I know I'm saved. And I'm thinking to myself, do
you? Do you? How can I know? Now, I have a reason for asking
that question. In my own experience, there is
seldom a day that goes by As a matter of fact, I doubt that
there ever has been a day that has gone by when at some point
I don't say to myself, how could you possibly be saved? How can I know? You see, when
I look within, and that's not a good thing to do, but when
I look within, I see sin. I see willful sin. I see premeditated sin. I see committing the same old
sins. I see such evil desires. Still, still, are you saved? I believe I am, but I still have
these wicked desires. My heart It's as bad as it ever
was. I can't look upon my heart and
say, well, it's getting better. How can I know that I am saved? How can I know that God has given
something to me? Now, let me give you a rule by
which that question can be answered. And there are no exceptions to
this rule. Here it is. Is the standard by
which this question is answered found in you or in Christ? Now, chew on that. Is the standard
by which this question is answered, how can I know? Is it found in
you or in Christ? Let me ask you a question. Are
you an ex-sinner? Or are you still a sinner? Are you making progress in your
obedience and your battle with sin? Are you finding yourself
more Christ-like, less sinful, more holy? Or do you think I must not be
saved because I don't see these things in myself. And in saying
that, I'm saying I would be saved if I did see these things. And that's just as bad as seeing
them. I could believe I was saved if.
If what? If Christ died? No, no. I believe Christ died. My problem's
not with Christ. My problem's with myself. There's
your problem. There's your problem. You're
looking to yourself. You're not looking to Christ.
You're looking to yourself. I could believe I was saved if
I was more holy and if I was more committed and less sinful
and if I had less doubts and more courage, if I had more desire
for God. I could believe I was saved then.
That's not believing in Christ. That's believing in yourself.
That's not believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is a works-based
assurance, and a works-based assurance is a false assurance. How can I know? Well, God answers
that question when he says, take me, and heifer, three years old,
and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years, in
the prime of their life, strong, and the turtle dove and the young
pigeon, the sacrifices for the poor who could not afford a larger
sacrifice. These are the five Levitical
animals used for sacrifice. Take me these things. Now, Assurance only comes from
what God himself is satisfied with. What did God say when he
passed through the land of Egypt after the Paschal Lamb had been
slain? When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. Not when you see the blood, when
I see the blood." What was God looking for? He didn't say, when
I see your faith. He didn't say, when I see your progress in holiness.
He said, when I see the blood. I will pass over you." Now, the
only way you and I can know is seeing God's complete satisfaction
with Christ. Now, the heifer, the she-goat,
the ram, a male sheep, three years old at the prime of their
life, and the prime of their strength, a turtle dove and a
pigeon for the poor, these were animals used for sacrifice. in
the book of Leviticus. Now, somebody may be wondering
why all these sacrifices. Why all this blood? It seems
almost barbaric. Can't God just forgive sin? Why does there have to be a sacrifice
that seems so primitive, like to appease the angry gods? Why
all this blood? Why can't God just forgive? Now, I've thought that before.
You've thought that before. Why? Well, let's put this in
a way we can understand, what if a judge, after someone had
murdered your child, and he's caught and brought before the
judge, what if the judge says, I'm a loving judge, I'm a forgiving
judge, I'm forgiving you. And that man is set free. What would you think of that
judge? You would think he's an unjust
judge. He is a corrupt judge. And as a matter of fact, that
man would be kicked out of his position of being a judge because
he would be being unjust. You see, a judge must punish
the guilty. And if he doesn't, if he says,
well, I'm going to let you off. I'm going to have mercy. I'm
going to, I'm a loving judge. I'm going to forgive you. Then
he is not being a good judge, but a corrupt judge. God is just. Now, when we ask
a question like that, why can't he just forgive sin? We're calling
into question his justice. We're showing how we really don't
think our sin is all that bad. And we're showing what a high
opinion we have of ourselves when we make that objection,
why can't God just forgive? Well, because God is just and
all sin must be punished. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? But what he does, He provides
the sacrifice. He says, take me a heifer and
a ram and a goat and a pigeon and a turtle dove, the animals
of sacrifice. Now, what did Abraham do? Verse
10, and he took unto him all these and divided them in the
midst and laid each piece one against another. But the birds
divided, he not." Now, he divided these sacrifices in half, two
separate pieces. And I think it's interesting
in the sacrificial animals, whenever an animal is sacrificed, it had
to be one with a divided hoof. If it didn't have a divided hoof,
it was considered unclean. And Abraham took these animals
and divided them in half. Now that's telling us something.
It's telling us that God will only be satisfied. by the deity and the humanity
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Jesus Christ is not half
God and half man. He's fully God, and he's fully
man, and God would never be satisfied with the sacrifice of an animal.
The blood of an animal could never put away sins, and the
blood of a mere man could never put away sins. I have one daughter,
and I love her, And if she got in trouble with the law, I would
gladly take her place. If she was going to be punished,
I would gladly take her place. But let's say I did. Would justice
be being done? No. She's the one who committed
the sin, and she's the one who has to pay. Now, there's only
one person who could satisfy God, where He's actually satisfied. If somebody murdered your son
or daughter. They couldn't give you any amount
of money that would satisfy you. The only thing that would satisfy
you is if justice was done and your child was raised from the
dead and restored to you. That's the only thing that would
actually satisfy you. Well, What satisfies God? Jesus Christ,
His Son, fully God and fully man, was able to bear the sins
of His people. He was able to put them away.
He was able to satisfy God so that everybody He died for, God
said, I'm satisfied with them. I am not looking for anything
else. Complete reconciliation. Now, he divided those sacrificial
beasts. And what happened, verse 11,
and when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, the vultures,
the hawks, the ravens, Some translations call this the ravenous birds.
When the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abraham drove
them away. Now, what was it they attacked? Well, they weren't attacking
Abraham. They weren't flying down on Abraham and pecking at
him. They were attacking the sacrifice. Now, understand this. What is
Satan going to attack? There is a being called Satan. And let me say this about Satan.
Satan is not trying to tempt you to sin. You don't need to
be tempted to sin. I don't need to be tempted to
sin. We'll do it on our own. We don't need to be tempted.
Satan's main work is in the pulpit. His ministers come as ministers
of righteousness, and He comes as an angel of light. And what
He attacks is the sacrifice, the atonement of Christ. He does
not want you to find rest in the atonement of Christ, so He
tries to change the atonement. Now, these birds were trying
to eat parts of the sacrifice, so you no longer had a full and
complete sacrifice. This is Satan's main agenda,
to attack the person and work of Christ, and to make it to
be less than it is. Now, the atonement of Christ,
this is what this is pointing to. At a point in time, In a
particular place, with a longitude and a latitude, on Golgotha's
hill, we read in Hebrews 1, 3, when he had by himself. That means you didn't have any
participation in this. It means I didn't have any participation
in this. We don't read anything of me accepting him as my personal
savior, any of that kind of foolishness. when he had by himself purged,
completely put away, made not to be our sins. Now, when he did this by himself,
that means he was not enabling you or I to do something to activate
what he did. He did this by himself. Now what I'd like to do and what
I'd like for you to do is to forget doing. Just forget doing. If any part of my salvation is
dependent upon me doing something, if my salvation is dependent
upon my faith or my faithfulness or my repentance or my holy living,
if my salvation is dependent on me doing something before
I can be safe, I have no hope. No hope whatsoever. Now, my hope is in the sacrifice
of his dear son. All of my hope is in the sacrifice
of his dear son. And this is what Satan will attack. This is what these ravenous birds
came down and attacked and Abraham drove them away. Now, let me
give you several places where the birds will attack, these
ravenous birds. First, Satan will try to present
an atonement that is not scriptural. is what I'm hearing with regard
to the atonement of Christ what the Bible actually teaches. Paul said that the gospel was
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. You can say Christ died for our
sins all you want and you never preach the gospel. It's how that
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures is what I understand
with regard to the atonement scriptural. Second is my view
of the atonement, my theory. You know, if you read about any
systematic theology, they'll give you the theories of the
atonement. There are different theories
of the atonement, and that just rubs against me. The atonement
is not a theory. A theory is some man's judgment
as to how it works and his explanation of it. I'm not interested in
that. The atonement is not a theory. You see, according to the scriptures,
the atonement of Christ is eternal. Never had a beginning, will never
have an ending. Revelation 13, 8 says, Christ
is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. God created the
universe. God ordained the fall. Everything God does, He does
for the atonement of His dear Son. The atonement is, according
to the scriptures, efficacious and successful. Now, what do
I mean by that? Well, what's the Bible mean?
Romans chapter 5, verse 10, States it like this, if when we were
enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.
When were we reconciled? Well, when I repented, when I
believed. No, we were reconciled to God when we were enemies.
You see, my works don't have anything to do with this great
reconciliation. This is God's work where he reconciled
his people to himself by what he did. Everybody Christ died
for must be saved. Now, I realize that religion
quite often presents the death of Christ as shed for all men.
He died for everybody and paid for everybody's sins. Now, some
of those people wind up in hell, even though he paid for their
sins because they didn't accept him, they didn't believe, they
rejected him, but he died for everybody. That was his intention.
Now, let me tell you two things about that. If that's true, If
he died for everybody and some of those people can wind up in
hell, he failed in his intentions. He's a failure. If Jesus Christ
intended to save somebody and they end up not being saved,
he failed in his intentions. That's blasphemous. Secondly, if Jesus Christ died
for men, and some of those men He died for are not saved, and
some are, that means it's not His death that saves, it's what
you do that saves. That makes salvation by works. But thank God His atonement is
complete. He said it is finished. It was finished. His atonement
is the atonement that gives God all the glory and none to men. Now, if the atonement that you
believe in gives man any glory or any credit in salvation, then
it is false. He said, I've glorified thee
on the earth. I have finished the work you
gave me to do. Everybody he died for must be
saved. It gives God all the glory. Who did he shed his blood for?
Well, the elect, his sheep, the church, but I like this best,
sinners. If you're a sinner, he came to
save you. Because 1 Timothy 1, 15 says,
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am
the chief. If you're a sinner, I can tell
you this. Somebody says, I'm not a sinner. Well, I can't give
you any hope if Christ died for you. But if you're a sinner,
Christ Jesus came into the world to save you. You see, what I'm
saying doesn't prevent people's salvation. Somebody says, well,
I wanted mercy, but God said, no, because Christ didn't die
for me. That never happened. Everybody that comes for mercy
will have mercy. And they're those who Christ
shed his precious blood for. Now, let's go on reading about
these divided sacrifices. We read in
verse 17 of chapter 15, and it came to pass that when the sun
went down, And I have no doubt that this refers to the darkness
that covered the world when Christ died. When the sun went down
and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that
passed by between those two pieces. Now the smoking furnace represents
the wrath of God. Now, when Christ was nailed to
that cross, it was not the innocent being punished. It was the guilty
being punished. Now, Christ never sinned. Well,
why was He dying? because God took the sins of
all that he would die for and caused him to bear them. He bore our sins in his own body
on the tree. When he drank of that cup that
he saw in Gethsemane's garden, He was drinking the cup of his
people's sins, and the wrath of God against sin came down
upon him. He really was forsaken by God. He really had no help from God. He was guilty before God. He was taking what I deserve. He took my sins and my sorrows. He made them his very own. He
bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. That's the smoking furnace of
the holy and just wrath of God. But not only was there a smoking
furnace, there was a burning lamp. What light we have from
the cross. You see, every attribute of God
is fully displayed in the cross. We see his justice, we see his
holiness, we see his love, we see his grace, we see his power. Every attribute of God is displayed. But most especially, The Lord
said in John 8, verse 12, I am the light of the world. You know
what he said before that? He said to a woman who was taken
in the very act of adultery, there was no doubt about her
guilt. He said, woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath
no man condemned thee? And she said, no man, Lord. He
said, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. I am the
light of the world as to how that can be. That woman was guilty. She was caught in the act. How
could the Lord not condemn her if she had committed the sin? Because Christ died for that
sin. That sin was placed upon Him. He became guilty of that sin.
Somebody says, well, how could that be right? God did it. God did it. That's the only answer. He took my sins and placed them
on Christ. And Christ died as the sin-bearing
substitute. And here's the light as to how
God could not condemn me. There's nothing to condemn me
for. Christ accomplished my salvation,
He put away my sin, and I now am just before the holy law of
God, having never sinned because of what Christ has done for me. Now, that sacrifice had a smoking
furnace, representing the wrath of God, but what light it demonstrated
as to how a holy God can embrace someone sinful like me through
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's tree. Oh, the glory
of the cross. How can I know, Abraham said.
And God said, bring me the sacrificial animals, and then his wrath,
the burning furnace, and the lamp, the light that comes from
that. Now we have this message on DVD
and CD. If you call the church right
or email, we'll send you a copy. It says, Todd Nyberg, praying
that God will be pleased to make himself known to you. 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.