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. I want to speak to you on the
subject of the rise of false religion. There is such a thing
as false religion. Now I'm speaking from Genesis
chapter 10, and I wanna begin reading in verse eight. And Cush
begat Nibrod. His name means rebel. And he
began to be a mighty one in the earth. Now, what that is, is
a reference to his power and influence over men. He was a mighty hunter before
the Lord. Now that is not a reference to
hunting game, but he became a hunter of men. He sought to be a great
influence among men. And this was before the Lord,
before the Lord's face is what that means in opposition to the
Lord. Even as, wherefore it is said,
even as Nibrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord, and the beginning
of his kingdom was Babel. He was the founder of Babylon. He was the one who influenced
people to seek to make that tower that would reach heaven that
we read about in the 11th chapter of Genesis. Babel and Babylon. Now, I wanna read a passage of
scripture from the book of Revelation that speaks of Babylon. Babylon
means to confound, to mix, to confuse. And here we read in
Revelation 17, and there came one of the seven angels, which
had the seven vows, and talked with me saying, and me come hither.
I'll show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth
upon many waters, upon many nations, with whom the kings of the earth
have committed fornication. Now that's not talking about
literal fornication, it could be included, but that's talking
about spiritual adultery. with whom the kings have committed
fornication, the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk
with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away into the
spirit, into the wilderness, and I saw a woman. Sit upon a
scarlet-collared beast full of names of blasphemy, having seven
heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in
purple and scarlet collar, and decked with gold and precious
stones and pearls, and having a golden cup in her hand full
of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. And upon
her forehead was a name written, Mystery Babylon the Great, mother
of harlots and abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman
drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of
the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wandered
with great admiration." You see, there's an appeal to the flesh
in this woman decked out so beautifully. But she represents all false
religion, all works religion. And Babel and Babylon are first
mentioned by this tower that Nimrod built, trying to reach
God, trying to reach heaven, or trying to trump God's judgment,
building a tower that was high enough to keep a flood from destroying
them. Now, Genesis chapter 10, I want
to remind you that the Bible is the inspired word of God.
Genesis chapter 10 is not just a boring genealogy with names
of many people that we don't care about one way or the other.
He's giving the descendants that came out of the line of Noah,
Shem, Ham, and Japheth, its sons, and the nations that developed
from that time. Now, during this chapter that
names so many different nations that came out of those three
sons of Noah to repopulate the earth, there's only one man that
he spends any time referring to, and that's the man Nimrod. His name means ripple. Now, let me say before I get
into Nimrod, who was the great grandson of Noah, This chapter
talks about many different nations, but it does not talk about many
different races. There is only one race, the human
race. There are not races. There's not a black race and
a white race and some other kind of race. We all descend from
the same man. We all descend from Adam. We all descend from Noah. He
was the last man that survived the flood and his sons. We all
come from one man. Acts chapter 17, Paul says, God
hath made of one blood all nations. Now there are different nations,
there are different ethnicities, there are different colors of
skin, there are diversity, but there is only one race. You see
where you have more than one race, you will have racism. You'll
have one race believing itself to be superior to the other race,
or believing the other races to be inferior to it. That's
where racism comes from. But it's impossible if there's
only one race, and there is only one race. Truly, all men are
brothers and sisters, descendants of the same man. Racism is foolish,
racism is wrong, Racism is evil. It certainly can't be supported
from the scripture. There is only one race. And Genesis chapter 10 tells
us about the spreading of the nations, the repopulating of
the world. And Nimrod was the great grandson
of Noah. And he came through the line
of Ham. And we read that he was a mighty
hunter before the Lord. He is the one who built Now,
let's read a little bit about Babel in Genesis chapter 11. And the whole earth, and most
people think the earth couldn't have been more than 30 or 40,000
for an entire population at this time. Remember, the earth had
been, men had been wiped out by a flood except for Noah and
his sons. And this took place some 100
years after the flood, and most people think the population of
the earth couldn't have been more than 30 or 40,000 at this
time. And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east that they found
a plain in the land of Shinar and they dwelt there and they
said one to another, go to. Let us make brick and burn them
throughly. And they had brick for stone
and slime had they for mortar. These manmade bricks and this
slime, a petroleum substance, I think aptly called slime. It
was not the pitch that was used to pitch, which was a form of
a Taurus petroleum substance to cover the ark. This is a different
word. It was a different substance.
It was not that pitch that represents the atoning blood of Christ and
the salvation of God. It was another kind of pitch
and it's called slime. And they use this slime to make
the mortar to do this, verse four. And they said, go to, let
us build us a city and a tower whose top may reach into heaven.
and let us make us a name, something we can take credit for, lest
that we be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth. Now, this
is symbolic. They knew that this tower would
not reach into the heavens or into the place where God dwells.
This represents man's attempt at reaching God. man's religion,
salvation by works, seeking to escape the judgment of God. And it's done to make a name
for ourselves, something we can take credit for. That's what
salvation by works is. If salvation is by works in any
way, I can take some of the credit for it. I can rob God of the
glory that's due him alone. Let's make a name for ourselves. And the Lord came down to see
the city and the tower which the children of men built. And
the Lord said, Behold, the people is one. and they all have one
language, and this they begin to do, and now nothing will be
restrained from them, which they've imagined to do. Go to, let us
go down, and there confound their language. Now, at this time,
I think it's interesting if you, I tried to read the history of
different languages, and linguists say nobody really knows why there
are different languages. I know why there are different
languages. God says this is what's gonna take place in Genesis 11.
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that
they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered
them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth, and
they left to build off the city. Therefore is the name called
Babel, because the Lord did confound the language of all the earth. Now you think about this. These
people had known each other all their lives, and all of a sudden
they can't understand one another's speech. Babel. Confusion. Now that is how human
religion, false religion, is represented as confusion. Mixture is what the word means.
As a matter of fact, this word is translated 37 times in the
scripture, mixing. Now I realize false religion
began with Satan tempting our first parents in the garden,
yea, hath God said, is demonstrated by Cain trying to approach God
with the wrong sacrifice, his own works rather than the blood
of the lamb, trying to come to God on his own. But I love the
way it's called Babel, confusion, how confusing religion is, how
mixed up religion is, how many different answers Religion gives,
never the same. Religion, Babylon. Now, it has been said that the
five solas of the scripture of the Reformation came during the
Reformation time. Have you ever heard of the five
solas? This was said in the Reformation, scriptures alone, Christ alone,
grace alone, faith alone, and the glory of God alone. And that's said to have been
developed in the 1500s during the Protestant Reformation. Now
I'm thankful that this was brought out during the Protestant Reformation,
but these principles are eternal. They didn't just come out in
the Protestant Reformation. It's always been the Scriptures
alone. You see, the Scriptures are eternal. We read in the New Testament
where the Scripture said to Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up. Now that's before the Scriptures
were written. We still have the, you see, the Scripture's the
word of God. It's an eternal word. We read in Galatians chapter
three, verse eight, where the Scripture's foreseeing that God
would justify the heathen through faith. preached before the gospel
to Abraham. Now this was a long time before
the scriptures were ever written down, but this is an eternal
word. What sayeth the scriptures? We
look to the scriptures alone. We don't look to the scriptures
and our traditions. We don't look to the scriptures
and what we've always believed. We look to the scriptures alone.
We don't go to the scriptures to find, to try to prove what
we believe. We go to the scriptures to find
out what to believe. Scriptures alone, Christ alone. Christ alone has always been
the only ground of salvation. Why was Abel saved? Christ alone. Why was Noah saved? Christ alone. Why was Abraham
saved? Christ alone. Why was David saved? Because Christ died for his sins. Christ has always been the only
ground of salvation. And it's always been grace alone. It's always been salvation by
grace. Grace isn't some new dispensation after salvation by works didn't
work. It's always been salvation by
grace from the very beginning. And it's always been faith alone.
By faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice. He
was looking to Christ only. He was looking to the coming
seed of woman that would bruise the serpent's head only. It's
always been faith alone. And it's always been the glory
of God alone. God's glory has always been his
motive, his reason for doing all that he does. Now, when we introduce the word
and, scriptures and, Christ and, grace and, faith and, God's glory,
and we are introducing the religion of babble, the religion of confusion. Let me show you a verse of scripture
in 2 Corinthians 1, where Paul the apostle says, beginning in
verse 17, when I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? Or the things that I purpose,
do I purpose according to the flesh? That with me there should
be yay, yay, and nay, nay? Yes and no to the same thing?
But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay.
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by
us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay,
but in him was yea. For all the promises of God in
him are yea. And amen to the glory of God
by us. Now let's go back to these five
solas. Do you believe the scriptures
alone? Well, yes, I do. Can you show me what you believe
is what the scripture teaches? You know, most people that would
stand for the word of God can't go to the word of God to find
out why that is. They don't really look to the
Scriptures alone. If you look to the Scriptures
alone, you'll believe what the Scriptures alone say. Somebody
says, I believe in the Scriptures alone. That's what the confession
of my church holds to. Wait a minute, why would you
need a confession if you got the Scriptures alone? We have
church confessions and creeds and catechisms and so on. Why? Those are man-made documents.
That's all they are. We look to the Scriptures alone. Do you believe in Christ alone? Well, yes, I do, but no, if you
don't do your part, you won't be saved. He can die for you
and he can pay for your sins, but if you don't accept him as
your personal savior, you won't be saved. Yes, I believe in Christ
alone, but no, you need to do your part or what he did won't
work for you. That's yay and nay. That's the religion of Babylon. That's the mixing and confounding
of things. Do you believe in grace alone?
Well, of course I believe in grace alone. I believe God offers
his grace to everybody, but it's up to your free will whether
you accept it as to whether or not you'll be saved. Well, that's
saying yes and no to the same thing. You can't believe in grace
alone and believe in free will. Do you believe in grace alone? Yes, I do. Do you believe in
election? no I don't, then you do not believe
in grace alone. If you don't believe salvation
begins with the electing grace of God, you don't believe grace,
period. You're giving yes and no to the
same thing. Do you believe in faith alone?
Yes, I do. I believe in faith alone. Well,
what is the evidence of salvation? Well, I look to myself. I look
to my experience. I look to how well I'm doing. I look to what sin I seem to
have gotten the victory over and how much time I'm spending
in prayer and Bible study and how much whatever religious thing
I'm doing, that's not faith alone. Faith alone looks to Christ alone
as the only ground of assurance. And the glory of God alone, do
you believe in the glory of God alone as the only reason for
salvation? Oh yes I do, I do. But I also believe that we'll
be rewarded at the end according to our works and we'll be given
a position in heaven according to how well we've done here on
earth, and we'll have a worse position if we didn't do as well
here on earth. Now, that's not believing in
the glory of God alone. You're giving yourself at least some glory
in the final position in heaven. That is a confounding of things. That is the religion of Babylon. Somebody says, I'm not worried
about the religion of Babylon. I'm sure that I have an understanding
of the truth. Well, did you know that Peter
may have thought the same thing, but when the Lord was transfigured
before him and the other two, James and John on the Mount of
Transfiguration, he was guilty of trying to establish the religion
of Babylon. And let me show you that. When
the Lord was transfigured before the disciples, Peter, James,
and John, the scripture says His face did shine as the sun,
and His raiment was white as light. At this time, He gave
them a glimpse, just a glimpse of his divine glory. I don't
understand this, but at this time, his divinity burst through
his humanity. And how must this appear as he
shined as the sun, they couldn't even see his face. Well, when
Peter saw this, scripture said, Peter answered. Nobody asked
him anything. But Peter answered, Lord, it's
good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles. Now remember, when the Lord was
transfigured, he was speaking to two men, Moses and Elijah. And they spake of the decease
which he should accomplish. Three were there, the Lord Jesus
Christ in his glorified state, and Moses representing the law,
and Elijah representing the prophets, and we know what they were talking
about. They were speaking of the deceased, the death, which
he would accomplish in Jerusalem, what he would accomplish by it.
And Peter said, let us make three tabernacles. One for thee, one
for Moses, and one for Elijah. Thus, in his whatever motivated
him, he was introducing Babylonian religion. And at that time, a
bright cloud overshadowed them. And a voice from heaven said,
this is my well-beloved son, hear him. And when they raised
up from that, they saw no man save Jesus only. Now there are two words that
go together perfectly, Jesus only. Now in 2 Corinthians 11,
I'd like to read a passage of scripture, beginning in verse
one. Would to God you could bear with
me little in my folly, and indeed bear with me, for I am jealous
over you with a godly jealousy. For I have espoused you to one
husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means
As the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, through his deceit,
so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ. Now that word is the onliness,
the singularity. The simplicity, simple as opposed
to complex or compound. The simplicity that is in Christ
Jesus. The onlyness that is in Christ
Jesus. You know, in the gospel, you're
not given a choice. The gospel is not multiple choice.
Christ is all. What's that make everything else?
Nothing. Now here's the gospel. The simplicity
that's in Christ. Christ Jesus is all. He's all
that God is. He's all that God requires. He's
all that I need. He's all that I have. He's all
that I want. Christ is all. The simplicity that is in Christ
Jesus. Now, where is all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily? Jesus only. Of who can it be said when he
had by himself purged our sins, he sat down at the right hand
of the majesty on high. only. Who is described as the
brightness of God's glory and the express image of his person? Jesus only. Who is the heir of all things
by whom all things consist? Jesus only. What makes you think that you're
saved? Jesus only. How can you be one of the elect?
Jesus only. How can your sins be forgiven? Jesus only. What is the ground of your acceptance?
Jesus only. How can you stand just before
God without sin? Jesus only. How can you be sanctified, declared
by God to be holy, actually be holy? Jesus only. How can God love you? Jesus only. What is the ground of your assurance?
Jesus only. What is your hope? Jesus only. What is the object of your faith?
Jesus only. What is your reward? Jesus only. Where do you want to be found?
Jesus only. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him. What is your personal righteousness?
Jesus only. Their righteousness is of me,
saith the Lord. What is your great desire? Jesus only. What is this book
called the Bible about? Jesus only. What is the message you preach?
Jesus only. What is the message you want
to hear? Jesus only. What is the message the world
needs to hear? Jesus only. What makes you think you'll enter
heaven? Jesus only. Who do you want to be like? Jesus
only. You see, Jesus and is the religion
of Babylon. It's confusing, it's confounding,
it's mixing, it's complex. No one is saved by that message,
the message of false religion, Babel, building a tower to God,
making it with man-made bricks. Jesus only. The simplicity of
Christ is true religion, the religion of God, the religion
of this book. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send a request to todd.neidler at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
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