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. What is the church? It's a good question, isn't it? What is the church? Now in this fifth chapter of
Ephesians, when Paul is speaking concerning marriage, he ends
with this statement. Verse 32 of Ephesians chapter
5, this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and
the church. Now, in this passage of scripture,
the church is mentioned six times. Verse 23, Christ is the head
of the church. Verse 24, therefore, as the church
is subject to Christ. Verse 25, husbands love your
wives even as Christ also loved the church. Verse 27, that he
might present it to himself a glorious church. Verse 29, for no man
ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth it and cherisheth
it even as the Lord the church. And then Paul ends this And he'd
been giving these instructions on marriage, and it is instructions
regarding a true biblical marriage. But he says, this is a great
mystery. But I'm speaking concerning Christ
and the church. Now, in the Scripture, the mystery
is not the Christi mystery, you know, who does it? Mystery to
me. That's not what the word mystery
means. Mystery in the Scripture is a
truth that we would never have known, never even had a clue
of, had not God made it known in His Word. Here's an example. The Trinity. God is one God in
three distinct persons. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. The Bible is filled with this.
God is one God in three distinct persons. Now how would you and
I have ever known that had not God made it known concerning
Himself in His Word? We would have never known that.
We couldn't have even speculated something like that. A mystery
is what God has made known. It's not so much understood as
believed. I don't understand the Trinity,
but I believe the Trinity. I totally believe God the Father,
God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Intellectually grasp it? No.
Believe it with all my heart. Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. How would we have ever known
that God became flesh had not God made it known? There's so
many mysteries in the scriptures, and one of the great mysteries
is Christ and the church. You see, the church is the bride
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The church is called the Lamb's
Wife, the Lamb's Bride. Now, the word church means a
called-out assembly. That's what the word means, a
called-out assembly. Who did the calling? God did.
If you're a true church member, and I'm not talking about a local
assembly right now, I'm talking about a part of the Bride of
Christ, the universal church that Christ loved and gave Himself
for. If you're a part of that church, it's because God has
called you out to that. He called you by His grace, revealed
Himself to you. You wouldn't be interested in
Christ. You wouldn't be interested in things of God had not God
called you out to it. Now, this word church is used
in two senses in the Bible. First there is the local church,
the Church of Corinth. What about the seven churches
in Asia that the Lord wrote to? They were local assemblies. I pastor Todd's Road Grace Church. It's a local church. Now, there are many institutions
called churches, as far as local churches, that really are not
churches. And somebody says, why would
you say that? Because there are many places where the gospel
is not preached. Now, if you would ask pretty
much any member of a church, is the gospel preached at your
church? They'd say, well, of course it is. And I understand them
saying that, but the gospel has a content. It's very important. If the content of the gospel
is not preached, the gospel is not preached. If the gospel is
not preached, it's not a church. Whatever you want to call it,
it's not a church because a church preaches the gospel and stands
for the gospel. Now, in 1 Corinthians 15, this
is a very important passage of scripture. Paul says, moreover,
I declare unto you the gospel. So we're going to hear it from
the lips of Paul, the inspired apostle. He says in verse 3,
The Gospel is how that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures. Every word is extremely important. Christ died for our sins according
to the Scriptures. Now he's talking about the Old
Testament Scriptures. You can't preach the Gospel and not preach
from the Old Testament Scriptures, because everything in the New
Testament is in the Old Testament, and the Old Testament actually
is the explanation of the New Testament. You can't separate
the Old—you know, some people think the Old Testament's not
important. It's character studies and so on. No. Christ died according
to the Old Testament Scriptures, according to the sacrifices,
according to the rites, ceremonies. Let me give you one example.
Do you remember in Exodus chapter 12 and 13, the Passover? You would take the blood of the
lamb without blemish and put it over the post of the door
and go into the house. And when God passed through,
he said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Now, The sacrifice had to be
without blemish, speaking of Christ's perfect life. He never sinned. You were to
kill the sacrifice as a substitute, and you were to put the blood
over the door, and anybody that was in a house with the blood
over the door was safe and secure. God said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. He didn't say, when I see your
faith. He didn't say, when I see your sincerity. He didn't say,
when I see your good works or your evidences. He said, when
I see the blood, I will pass over you. Now, what if somebody
was in one of those houses that had committed a horrible crime
that very day? If they were in the house with
the blood over the door, were they safe? Absolutely. Because God said, when I see
the blood, I will pass over you. Now, that's Christ dying for
our sins according to the Scriptures. Now, let's howl that. Christ. The Christ. That's His offices. He is God's prophet. He is God's
priest. He is God's king. And he's 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 the word of God. Every other priest brought
the blood of an animal sacrifice that could never take away sins.
He brought to God his own blood that actually put away sin as
God's priest. He's the priest. He's the altar. He's the sacrifice. What a priest.
He's God's king. He's the one whose will is always
done. He's the one who is in absolute
control. How that Christ died. Why did
he die? as a sin bearer, who his own
self bear our sins in his own body on the tree. He died under
the justice of God. He died under the wrath of God.
He died for our sins. Who's the hour? Does that include
people in hell that he died for? Did he die for those people who
are in hell? Well, if he did, God's not just.
If he punishes for the same sin twice, If he punished it in the
Savior and then punished it again for those people on hell, and
it's not his blood that saves, it's something you do that makes
a difference. No, the hour is the elect, his church, evidenced
by believing the gospel. Christ loved the church and gave
himself for it. He died for our sins according
to the scriptures, according to the Old Testament scriptures.
Now, every message has something to do with that. Every message
has something to do with that, and the church is the one who
brings this message. There's the gospels preached,
and there's folks who believe. That's who is in the local church,
folks who really believe the message and love the message
and rest in the message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It's
a local assembly. That's the church in the local
aspect. And then there's the universal
church. And every time the word church
is used in Ephesians chapter five, it's with reference to
the universal church. Christ loved the church, the
universal church, all of the elect. And he gave himself for
it. He loved the church. It is all of those who are eternally
united to Christ, all of the elect of God, all for whom Christ
died. And this is a church that never
increases. You know, people talk about church
growth. This church never grows. It's
got the exact same membership it had before the foundation
of the world. It never grows. It never shrinks. You know, local
churches grow. They shrink, and they cease to
exist at some point. There's never been a local church
that's continued. And I can see the Lord's wisdom
in making it to where it's that way, because if there's a church
that went all the way back to the apostles, people could think,
man, I'm in the church. I'm in the good church. And they'll
find comfort in being in that church and find security in being
in that church. That's why the Lord doesn't let
a local church continue. He removes the candlestick at
some point. It's going to happen at the church
I pastor at some point if the Lord didn't come back first.
I hope I'm dead when it happens, but it will happen. And this church, though, it's
never going to increase, decrease, or cease to exist. It is the
eternal church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it has a role. You
know, in our church, Todd's Road Grace Church, we don't have a
role. You talk about church roles,
and in a local assembly, you always have wheat and tares.
On the church role, you have people who may be believers and
people who may not. And the Bible never says anything
about having a church role anyway, as far as a local church. If
you believe the gospel, you're a member of the church. If you
come to Todd's Road Grace Church and you believe the message that's preached,
love the gospel, rest in Christ, you're a member. That's it. That's it. I'm not
looking for anything else. Do you believe the gospel? But
there is a church role with the universal church, with names
written. It's called the Lamb's Book of
Life, of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
And it's got the names of the elect in it. It's called in Hebrews
12, 23, the General Assembly and Church of the Firstborn,
whose names are written in heaven. You can read about that in Revelation
20 and Revelation 21, Daniel chapter 12, about this book with
all the names of God's elect written upon it. Now, you will
remember when the Lord said to Saul of Tarsus, Saul, Saul, why
persecutes thou me? The Lord was at the right hand
of the Father. Saul couldn't reach Him, but
the Lord was speaking of His church that He was persecuting. And the Lord said, when you persecute
them, you are persecuting Me. That's what the church is, those
who are united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember when He said,
inasmuch as you've done unto the least of these, my brethren,
you've done unto Me? And inasmuch as you did it not
to the least of these, my brethren, you've done it not unto me. The church is his bride, he that
he has become one with. The two shall be one flesh. This
is a great mystery. I speak concerning Christ and
the church. He's talking about those who
are united, eternally united to him, in him. That's the church. The church are those who are
eternally united to him. The Lord gives the example of
I am the vine, you are the branches. Now you think of the vine and
the branches, The same stem that goes through the vine goes through
the branches. Now, this is a mystery. It's
just believed. I don't understand it. But all
of God's elect have always been known as the church. And when the Lord gives this
earthly illustration, it can't go completely because of Branch
can be cut off from the vine, physically, but that can't happen
with the church. Eternally united to the Lord
Jesus Christ, both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are
all of one. So the church is that body that
is united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Look in Ephesians chapter one,
we read these words, God hath put all things under his feet,
and gave him to be the head over all things, to the church, which
is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all."
The church is the body of Christ. Literally? Literally. Explain
that to me." I couldn't begin to, but the church is his body,
his mystical body. And it says, it is the fullness
of him that filleth all in all. Now, when God created Adam, Adam was not complete, was he? He was not complete. until he
was given Eve. That completed him. And the Lord
Jesus Christ would not be complete if even one of his people was
lost. The church is his fullness. Now, we're complete in him. If
I'm a believer, I'm complete in him, I'm lacking nothing.
But it's still true, and I say this with reverence and fear,
but yet knowing it's what the Bible teaches, Christ would not
be full if he lost one of his people. He said, this is the
will of him that sent me, that of all which he hath given me,
I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. Ephesians chapter five, verse
25, I've already read this, but think of what this says with
regard to the church. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, for
this purpose, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing
of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a
glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing
but that it should be holy and without blemish." Now, that's
what Christ has done for His church. In dying for her, He's
made her holy and without blemish. Now, Matthew chapter 16, we read
these words, and these are the words of the Lord. He says in
verse 18, and I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon
this rock I will build my church. And the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. Now, what is he talking about
when he talks about thou art Peter and upon this rock I'll
build my church? Let me say this first. The church,
the true church is the church he builds. It's not a man-made
institution. It's not made by men. It's the
church He builds. On this rock will I build my
church. What rock? Well, let's look at
the whole passage and see what led the Lord to say this. Verse
13, when Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, He
asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son
of Man, am? And they say, well, some say
that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremias,
or one of the prophets. They put you in some high cotton.
But that was really derogatory. The Lord is infinitely above
any of these men. These were sinful men. He's the
Son of God. He saith unto them, but whom
say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And the Lord answered and said,
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not
revealed it to thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say
unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock, not upon
Peter. Church is not built on Peter, upon Peter's confession
of who Jesus Christ is. Thou art the Christ. prophet, the priest, and the
king, the son of the living God. That means He's the creator,
equal with the Father because He's God. That means He controls
everything that's taking place. He's the absolute sovereign of
the universe. Everything that's happening, He's in control of.
He is salvation. He is salvation. Let me repeat
that. He is salvation. Salvation is
Him. It's who He is and what He did,
and that's the message of the church. That's the confession
of the church, and that's the rock upon which Christ builds
His church. You know, the leper understood
this when he said, Lord, if you will, You can make me clean. He knew that salvation was utterly
in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is our message. Now, in Hebrews chapter 2, we
read these words. I've already quoted one of the
verses, but I want to do another one, too. In Hebrews chapter
2, we read this. Both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one, for the witch cause he's
not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name
unto my brethren. In the midst of the church will
I sing praise unto thee. The church is made up of all
his brethren, and it's the place where he sings. And all of his people hear this
glorious song. In Matthew 18, verse 20, the
Lord said, where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there I am. in the midst of them. Now, what
this is talking about is public worship. Now, I'm preaching on
TV, and I hope you hear, I hope you believe, but this is no substitute
for public worship. God's people gathering together. It's a called-out assembly. God's people gathering together
to hear the gospel. And this is where Christ promises
His presence. He says, I walk in the midst
of the seven golden candlesticks, talking about the seven churches
of Asia. The Lord's presence is in public worship. The most
pure private worship anybody ever experiences is only in public
worship. You can't substitute media for
public worship, where two or three are gathered together in
my name, there I am in the midst of them. And that's why church
attendance is important, because he's there. That's what other
reason is needed. IF IT'S A TRUE CHURCH MEETING
TOGETHER, PREACHING THE GOSPEL, BELIEVING THE GOSPEL, HE'S PROMISED
HE IS IN THEIR MIDST. MAY THE LORD IMPRESS US WITH
WHAT CHURCH IS IN THAT SENSE. IN REVELATION CHAPTER 22, THE
LAST CHAPTER OF THE BIBLE, WE READ BEGINNING IN VERSE 16, I,
Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things
in the churches. This is where the Lord gives
his testimony, in the churches, gathered together to hear his
gospel. This is where we hear from the Lord. That's how important
this is. This is where we hear from the
Lord. And look at the church's job in verse 17, in the spirit
and the bride, that's the church, say, come, we preach the gospel. to the world. It's done through
the church. I love 1 Timothy 3.15, the church
is called the pillar and the ground of the truth. That you
might know how to behave yourself in the house of God, which is
the pillar and the ground of the truth. The pillar is what
you uphold something so everybody can see it. The church is the
one who upholds the gospel to the world. And it's the ground,
it's grounded in the truth. You know, people think, well,
seminaries, the seminaries are the place with the ground, the
pillar and ground of truth. No, no, that's a parachurch organization.
It's the church of the living God that is the pillar and the
ground of the truth. Listen to these words that the
Bible used to describe God's church, the body of Christ. The church of God, and that's
not talking about the denomination or the church of Christ. That's
not talking about that denomination. That's all about the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ, the lamb's wife, the lamb's bride, the brethren
of Christ, his companion, daughters of the king, the family of God,
the fold of God, the flock of Christ, the sheep, the friend
of God, his habitation, the house of God, the Israel of God, the
portion of the Lord, a peculiar or a purchased people, the lot
of his inheritance, the temple of God, the treasure of God,
the apple of His eye, vessels of mercy, the vineyard of the
Lord, children of the living God, the ones the Father gave
Him. What an awesome thing it is to
be in the church. And I'm not only talking about
a local church. I'm thankful to be part of a
local church. But local church has wheat, it
has tares. It is, say, sinners who are still
sinners, and there's still going to be problems. But when this
whole thing is over, all of the church will stand before God
singing the praises of the Lamb, holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in God's sight, without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing, and
they'll spend eternity worshiping Him. Won't even remember what
it's like to be a sinner. And we'll know the only reason
we're there is when we see the scars on His hands and His feet,
and we will spend eternity worshiping the Lord. Oh, the glory of His
church. It's His glory. Now we have this
message on DVD and CD. If you write the church, call
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Niber praying that
God will be pleased to make himself known to you. That's our prayer.
Amen. To receive a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send
a request to todd.niber at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.