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 Nybert. Now I'm preaching from Acts 9,
beginning in verse 32, and remember I've entitled this message, What
Is Gospel Preaching? We read beginning in verse 32,
and it came to pass, as Peter passed throughout all quarters
He came down also to the saints, which dwelt at Lydda. And there
he found a certain man named Aeneas, which had kept his bed
eight years and was sick of the palsy. He was paralytic. He could not walk. Perhaps he'd
had some kind of spinal injury, but for eight years, he had not
been able to walk. And Peter said unto him, Aeneas,
Jesus Christ maketh thee whole. Arise and make thy bed. And he arose immediately. And all that dwelt at Lydda and
Saron saw him and turned to the Lord. Now, you may ask, why are
you entitling this message, What Is Gospel Preaching? Well, because
we find out what gospel preaching is in this passage of Scripture. Now, most people, when they think
of gospel preaching, they think it's God making an offer and
inviting you to accept it. God offers you mercy, God offers
you grace, God offers you forgiveness, and He's inviting you to accept
it. Now, my dear friends, that is
not gospel preaching at all. Gospel preaching is not God offering
something. Gospel preaching is a declaration
of what Jesus Christ has done. And it's a command to all men
to believe on Him. Big difference. Gospel preaching
is not an offer from God of what He's made available to you if
you'll only accept it. It's a declaration of what Jesus
Christ has done. And it's a command from God for
me and you to believe what he has done. Now we'll see this
in this passage of scripture we're looking at. In verse 32,
And it came to pass, as Peter passed throughout all quarters,
and I have no doubt he was preaching the gospel everywhere he went,
He came down also unto the saints which dwelt at Lydda. The saints, that is the name
of every believer, a saint, a sanctified one, set apart by God to be holy
in eternal election, made holy by Christ on the cross, declared
to be holy by what he did, made holy, given a holy nature and
regeneration when you're born of the Spirit. This is a description
of every believer. They're all saints, sanctified
ones. Every believer is a saint. And we read in verse 33, and
there he found a certain man named Aeneas. He found a certain
man. God always saves certain men. The gospel is not generic. There
are certain men and women given to him by the Father before time
began whom he will save. He said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. And notice it says, and there
he found, Peter found this certain man. He didn't find Peter, Peter
found him. Peter did not inadvertently run
into him, he found him. Now what is the significance
of this? Well, religion is men trying to find God. The gospel is God finding men
and saving them. Let me repeat that. Religion
is man's search for God. The gospel is Jesus Christ coming
to seek and to save that which was lost. I think of that passage
of scripture in John chapter 6 where it says he must needs
go through Samaria. Why must need he go through Samaria? Because one of his sheep was
there, and he's always going to find his sheep. He said to
Zacchaeus, make haste, come down, today I must abide at thy house. Why must he abide at his house?
Because this is one of his sheep that he had come to save. I love
to think of Zacchaeus climbing up that sycamore tree to see
the Lord. He didn't have any idea that
the Lord was moving him to do this. He just wanted to see who
Christ was. but this was all a part of God's eternal purpose
to save this man, Zacchaeus. Now, this was a certain man that
he was going to save, Aeneas. Now, notice what it said about
this man, Aeneas. He there found a certain man
named Aeneas, which had kept his bed eight years and was sick
of the policy. That means he was paralyzed. He couldn't get up. All he could
do is lay in his bed, and he had done so for eight years. He was in a state of disability. He was in a state of inability. He was unable to walk. Now, what this pictures is what
happened to us in the fall of our parents that has rendered
us unable, disabled, unable to do what God requires. Now God
created Adam upright, the scripture says. He didn't create him sinful.
He created him upright. And he said to him, with regard
to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden,
he said, in the day you eat thereof, thou shalt surely die. He didn't
say, if you eat, he said, when it takes place. Somebody says,
could God have prevented the fall? Of course he could have,
but he didn't. It was all a part of his glorious purpose to exalt
his son in the saving of sinners. So you know the story, Adam ate
of the fruit and that very day he died. He didn't die physically,
but he died spiritually. And in that spiritual death,
he became Disabled, unable. The Lord put it this way in John
chapter six, verse 44, no man can come to me except the Father
which has sent me draw him. Now he didn't say no man may
come. He said no man can come to me. No man has the ability
to come to me. You see something that happened
in the past The fall of our first father Adam is the reason for
our present sinfulness. We were born into this world
sinners. We didn't become a sinner when
we sinned. We sinned because we're already
sinners. That's the way we're born into
this world. Romans 5, 12 says, By one man sin entered the world,
and death by sin, so that death passed upon all men, in that
all have sinned. When Adam sinned, I sinned. When
Adam sinned, you sinned. And we are born into this world
with a nature of spiritual death and inability. Just like this
man was paralyzed, laying in his bed and couldn't get up.
We are unable to do that which God requires of us because of
our sinfulness. We can't blame it on Adam. It's
our fault when he sinned, we sinned as well. We're all in
Adam. And this thing of paralysis was
humanly incurable. And sin is the same way. There's
nothing a sinner can do to save himself. Unable to be born again,
unable to repent. unable to believe the gospel,
unable to love God. It's a state of inability. That's what it is to be a sinner.
Now, listen to me real carefully. What is a sinner? A sinner is
the one who commits the sins. God doesn't put sins into hell.
He puts the people who committed them into hell. A sinner is the
one who commits the sins. Now, I'm a sinner. When I say
that, I'm saying that I cannot not sin. I'm a sinner, a sinner
is somebody who cannot, who lacks the ability to not sin. Because I'm a sinner, all I do
is sin. When I'm preaching this message,
there's enough sin in this message to send me to hell, because I'm
a sinner. A sinner is somebody who their
sin is all their fault. I can't blame my parents. I can't
blame Adam. I can't blame my circumstances.
I can't blame my environment. All my sin is all my fault. And because of my sinfulness,
I am unable to sit in judgment over anybody in anything. If I really believe I'm a sinner,
I can't judge or look down at somebody else. And my sinfulness
has made it to where I have no claims on God. I can't say, God,
you need to save me because I did this, I did that. No, the only
fair thing for God to do with me is leave me myself and condemn
me. And that is what a sinner is.
He's someone who is totally unable to save himself. Now, if you're
a sinner, If you would fit the description I just gave, you're
somebody that Christ died for. You're somebody that Christ came
to save. 1 Timothy 1.15 says, For Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Now, if you're not
a sinner, I can't give you any assurance that Christ's done
anything for you. But if you're a sinner, Christ Jesus came into
the world to save sinners. Now, let's notice what Peter
said to this man who was a paralytic. Verse 34, and Peter said unto
him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole. Now, he doesn't say
Jesus Christ offers you healing. He didn't say Jesus Christ has
made healing available to you if you will only receive it.
He announced what Jesus Christ actually did. Jesus Christ maketh
thee whole. Now understand, the gospel is
not an offer up for your acceptance or rejection. Grace is not offered. Grace is given. Mercy is not
offered. Mercy is given. The forgiveness
of sins is not offered. The forgiveness of sins is given. Salvation is not offered. Salvation is given. Now, in most
preaching, Here's how men preach, and it's not true preaching,
it's false preaching, but this is what mainly goes on under
the name of Christianity. The Gospel is an offer to you. God makes salvation available
to you. It sounds something like this,
God loves you, Christ died for you. God the Holy Spirit wants
to save you and He's knocking on your heart, but it's up to
you to open the door and either accept Him and receive what He
did or reject Him. Salvation is ultimately in your
hands, whether or not you accept Him or whether or not you reject
Him. Your eternal destiny is determined
by what you do. God wants to save you. Christ
died for you. He's calling on you. But as to
whether or not you're saved, it is up to you. Now, in reality,
that makes salvation dependent upon what the sinner does rather
than what Christ has done. Peter said to this paralytic,
Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole. The Gospel is not an offer
up for your acceptance or rejection. The Gospel is a declaration of
what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. He comes to this man and
He says, He makes you whole. He didn't say Jesus of Christ
will make you whole if you fill in the blank, whatever it is.
It was a declaration of what Christ has done. Aeneas, Jesus Christ makes thee
whole. Now I can say that every sinner
Under the sound of my voice, if you really believe you're
a sinner, I can say this to you. Jesus Christ makes thee whole. You are saved by what he did. Now that's what gospel preaching
is. It's a declaration of what he
did. First Peter 2.24 says, by whose
stripes you were saved. healed not healing is available
but by whose stripes you were healed by one offering hebrews
10 14 by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are
sanctified hebrews 1 3 says when he had by himself and that is
so important not you didn't have anything to do with this i didn't
have anything to do with this When he had by himself purged our
sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.
Now my salvation is not dependent upon my faith, upon my repentance,
upon my holy living. My salvation is dependent upon
what Christ has done for me. Somebody says, don't you have
to believe? And you do, you have to believe that. Well, don't
you have to repent? Yeah, you do. You repent of anything
that's contrary to that. This is the gospel, what Christ
has done, what Christ has accomplished. Won't this affect the way you
live? Of course it does. Of course it does. This is my
life. This is my all. Now, I can say
to every believer, your iniquity has been pardoned. Not it will
be if, it's already been. Your warfare has already been
accomplished. Isaiah chapter 40 verses 1 and
2, that's the comfort that is given to God's people. Colossians 2, 9 and 10 says,
For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you
are complete in him." He doesn't say you're complete if you do
something. He says you are complete in him. This is the declaration of what
he has accomplished. It's finished. Remember our Lord's
words from the cross, it's finished. Quit thinking about what you
need to do. It is finished. It is accomplished. The salvation
of God's people is not found in the word do, but done. It is finished. Now this is gospel preaching,
Aeneas. Jesus Christ maketh thee whole. Now, the word maketh thee whole
is the same word translated healed in 1 Peter 2, 24. And in Luke
9, 11, we read, he healed them that had need of healing. Now, is this the gospel you need? What I'm talking about is, is
this what you personally need? Now, I can say this about myself. I am needy. I need the Bible
to be the Word of God. It claims to be the Word of God.
I need for it to be. Because if this is not the Word
of God, we're left with my opinion and your opinion. And what good
is that going to do either one of us? I have to have a written
revelation from God that declares to me who He is, who I am, and
how He saves sinners like me. I need the Bible to be the Word
of God. I need God to be God. You know,
the little God that I hear preach that wants things and can't get
them done unless we let Him, that God won't do me any good.
I need God to be absolutely sovereign, whose will is always done. I need this God to elect me. Now, the Bible teaches the election
of grace that God chose a people before time began to be saved.
Well, I see the Bible teaches that, but I need it. I know if
he doesn't choose me, I'll never choose him because of my sinfulness.
I need him to elect me. I need Jesus Christ to make full
payment for my sins so that all my sins are gone and I stand
before God perfect through what he did. I need that. If you tell
me that Jesus Christ can die for me and I might wind up in
hell anyway if I don't do my part, that won't do me any good.
I need him to completely save me. I need God's grace to be
invincible and irresistible and give me life and to preserve
me. I need, the whole need, not a
physician, but they that are sick. I'm one of these people
that needs a physician. What I'm preaching is what I
need. This is what I need to hear. I need to hear, just like
Anais sitting there in his bed, unable to get up, I need to hear
the power of the Gospel say, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole. You're perfect and complete in
Him. And then Peter commanded him
to do what he could not do. Let's look back in our text.
And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole. Arise and make thy bed, and he
arose immediately. You see, when you've been made
whole, you can do what you formerly could not do. Now, in order to
come to Christ, I'm gonna have to be given life to do so. In
order to believe the gospel, I'm gonna have to be given life
to do so. By grace you are saved through faith. There's no salvation
apart from faith. He says, is that not of yourselves?
It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
Now, I need repentance. I can't repent unless I'm granted
repentance. But when he gives life, you can
now do what you formerly could not do. I can now come to Christ. I couldn't until drawn by the
Father, but I can now. Somebody says, what do you mean
by coming to Christ? I mean believing on Him as all
that's needed to make me perfectly accepted before God. perfectly
justified, without sin, without guilt. I can look at judgment
without fear because I know I'm perfectly righteous in Christ. When you come to Christ, that
means you believe that who he is and what he did is all that's
needed to make you perfect before God. And he is, rise up right
now. And he did. He rose immediately. Now, what is the evidence that
God has done something for you? What is the evidence that you
are somebody that Christ died for and has put away your sins? What is the evidence that you're
somebody that God the Holy Spirit has given life to? There's one
evidence, faith in Christ. Now, if you look at your life
and say, well, I think God has done something for me because
of how holy I am and how different I am and the changed life that
I can now bring to the table. That's not believing on Christ.
That's believing in yourself. That's not trusting Christ. That's
not trusting his work. That's rejoicing in something
you have done and even God has enabled you to do. You're no
different than the Pharisee saying, God, I thank thee. that I'm not
as other men are. He was giving God the credit,
but he wasn't looking to Christ. He wasn't looking to the atonement,
the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ as the only reason he
could be accepted. He wasn't looking at the righteousness
of Christ as his only righteousness. He was thinking about how well
he lived. I thank thee that I'm not as
other men are. Now, the evidence of life The
evidence that God has done something for you, the evidence that Christ
has put away your sins is faith in Christ. Sirs, what must I
do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Whoso believeth that Jesus is
the Christ is born of God. Now, the Christ, He's God's prophet
and he's like no other prophet because he never said, thus saith
the Lord. He said, I say unto you. He's
God's priest. But he's like no other priest.
All other priests brought the blood of an animal. Sacrifice,
he brings his own blood to God. He's God's king. And he's like
no other king. Every other king has borrowed
authority. He has inherit authority in himself because of who he
is. He's the Lord of lords and the
king of kings. And if you believe that he's
God's prophet, he's the word of God, he's God's priest, if
he brings you into God's presence, you must be saved. He's God's
king, he wills your salvation. He's got the power and the authority
to command your salvation. That's what it is to believe
on Christ. It's to trust his offices as
prophet, priest, and king as all that's needed to bring you
to God. Now here's true preaching. True
preaching is not God offering you something or making it available
and it's up to you to accept it or reject it. True preaching
is a declaration of what He has done and commanding you to believe
on Him. Let me say something about what's
going on right now, this coronavirus. God sent the coronavirus. There are secondary causes, tertiary
causes, I realize that, but God is sovereign. He is in control
of everything. He said in Isaiah 45 verse 7,
I form the light, I create darkness. I make peace. I create evil. I, the Lord, do
all these things. And that's why I am at rest. I want to be careful, but He's
the one that sent this. And the second thing I'd like
to say is, this is not God's judgment upon the world. Now
God is holy, and you and I deserve to be punished everlastingly
by him, but God's judgment is in hell, it's not on earth. If
you hear preachers try to scare people with this news of this
coronavirus, it's foolishness. God is in control of this. I
don't know what all his purpose is, but he knows. And this is
not God's judgment against certain sins. And anytime a preacher
presents himself like that, it's almost like he's exempt from
that judgment. Listen, I deserve God's judgment, and so do you.
But judgment takes place in hell, not here on earth. And thirdly,
with regard to this coronavirus that God has sent
us, may we all be enabled to be like the Good Samaritan and
help in any way we can. And that is my take on this,
and I hope that's helpful. This is Todd Nivert, praying
that God will be pleased to make himself known to you. That's
our prayer. To receive a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send a request to todd.neibert at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.