Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyvert. 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 Nyvert. In 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3,
the Apostle Paul makes this statement to the Church of Corinth, I fear,
lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety,
through his deceit, speaking of the fall in Genesis 3, So your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ. I've entitled this message,
The Simplicity That Is In Christ. And it's my prayer that everyone
listening to this message will be enabled by the grace of God
to rejoice in the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. And this was Paul's great fear
for the church of Corinth, and it's my fear for myself, and
it's my fear for everybody else, being corrupted from the simplicity,
the singleness, the onlyness of Christ. I've taken a lot of multiple
choice tests, and I don't know how many times I've looked at
the choices, and I didn't know which one to make. They all seemed
pretty much the same to me, and I would just take a stab at it.
I guess there's generally four, A, B, C, and D, and I'd at least
have a 25% chance of getting one of them right. But the choice
that was involved, it was complicated. You've probably taken tests like
that. There's complications. Well, that's the way I look at
religion. It's complicated. There's so
many choices involved. You have the world's seven great
religions. Christianity is supposed to be
the biggest one, 2.4 billion adherents. All of these seven great religions
claim to be right. I asked Siri how many religions
there are in the world and Siri said there are 4,300 definable
religions. Let's just forget all the other
religions for just a moment. Think about all the choices involved
in Christianity. You have Eastern Christianity,
Western Christianity. You have Protestant. You have
Catholic. You have charismatic. Make your
choice. What about the different denominations? They're Baptists, they're Methodists,
they're Presbyterians, they're Lutherans, Church of Christ,
Church of God, on and on. We could name these different
denominations, all of which claim to have a clearer view of the
truth than the other. All these choices involved. even within a denomination. Look
how many divisions there are. How many different kinds of Baptists
are there? There are free will Baptists,
Southern Baptists, Reformed Baptists, go on and on. There's a division
within even one denomination. Think about the attitudes toward
worship. Well, you have a contemporary
worship. You can have music and drums
and rock and roll, and then you can have traditional worship.
Take your pick. Which one are you most comfortable
with? Some churches even have both. We have both. You come
to one service, you can have traditional. You can come to
another service, you can have contemporary. What about difference
in doctrines? The issue of how does God save
sinners? You could get a hundred different
answers to that question. a thousand different answers.
What must I do to be saved? That's what the Philippian jailer
asked, and you can have so many different answers from so many
different religions. But I'm so glad the gospel is
not multiple choice. It's very simple. It's sublime,
it's transcendent, but it's very simple. Now let's look at the
context of this statement Paul makes. He says in verse 1 of
2 Corinthians 11, Would to God you could bear with me a little
in my folly, my foolishness, and indeed bear with me. Now
what's he talking about? Over and over again in the church
at Corinth he had to defend himself. He said in verse 16, I say again,
let no man think me a fool, if otherwise yet as a fool receive
me, that I may boast myself a little. These false prophets were demeaning
the Apostle Paul. The Church of Corinth, to some
extent, were receiving what they said. And he's boasting himself. He's commending himself. And
he says, I know it's foolishness. You've forced me to do it. as
a fool receive me, bear with me, he says in verse 2, for I
am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. This is a good kind
of jealousy. For I have espoused you to one
husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ,
somebody who looks only to Christ. They don't look outside of the
covenant. But, he says, I fear, lest by
any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, Now
let's camp there for just a moment, and I'm going to go to Genesis
chapter 3 to see what took place when the serpent beguiled Eve
through his subtlety. We read in verse 1 of chapter
3, Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which
the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea,
hath God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Now, God did not say that. God said, there's one tree you're
not to eat of, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You're not to eat of that tree.
That was symbolic of God's authority over them. And they were not
to eat of that tree. But Satan amended what God said
and said, did he say you can't eat of every tree? No, he didn't
say that, and the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat
of the fruit of the trees of the garden, God's given us free
reign over all these wonderful fruits that we're enabled to
eat, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of
the garden, God has said you should not eat of it, neither
shall you touch it, lest you die. Now, I understand why she
might have thought it shouldn't be touched, because God said,
don't eat of it. And I guess it's reasonable to
think if you shouldn't eat it, you shouldn't touch it. But still,
it's never good to add to what God said. God didn't say, or
we don't have a record of him saying, don't touch it. And I
think that this is where touch, not taste, not handle, not religion
comes from. But she said, don't touch it,
lest you die. And then the serpent said unto
the woman, you shall not surely die. You don't need to worry
about that. It's not going to take place.
I know God said you'll die, but you will not surely die. And
it could be that he had a piece of that fruit eating it in front
of her at that time, the fruit of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil. Maybe she saw him eating it and saw, well,
he's not dying. Verse five, For God doth know
that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened,
and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Now here's what's
going to happen if you eat of that fruit from the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, it's going to make you like God. God
knows that. He's trying to keep that from
happening. You see, if you eat that fruit, you'll know good
and you'll know evil. And you will be able to choose
the good over the evil. And that's what's going to make
you like God. God knows both, and He chooses
the good over the evil. Now, if you eat of this fruit,
you'll be like God. You'll know good and evil, and
you'll choose the good over the evil. Now, that sounds good,
doesn't it? That sounds good. I understand
Eve being deceived. That sounds very reasonable.
What he was actually tempting her with was free will. You'll
have a free will. You'll be able to choose the
good over the evil, and that's what's going to make you like
God. Your choice, knowing good and evil, and making the correct
choice. Now, when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
and a tree that was pleasant to the eyes, a tree desired to
make one wise, that's the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life. She took of the fruit thereof,
and did eat, and gave also unto her husband. And he did eat,
and the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew they were
naked." The Fall has taken place. Now, they were naked before this
had taken place, but it wasn't an issue because they didn't
have a sinful nature. But when Adam ate of the fruit, they became
dead in sins. That's their sinful nature. Remember
the Lord said, in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely
die. They died that very day. Now, back to our text in 2 Corinthians
11. Verse 3, I fear, Paul says, lest
by any means as the serpent beguile thee through his subtlety, through
his deceit, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity
that is in Christ. Now, Christ is simple. Now that doesn't mean Christ is sublime. He's other. He's altogether glorious. He's
transcendent. But the Christ and his gospel
is simple, singular, onlyness. They're not two different options. Now, when I corrupt something,
I add something to it. If I have a gallon of distilled
water, And I add a drop of gasoline, it's no longer distilled water.
It has been corrupted. And that's what Paul is talking
about when he's talking about being corrupted from the simplicity
that's in Christ. It's seen by the word and, Christ
and. Not Christ alone, Christ and. Now the gospel is very simple. By that it's not hard to understand. Now that doesn't mean that I
intellectually grasp how God can be one God and three distinct
persons, and how God became flesh. I believe, I believe. I don't
intellectually grasp it, but I believe it with all my heart.
I believe everything this book says. Now, let me make a few
statements to show you the simplicity of what I'm speaking of. Second,
Timothy chapter three, verse 16 says, all scripture is given
by inspiration of God. Now, that means everything in
the Bible is inspired by God. Now, that?s easy to understand
what I?m saying. You might not believe it. You
might reject that and disagree with it, but it?s easy to understand
what?s being said. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. And I tell you, when things get very Complicated and
convoluted is when you say the Bible contains the Word of God,
and all of a sudden it's up to you to figure out which part
is of God and which part is of man. No, all Scripture is given
by inspiration of God. You understand that? When I say
that the will of God is the cause of everything, you understand
what I'm saying. Now, you might not agree with
it, but the will of God is the cause of creation. He willed
creation into existence. The will of God is the cause
of everything that happens in time and providence. God is the
first cause behind everything. And I mean everything. And God's
will is the cause of salvation. If you're saved, it's because
He willed your salvation. You wouldn't have been saved
without Him willing your salvation if you're saved. Now, that's
easy to understand what is being said. I'll tell you when it gets
convoluted is when you take God's will out of some aspect of that
equation. Well, if God's not controlling
it, who is? You understand that. When we speak of the Scriptures,
speaking of men being dead in sins, that means unable to save
themselves, unable to do anything to save themselves. You know
what that means. You might not agree with it,
but you know what's being said. It's very simple. It's not hard
to understand. When the Bible speaks of God
choosing who would be saved before time began, election. Somebody
says, that's deep. No, it's just so. And you understand
that. You might not agree with it.
You might say, I don't believe that. But you know what it means
when the Bible says God chose who would be saved before time
began. To speak of the death of Christ,
Christ's death is successful. Everybody he died for must be
saved. He put away the sins of everybody He died for. Somebody
says, are you implying that He didn't die for everybody? Well,
no, I'm not implying it. I'm saying it. And you know what
that means. You might not like it. You might
disagree with it, but you know what it means. Christ died for
the elect and actually accomplished their salvation. He didn't make
salvation available. He saved. God's grace saves. It's not an offer. God's grace
saves. It's irresistible. It's invincible. If He gives His grace to you,
you will receive it. Somebody says, well, I've not
received it, then He never gave it to you. God's grace saves. You know what
that means. That's the point I'm making.
That's very easy. It's very simple to understand. God is God. He is who He says
He is. God made this world for Christ
only. The reason for creation is for
the glory of Jesus Christ. All things were made by him and
for him. And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist. That is the onlyness of Jesus
Christ. God had only one reason for creating
the universe. the glory of Jesus Christ. We
were talking about the fall earlier. Could God have prevented Adam
and Eve from falling? Of course He could. He's God.
He didn't, though. Why didn't He? It was a part
of His purpose for the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world
to come into time and be slain. You see, if there were no fall,
there would be no cross, and the cross is the great manifestation
of the glory of God. God is in control. There isn't
anything He's not in control of. Everything happens according
to Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will. God is a God of purpose, and
His purpose is the glory of His Son, and the cross is the single
The cross of Christ, Christ crucified, that is the single counsel of
God. That's His purpose for everything.
That's the glory of Jesus Christ. Now the book that we call the
Bible has only one message. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There's only one message. What
about all those stories in the Old Testament? Well, if you just
look at them as separate stories of strange things that happened
in the past, I can see where you'd be confused by that. But every one of these stories
are given to illustrate the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
here is an example. In Genesis chapter 16, you have
the story of Abraham and Sarah and Hagar and Ishmael. And it's
how Abraham and Sarah had not yet had a child, and God had
promised they would. said to Abraham, it looks like
we're going to have to do our part because nothing's happening.
You go into Hagar, my servant, and you have a child through
her, and he did, Ishmael, and through this God's promise will
take place. Now, would you have ever looked
at that and thought, well, that picture's the gospel. Yet, in
Galatians chapter four, Paul said it represents law and grace,
the two covenants. Abraham and Sarah doing their
part by having Abraham go into Hagar and they had Ishmael through
that, that represents salvation by works, man doing his part. But Sarah having the baby supernaturally,
after she'd already gone through menopause. It's all a work of
God. That represents the covenant
of grace. Now, I wouldn't have read Genesis
16 and thought, well, long grace is there, unless God's Word told
me it was. But that lets us know that every
one of these stories are given to illustrate some aspect of
gospel truth. Paul said, I determine not to
know anything among you. say, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's my only message, and everything
in the Bible points to the Lord Jesus Christ in the gospel. The
Bible only has one message, and if I don't see that, I've not
really had an understanding of the scriptures. All doctrine
is summarized as the doctrine of Christ. Whatever doctrine
you're dealing with in the scripture, it's the doctrine of Christ.
It's given to exalt Him. For instance, we were talking
about election a few minutes ago. Ephesians 1 verse 4 says,
according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. You don't divorce election from
being united to Jesus Christ. We were chosen in Him. I wasn't
chosen, God didn't choose me independently of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I was chosen in Him. When you
talk about justification, I'm justified by His righteousness. He is my justification. He was
delivered for our offenses. He was raised again for our justification. When He was raised from the dead,
all of the elect were justified. He made it to where we don't
have any sin. He put away all of our sin and
gives us perfect righteousness before God. He's all in redemption. redeemed by His blood. He is
made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
He is my redemption. He is my sin payment. He is my
standing before God. He's all in faith. He's the object of faith. He's
all in repentance. We repent of anything that's
contrary to Him. We change our mind concerning
anything that's contrary to Him. He's all in perseverance. We
persevere by looking to Him only. Every doctrine is the doctrine
of Christ, and there's nothing that is independent of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I love the way the Philippian
jailer asked Paul and Silas, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Now, he didn't say, what must
I do to save myself? He knew he couldn't save himself.
He said, what must I do to be saved? And Paul answered, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. I hear this from preachers so
often, well, trust Christ and turn from your sins. Well, you
ought to turn from your sins, but as soon as I say that, all
you think about is, I need to turn from my sins, and you're
not, you forget Christ. It's Christ alone, not Christ
and anything. It's Christ alone. We have a
simple object of faith, Christ alone, and if I add anything
to that, I've been corrupted from the simplicity that's in
Christ Jesus. We have a very single, simple
reason for being saved. I'm not saved because I do anything.
I'm saved by grace. We believe that through the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved. The only way any sinner
is saved is by grace, not because of their works. By grace are
you saved. Not by grace is offered to you,
by grace you are saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves,
that faith, it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man
should boast. We have a simple, single reason
for being forgiven. I'm not forgiven because I ask
for forgiveness, although I have, but I'm not forgiven because
of that. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32 says, Be ye kind, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven
you. The only reason for my forgiveness
is for Christ's sake. You see, I was forgiven before
I ever asked for forgiveness. Now, when I asked forgiveness,
you know what I found out? I was forgiven for Christ's sake.
You see, the gospel begins with the complete forgiveness of sins. It doesn't end there. If you
do this, this, this, and this, you'll be forgiven. No, no. God
forgives sins for Christ's sake. And the evidence that he's forgiven
you is you believe that salvation is for Christ's sake, and you
rely only on him. We have a single reason for not
being condemned. Who is he that condemneth, Paul
said? It's Christ that died. No other reason is needed. Christ accomplished salvation,
and everybody he died for cannot be condemned. I stand perfect
in God's sight. Now, it becomes very convoluted
if you say that Christ can die for somebody and then wind up
in hell anyway. Then you think, well, what saves
him? The death of Christ doesn't, but no. Everybody he died for
is not condemned. There is therefore now. no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. We have a single reason for justification. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. He is my justification before
God. I have a single reason for all
God gives me. He that spared not his own son,
Romans 8, 32, he that spared not his own son but delivered
him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give
us all things? I have a simple ground of assurance,
and here it is. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. I'm a sinner, therefore I know
He came to save me. I fit the description of the
people He came to save. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. I'm a sinner, He came to save
me. And He never fails in what He
comes to do. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. I have a single
faith, looking unto Him only, looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. We have a single motive for obedience,
not in order to gain a reward or to avoid punishment. I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me, and the life I live in the flesh, I live by the faith
of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. What are the reasons needed?
We have a single objective. Paul put it this way in Philippians
chapter 3 verse 9, Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in him. So that when God comes looking
for me, all he sees is Jesus Christ being found in him. I don't want to be found in any
other way but in Him, so that all God sees is Christ. We have a single objective, a
single hope for Judgment Day. I love what John said. He said,
we can have boldness on the Day of Judgment for this reason.
1 John 4, 17, as He is, so are we in this world. You can put it this way. Christ
alone. The Bible alone, grace alone,
faith alone. Put the word and in, and you've
been corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. May
we be enabled by God's grace to rejoice in the simplicity,
the singleness, the onlyness of Christ. All God requires of
me, I have in His Son, lacking nothing. We have this message
on CD and DVD. Write to the church, we'll send
you one. This is Todd Nyberg, 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.nyberg at gmail.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.