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've entitled this morning's
message, Christ's Love for His Church. I'm going to read from
Ephesians chapter 5, verses 25 through 27. Husbands, love your
wives. even as Christ also loved the
church and gave himself for it, 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."
My, what an amazing passage of Scripture. Christ's love for
His church. Now, in Ephesians chapter 5,
verses 22 through 33, Paul is giving this great statement with
regard to marriage. And if you want to know what
a successful marriage looks like, look at Ephesians 5, verses 22
through 33. I brought a message on this at
the church at which I pastor, a biblical marriage. But I want
us to notice that he says in verse 31 of this chapter, For
this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall
be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh.
This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and
the church. Marriage is a God-ordained thing,
and it's given to illustrate the relationship between Christ
and His church. The church is His bride. The church is His wife. We read of the Lamb's wife and
the Lamb's bride in the book of Revelation. The church is
His bride. Now, the love of Christ for His
church. He gave Himself. That's everything. He gave Himself. When wives are called on to submit
themselves unto their husbands, Ephesians 5.22 says, wives, submit
yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. People say,
well, that's out of date. No, it's not. You're submitting as
unto the Lord. And that doesn't mean you're unequal. It means
that, well, the great example of submission is the son submitting
to the father. He's equal with God. He's not
in any way inferior to the father. He is God. Yet, his whole life
was that of submission. He willingly submitted himself
to his father. Now, the wives are called on
to submit to their husbands, and that can only be done because
you want to. It's got to be willing. You can't be forced to. That's
not submission. It's because you want to do it.
And then he says in verse 25, husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. Now,
which commandment is easier to keep? Which one is more difficult? I think it's more difficult,
I know it's more difficult to love your wives as Christ loved
the church and gave Himself, gave His all for the church. Now, this is what is commanded
of every believing man, and this love far surpasses physical attraction,
infatuation, or even romantic love. Those things are nice,
but this is better. This is not a feeling, this is
love in action. Christ loved the church and gave
himself for it. Now, I've got to bring this out
before I get to what the text actually says. Most of what goes
on under the name Christianity And I'll be honest, I dislike
the word Christianity. It's one of the world's great
religions, and it's really not the gospel. It's a man-made term.
Yes, I love the name Christ, but I don't like the name Christianity.
But most of what goes on under the name of Christianity has
God loving all men without exception, Judas as well as Peter, God willing
the salvation of all men without exception, that's His desire.
Jesus Christ died to pay for the sins of all men without exception. And you know if that's the case,
When he was dying, he was dying for the sins of people who were
already in hell. That's ridiculous, isn't it? But the Holy Spirit,
according to this view, is desiring to save all men without exception,
seeking to woo men to believe the gospel, all men without exception. Now, That's not what the Bible
teaches. It's just not true. I know that God did not love
Esau because he said twice, Esau have I hated. And I've looked in some other
translations and they translate this, well, Esau have I loved
less. How can an infinite God love
less? That's impossible. God did not
love Esau. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. Thou, the psalmist said, thou
hatest all workers of iniquity. So to say that God loves all
men without exception is to say what the Bible never says. And
to say that Christ died for all men without exception, listen
to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, In verse 14,
I'm the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay
down my life for the sheep. Is everybody a sheep? He said
he laid down his life for the sheep. Look what he says in verse
26 of this same chapter. He said, but you believe not,
because you are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, not everybody's
a sheep. On Judgment Day there will be
sheep and there will be goats. Our Lord tells us that in Matthew
chapter 25. The sheep are those He laid His life down for. To say that God loves all men
the same and Christ died for all men the same and God wills
the salvation of all men the same and the Holy Spirit is calling
all men the same, it's saying something the Bible never says,
but let me tell you what it implies. It implies-well, it doesn't so
much imply it, it says it-salvation is ultimately dependent upon
the sinner. It's upon your works. Christ's death, God's love, the
work of the Holy Spirit's not enough. You've got to do something
to make it work. It's a denial of God's justice.
It says that God can punish the same sin twice. He punished it
in Christ on the cross, but He's going to turn around and punish
you if you don't do your part. That means-what's just about
that? There's nothing just about that. To punish for the same
sin twice? If I spend my time in prison for five years and
pay my debt, can I have to go back to prison for the same debt?
No. God will not punish for the same sin twice. It's a denial
of the immutability of God. It's saying He can love you and
turn around and send you to hell. He can change in His affection
toward you. It actually makes His love criminal. Now somebody says, what do you
mean by that? Well, let's say I have my daughter is playing
out in the street, and she's two or three years old, and I
see a car coming, and I say, get out of the street. Get out
of the street, but I'm not going to violate your free will. If
you don't want to get out of the street, I'm not going to
get you out of the street. And then the car comes and runs over. I didn't violate
her free will, but I loved her. What kind of love would that
be? I would be put in prison for that kind of love. I would
be incarcerated. That makes God's love utterly
meaningless, to say that He can love somebody and that person
can still end up going to hell. It's a denial that salvation
is all a grace, something you need to do. It's saying Christ
is a failure. If He intended to save everybody
and everybody's not saved, He failed in His intentions. It
limits the power of His atonement. It's limited by man's will. It
makes man's will sovereign over God's will. It says that there
was no actual satisfaction in the blood of Christ. You know
that scripture, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you? That
means the blood gave absolute satisfaction, nothing else is
needed. But he didn't say when I see your faith, or your works,
or your repentance, or your sincerity. He said when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. It robs Christ of getting all
the glory in salvation. The reason one man is saved and
another is not saved is not because of what Christ did for them,
it's what the one man did or received that the other man refused
to. It's putting the burden of salvation upon the sinner. You
no longer have the gospel. Now let me tell you what I hate
most about this concept of Christ dying for all men without exception,
and God loving all men without exception, and God willing the
salvation of all men with exception. It takes away the only hope I
have, because if Christ can die for a man and that man end up
in hell, I know where I'll be. I'll be in hell. The only hope
I have is that Jesus Christ made payment for my sins, and I owe
nothing before the law of God. He did it all. We sing that song,
Jesus paid it all. Most people believe Jesus paid
a half, the other half I owe. But no, Jesus paid it all. All
the dead I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow."
Now, let's look at what the text actually says. I don't think
there's a more sublime passage of Scripture in all God's Word
than this passage in Ephesians 5 that lets us know about marriage
and teaches us something about union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, it begins like this. Husbands,
love your wives even as Christ also loved the church. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, the uncreated Creator, the second person of the blessed
Trinity, God the Son. And Paul gives us his name, Christ,
means Messiah. It represents his offices, his
offices as prophet, priest, and king. That's what Christ means.
It's the one God has anointed as prophet, priest, and king. And Christ is utterly unique
as a prophet. Every other prophet said, thus
saith the Lord. He never said that. He said,
I say unto you. He is the Word of God. He's an utterly unique priest. Now, a priest is somebody that
brings men to God, and they offer blood sacrifices. of animals,
blood that can never take away sin. But this priest is the one
who offered his own blood to God. And his blood actually puts
away sin and makes everybody he represents accepted before
the Father. He's a king like no other king.
Every other king has borrowed authority. They're in the place
God has put them, and they really have no power at all. The powers
that be are ordained of God. They're used by God for His purposes. You know, I heard recently somebody
talked about the five most powerful men in the world. There are no
powerful men. Power belongeth unto the Lord,
and men are under His dominion. Earthly kings don't really have
power. He has power inherent in Himself. His will is always done because
of His power as the King of kings and Lord of lords. Now, that's
the Christ. who loved the church. Husbands, love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church. His bride, His elect, all included
in the name Jacob. Jacob have I loved. all whose names are written in
the land's book of life. I'd like to read a scripture
from Hebrews chapter 12 that tells us something of the church.
But you are come unto Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem, to innumerable company of angels, to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven."
and to God the judge of all and to the spirits of just men made
perfect." Now, the church is his bride, his elect. All men are not included in the
church. And this is a church in the sense
of the universal church, every member is saved. Any local church,
you have those who are saved and those who are lost. You have
wheat and tares. You have people who are real
and people who are not real. But in this church, Everyone
is saved. The church that Christ loved. Now, how did he love this church? What demonstrates his love? He
gave himself for her. And he did all of this voluntarily. The Lord Jesus Christ stood as
the surety for his church before time began. Now this is illustrated,
and at first it's true because he became surety of the better
covenant, the better testament, the covenant of grace he's the
surety of, and this is illustrated in the Old Testament when Jacob
did not want his youngest son, Benjamin, going down into Egypt.
Now, in order for them to get food, the men were going to have
to bring Benjamin and show him to Joseph. They didn't know that
he was king. They thought he was Pharaoh.
They didn't understand who he was. And so when they run out
of food, they say, we're going to have to go back to Egypt,
and we're going to have to bring Benjamin. And Jacob says, no, no. And then
Judah. And you know who Christ came
from, the tribe of Judah. Judah said, I'll be surety for him. Of my
hand shall you acquire him. bringing not before thee, let
me bear the blame forever." And that's exactly what Christ did.
He became surety for His people, and everything God required of
them, He looks to Christ for. I can't tell you the joy that
that gives me. I love what David said in 2 Samuel 23, verse 5,
his dying words. He said, Now, he voluntarily became my surety. He gave Himself. He voluntarily
took on flesh. He was not a man until that night
some 2,000 years ago when the Word was made flesh. And He took
upon Himself voluntarily all the limitations of the flesh.
Not sin, but all the limitations of the flesh. And he worked out
voluntarily. He placed himself under his own
law, and he voluntarily kept the law for me. as my representative,
surety, and substitute. And he voluntarily in Gethsemane's
garden drank of that cup, the cup of the sins of the elect.
The sins of the elect went into his own body. He bore our sins
in his own body on the tree. And he did this voluntarily because
he loved his bride. He was willing to take my sin
upon himself. He took my sin and my sorrows. He made them his very own. He
bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. Why,
he voluntarily died. When he died, it's because he
gave death permission to come and take him. And when he was
raised from the dead, every one of his precious children, his
bride, his church, they were all justified before God. And
right now, he voluntarily sits at the right hand of the Father,
making intercession, representing his people before his Father.
And it's not, when he's making intercession, it's not like saying,
well, Todd sinned, forgive him again. Know all He does is stand
before the Father as the great surety, and the Father is satisfied
with all of His children." Christ loved the church and gave Himself
for it. He did all of this willingly. And what happens as a result
of Him giving Himself for the church? Well, let's go on reading,
verses 26 and 27. Here's why He did it. 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." Any church where the gospel is
preached is a company of sinners, saved by grace, who are still
sinners. I think it's almost humorous
when someone leaves a church because they think, well, there's
too much sin in that church. Well, they're just blind to themselves.
The church doesn't look very glorious to the eyes of the flesh. It's sinners saved by grace,
but the Lord is going to make this a glorious church. not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. Now, in giving himself for the
church, he did so to sanctify her. That means to take something
ordinary and common and set it apart for holiness. The seventh
day was sanctified by God. It was no different than the
first six days, but when God made it different, it was. It's
other. It's separate. And every believer was separated
by God in an eternal election to be holy. made holy by what
Christ did, declared to be holy, made holy in the new birth. He
did what he did to make his church holy, to sanctify and cleanse
it. Now, the church needs cleansed.
And what cleanses? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. That is the cleansing of the
church. Now, I'm holy. I still need to be cleansed every
day. I've still got an old nature, a sinful nature, and I need to
be cleansed every day. And the cleansing comes through
the washing of water by the Word. Now, that's not talking about
baptism. That's talking about the cleansing
that comes from hearing the gospel once again. I get my feet dirty. I need to hear the gospel again. I need to have my feet washed
again. Hearing the gospel of a complete
salvation in Christ. Now let's go on reading. That
he might present it to himself, a glorious church. He said in John chapter 17, verse 22, the glory which thou
gavest me, I have given them. Now that's the glory the church
has, the glory that God the Father gave to the Son because of His
achievements. That's the glory God the Son gives to His people. His church is a glorious church. Romans 8, 29 and 30 says, for
whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate. to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified,
and whom he justified, them he also glorified." Now, that's
not talking about something that's going to happen in the future.
That's something that's right now. If Christ is glorified,
I am, too, as I'm united to him. Now, in my experience, I'm not
going to experience this till after death, when I have no more
sin to deal with, but I am already glorified in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ, that he might present it to himself a glorious
church. Child of God, you're glorious.
covered with the glory of Jesus Christ, that he might present
it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, no sin, not even the shadow of
sin. In the Song of Solomon, chapter
4, verse 7, we read, Thou art all fair, my love. This is the
Lord speaking to His church. Thou art all fair, my love, there
is no spot in thee." That's how completely saved the Lord's church
is. No spot, no wrinkle. Now a wrinkle is because of fallen
flesh, aging. No matter how pretty you are
right now, if you live long enough, you're going to be ugly. You're
going to be a bag of wrinkles. If you live long enough, that's
the fate of all flesh. It's because of a sinful nature
that's dying. but in this glorified state that
the believer has, not only they have no spot, no wrinkle, nothing
to mar the beauty within and without this glorified body that
they possess, nor any such thing, but that it should be holy and
without blemish. And this is the state of the
church right now, holy. As He is, so are we in the world. How is He? Well, I can say a
whole lot about that, but one thing. He's holy. He's holy. And Christ has made into us sanctification. Christ has made into us holiness.
This is the state of the church right now. Holy. And without blemish. Perfect. Now, how can I know
if this describes me? Let me give you four words. Are you a sinner? Are you one who needs this? Are
you a whosoever? And do you believe the gospel?
If you are a real sinner, Christ came to save sinners. If you
need this, he did this for you. If you're a whosoever, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord. Are you a whosoever? Yeah,
this is better, whosoever is better than said Todd Nybert.
That's my name, but there are other Todd Nyberts. It might
have been a different Todd Nybert, but I'm always a whosoever. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whoso believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. I'm not asking if you
believe that you're saved, or if you believe that you're elect,
or if you believe that Christ died for you. I'm asking you
if you believe that Jesus is the Christ. God's prophet, God's
priest, and God's king. Well, if you do, you're born
of God. That's what the Bible says. Somebody
says there's got to be something else. What do you want to add
to it? Take that for how it says that. Whoso believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. What a beautiful passage of scripture
of Christ's love for His church. Now we have this message on DVD,
CD. If you call the church, write,
email, we'll send you a copy. 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
your request to todd.nyberg at gmail.com. Or you may write or
call the church at the information provided on the screen.