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. In 2 Timothy 2, verse 16, we
read these words. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself,
and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given
us everlasting consolation. eternal consolation. Now, the us refers to all who
believe, all of the elect of God, all those he has given saving
faith to. Those are the ones he has loved,
those he chose before time began and set his love upon them. But
Paul tells us that he has given these people everlasting consolation. Now, that word is eternal. It never had a beginning. It
will never end. Now, I'm going to be talking
about things that are astonishing when I try to talk about eternity.
Time began in creation. Before creation, there was no
time. All there was was God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit dwelling in unity by themselves
with no needs. There was no creation. They didn't
need to create. They did as an act of the will,
but there was a time when there was no time, if I can speak that
way. no past, no future, only the
eternal present, eternity. And God has given every one of
His people eternal consolation, a consolation that has no Now,
I was trying to think about this thing of comfort or consolation,
and I was looking in the scriptures to see what I could find out
with regard to comfort, the comfort of the gospel. And it's interesting
to note that God the Holy Spirit is called the comforter. And
when I was looking up the different passages on comfort, this passage
of scripture just stuck out to me. that God has given us eternal
comfort, a comfort that has no beginning, a comfort that has
no end. And as I thought about that,
I thought the only thing that gives me true comfort is that
which is eternal. That blows my mind to think about
it because I can't really grasp this thing of eternity, but it's
still true. The only thing that gives me true comfort is that
which is eternal. Now, all men know innately and
intuitively that God is and that nobody made him. He is eternal. Everybody is born into this world
with that knowledge. Now, I realize that there are
many people who would call themselves atheists, but they didn't begin
that way. They did not like the implications
of God. Therefore, they said there is
no God. And it takes a greater leap of
blind faith to deny the existence of God than it does to believe
that God is. Believing that God is really
is the only thing that makes sense. God is, and God is eternal. But I think of the implications
of atheism. If atheism would be true, that
would mean that this life is meaningless. This life is random. There are no absolutes. There are no moral absolutes.
There's no right and wrong. This is a very lonely place. But God is, and God is eternal. There's no comfort in atheism.
There's really no comfort in religion. Religion, somebody
says, what do you mean by that? Well, religion is man's search
for God, what you need to do to find God. And there's really
no comfort in that because you can't find God when it comes
right down to it. Religion is a message of the
things you need to do to find God and connect with God. And
it's salvation by works. If you do this, God will do that.
And there's no comfort in that. When have you done enough? What
is it exactly you're supposed to do? There's no comfort in
religion. There's no comfort in atheism.
There's no comfort in religion. But there is comfort in the gospel
of grace. Now the gospel is not a religion.
Christianity is a religion. But the gospel of grace, the
gospel of Christ, is not a religion. But let me read some words that
tell you what the comfort of the gospel is from Isaiah chapter
40. God says in Isaiah chapter 40
to the prophet Isaiah, comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith
your God, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her,
that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins." Now, here is comfort.
This is what comforts me, for me to hear that my warfare is
accomplished. It's ended. I've been given victory. My iniquity is pardoned. Not my iniquity will be pardoned
if I fill in the blank. Not my warfare is accomplished
if I fill in the blank, whatever it might be. No, these are absolutes. My warfare is ended. my iniquity
is pardoned. Now, that is what gives true
comfort to my soul, and the only thing that is truly comfortable
about that is that it is eternal. It's eternal. All of God's salvation
is eternal because God is eternal. Everything he does must be eternal.
If my warfare is accomplished, it was eternally accomplished.
If my iniquity is pardoned, it's pardoned because of the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Now, the one constant
in our temporal lives is change. I see it in myself, I see it
in everybody I know, I see it in everything. The songwriter
said, change and decay in all around I see, O thou that changest
not, abide with me. Now God is eternal. He never began to be. He's not
bound by space the way you and I are. We can't be two places
at once. He's omnipresent. He's not bound by space. He's
not bound by time the way you and I are. We see everything
in a sequence of events. We have a past. We have a present. We have a future we're thinking
of anyway, but not with God. All things with God are in the
eternal now. There is no past, there is no
future, only now. Now, somebody says, we cannot
understand anything like that. Should we ever even be thinking
about it? Well, listen to the words of the Apostle Paul in
2 Corinthians 4. He says, while we look not at
things which are seen, is 2 Corinthians 4, verse 18, we look not at things
which are seen, but things which are not seen. That's what we're
looking at, things which are not seen. For the things which
are seen are temporal. They're temporary. They're not
going to last. Everything you see right now
is gonna be gone. It's gonna be burned up. It's
not gonna last. It's temporary. But the things
which are not seen are eternal. Now, that's what Paul says we're
to look to, not things which are seen which are temporary,
but things which are not seen which are eternal. Hebrews 4,
verse 3 says, all the works, everything that's done in time
were finished before the foundation of the world. All the works of
salvation were finished before the foundation of the world,
before there was ever such a thing as time. Listen to this scripture. 2 Timothy 1, 9, Paul says, He
saved us and He called us. Now, which came first, the saving
or the calling? The saving. He saved us and called
us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according
to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. Everything that the believer
possesses, every aspect of salvation that every believer has in Christ
Jesus was given to him or her before the foundation of the
world, before there was such a thing as time or creation. God's elect have always been
known by him. He said before I formed thee
in the belly, I knew thee, whom he did foreknow. them he also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren." Now, this scripture,
I don't know of a scripture that's more precious to me, 2 Samuel
23, 5, where David is giving his last words, and he says,
although my house be not so with God, Yet hath he made with me
an everlasting covenant, one that never had a beginning, one
that will never have an end. And he said regarding this covenant
that was made in eternity, this is all my salvation. This is all my desire, though
he make it not to grow. All of God's salvation is in
Christ, and it is eternal. There's a passage of scripture
in Hebrews chapter 12 that it's very important for us to understand. Let me turn there, beginning
in verse 27. And this word yet once more signifying
the removing of those things that are shaken, those things
that are unstable, those things that can be shaken. As of things
that are made, anything created can be shaken. Anything created
is unstable. the removing of those things
that are shaken, as of those things that are made, that those
things which cannot be shaken. And the only thing that cannot
be shaken is that which is eternal, that which God has done. Only that will remain. Now there's a a line of a song
that says, life is fleeting, it will soon be past, only what's
done for Christ will last. Now, what have you done for Christ
that you think is going to last? Here's the way this should read. Life is fleeting, will soon be
past. Only what's done by Christ shall
last. My salvation is what He has done
for me. Not what I've done for Him. What
He has done for me. Now, I am complete in Him. I have a salvation that had no
beginning. I have a salvation that will have no end because
it's in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is eternal. And that's why I said it's only
that which is eternal that gives me any comfort at all. Now listen
to this scripture from Ecclesiastes 3.14. The wise man said, I know
that whatsoever God doeth is forever. And salvation is what
God does. I know that whatsoever God does
shall be forever, nothing can be put to it, nothing can be
taken from it, and God doeth it that men should fear before
him. Now this is that which is eternal,
that which God has done. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. Now notice it doesn't say God
knows what his works will be. known unto God are all His works
from the beginning. I love to think of the Lord Jesus
Christ standing as my surety and guaranteeing my salvation
before time began as the surety of the eternal covenant. Now,
that's how My comfort, that's where my comfort
is, that Christ took full responsibility for my salvation, and God has
always looked to Christ with regard to me. He's always, He
doesn't look to anything out of me, He looks to His Son for
everything, and that is what gives me comfort. Now this word
eternal, He talks about this eternal comfort, This word eternal
is most often connected with eternal life. 71 times eternal
is found in the New Testament and 41 of those times it has
to do with eternal life. Now this eternal life is a life
that didn't have a beginning. It's a life that's always been,
it's eternal. That's because of union with the Lord Jesus
Christ. I've always, every believer has
always been in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is eternal, our
eternal union with the Lord Jesus Christ. His life, this is my
life before God. This is why I have confidence
with regard to Judgment Day. When my name is called, Read
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, that's my life. The life of the
Lord Jesus Christ, His personal righteousness, His personal obedience
to His Father is my personal obedience. Just as my sin became
His sin, and He suffered and died on the cross, His righteousness,
His obedience, His perfection becomes mine, and it is eternal. Now, in our experience in time,
seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, so on.
There was a time when we were not saved. In our experience
in time, there was a time when we were not saved. We didn't
know God. And then the Lord saved us in time. But this began way
before our experience. This began in the council halls
of eternity when the elect were given to Christ and he bore complete
responsibility for their salvation. Ephesians 1 verse 4 says, according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him. All of our
salvation is comprehended in this thing of eternal union with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now listen to this scripture,
and we know, this is Romans 8, 28 through 30, and we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God to
them who are thee called according to his purpose. For whom he did
foreknow, them 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. That happened
in time. whom he called, them he also
justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified." It doesn't
say he will glorify them. He says they were glorified.
Everybody he foreknew. This is a complete salvation
that was accomplished in the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Now, that's the only thing that
gives me comfort, is this thing of an eternal salvation. Now, we read in the scriptures,
in Romans 16, verse 25, of the eternal mystery. The eternal
mystery. You know, all of the gospel is
a mystery. Now that doesn't mean it's something
we don't know. We do know it, but we would have
never known it had God not revealed it in His Word. of the mystery
of the Trinity, the mystery of the Incarnation, Christ being
made flesh, the mystery of marriage being a picture of the relationship
between Christ and His Church. There's so much mystery, and
it's eternal. It never had a beginning. And
we read of the everlasting covenant. In Hebrews 13, verse 20, we read
of the blood of the everlasting covenant. The reason God's people
who are included in that covenant will be saved is because of the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the blood of the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. This is that same covenant David
spoke of when he said, although my house be not so with God,
and he could have meant his family, they were a mess. They were a
mess. You think you have problems in
your family? David had bigger problems. He could have been
talking about this house. The house of our body, housing
our soul and our new man, it's sinful. It's sinful. Although
my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, and this is all my
salvation and all my desire, though he make it not to grow.
Now, what did he mean by that, though he make it not to grow?
Did David believe in growth and grace? Of course he did. The
Bible teaches growth and grace in the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. I want to grow in the fruit of
God the Spirit. I want to grow in the Beatitudes.
Where there's not growth, there's not life. All of God's people
grow in that sense. So what did he mean when he said,
though he make it not to grow? Here's something I don't grow
in. I don't grow in holiness. I don't grow in righteousness. To say you become more holy or
more righteous is the same thing as saying you can be less holy
and less righteous. And most people, when they speak
of growth, they're thinking, well, I've become less sinful
and more holy. Not me. And no believer will
make that claim. I know that in my flesh dwells
no good thing. I'm just as sinful as I've ever
been. Now, I've got a new nature. I've got a new man that wasn't
there before. But I'm not growing in holiness. I'm growing in righteousness.
I am righteous. I am holy. These things know
of no degrees. I'm as holy as I'll be in heaven,
and the only difference in heaven is I won't have this sinful nature
anymore. That'll be taken away. I'm not going to be any more
righteous in heaven than I am right now, because the righteousness
of Jesus Christ is my righteousness before God, and that is all included
in the eternal Covenant, the everlasting covenant sealed by
the blood of Christ. We read in Hebrews 5.9 of an
eternal salvation. We read in Hebrews 6.2 of an
eternal judgment. If Christ is the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world, judgment is eternal. My sin was
judged and condemned and I was saved in the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world in the eternal judgment of God.
We read in Hebrews 9.12 of the eternal redemption. And we read
in Hebrews 9.15 of an internal inheritance, an inheritance. How many times has somebody made
a will, and they died, and what they intended for their money
or property or lands, it didn't get carried out. The kids started
fighting, people started fighting. Somebody wanted this, somebody
wanted that. They hire a lawyer and that inheritance is not carried
out. I don't know how many times that's
happened. It's not going to happen here. You see, God's people have
an eternal inheritance. Something that's eternal is immutable. It can't be changed. It can't
be taken away. That's why I say the only thing
that gives me comfort is that which is eternal, the internal
inheritance. Now, what I've been talking about,
I want to conclude by saying something about this. What I've
been talking about is impossible to understand. And it's the only
thing that makes sense. Somebody says, that's contradictory.
Well, it might be, but it's not really. It might be contradictory
to our corrupt logic, but it is impossible for a creature
of time to understand eternity. I realize that, but it's also
true that it's the only thing that makes sense. Only that which
is eternal is that which can give me true comfort. Now our
need, listen to this real carefully. Our need is not to figure out
whether or not we are included in this covenant. I don't need
to know first that I'm elect and then I can believe. I don't
need to know first that Christ died for me, then I can trust.
No, not at all. My responsibility and your responsibility
before God is to believe the truth. To believe that Jesus
Christ is the uncreated, second person of the Trinity, the Son
of God. To believe that He is God's prophet,
God's priest, and God's king. You don't need to figure out
whether or not you're one of the elect. You and I are called
upon, you ought to believe the truth, amen? You ought to believe
the truth. You ought to believe what God
says. And you and I are called on to look to Christ only. In 1 Timothy 1.15, Paul made
this glorious statement. This is a faithful saying. and
it's worthy of all acceptation. You can rely on this, and everybody
ought to receive this. I don't care who you are. I don't
care what your state in life is. Everybody ought to receive
this. It's the greatest news they've ever heard. This is a
faithful saying. It's worthy of all acceptation
that Christ Jesus came into the world. Oh, I'm so thankful He
came into the world, aren't you? Christ Jesus came into the world
for this purpose, to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. Now, here's what I want to do. Lord, you said in your word that
your son came to save sinners." Lord, I am a sinner. Save me. You said he came to
save sinners. I'm a sinner, therefore I'm relying
on what you said, that He came to save me." Now, somebody says,
what's that got to do with eternity? Everything. It's the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. But my hope is not that I can
see my place in eternity. My hope is that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. I'm one of them. He came to save
me. 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
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