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 Nibbert. In Matthew chapter 22, verse
42, the Lord says to the Pharisees, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? Now what God thinks about me
and you is seen by our answer to this question. What think
ye of Christ, whose Son is He? Christ is the Son of God. He's the only begotten Son of
God. And this begetting is not an
event of time, but an eternal fact irrespective of time. Christ is the Son of God. We read in John 5, verse 18,
therefore the Jews sought the Lord to kill him, because he
had not only broken the Sabbath, but also said that God was his
father, making himself equal with God. Now that is what is
meant by him being the son of God. He is equal with God. In him dwelleth all the fullness,
of the Godhead bodily. Now God is one God in three distinct
persons, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
That's impossible to understand. It can only be believed. Christ
Jesus is God the Son. I love the way Mark begins his
gospel. He doesn't tell us of the genealogy
of Christ. He doesn't tell us of the birth
of Christ. He begins with these words, the
beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God. In Mark chapter one, verse 34,
and he healed many that were sick of diverse diseases and
cast out many devils and suffered not the devils to speak because
they knew him. Well, how did they know him?
We read in Mark 3, verse 11, And unclean spirits, when they
saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the
Son of God. All of these demonic beings knew
exactly who he was. And he straightly charged them
that they should not make him known. Now, have you ever wondered
why the Lord would tell people not to make him known? because
he wasn't seeking a following. He came to save his people from
their sins. That's why he was there. And
these demons knew who he was. In Mark chapter five, we read
of one who was always night and day in the mountains and tombs,
crying and cutting himself with stones, the Gadarene demonic.
But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshiped him. and
cried with a loud voice, what have I to do with thee, Jesus,
thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure thee by God that thou
torment me not. He knew who he was. Now Jesus Christ is the Son of
God. John 1.1 in the beginning was
the word, And the Word was with God, a distinct person, and the
Word was God. I love the words of Isaiah. In Isaiah 9, verse 6, it says,
unto us a child is born. speaking prophetically of the
birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who told us in
Isaiah chapter 7 that a virgin would be with child. Christ was
born of a virgin because if he was born the way you and I are,
he would have a sinful nature the way you and I do, but that's
not the case. He is the eternal Son of God. Unto us a child is
born, unto us a son is given. You see, that son was never born. The son is eternal. Unto us a
child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulders. That means he rules and he reigns. He's in absolute sovereign control. And the government shall be upon
his shoulders. The dominion shall be upon his
shoulders. And his name shall be called
Wonderful. counselor. And that doesn't mean
somebody to get good advice from. He says, My counsel shall stand,
and I will do all my pleasure. That means He decrees everything.
His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father. Somebody says, explain that to
me. Well, I know he said, he that has seen me has seen the
Father. All we'll ever see of God is
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. His name should be called the
Prince of Peace. He is our peace. He made our peace. He is our
peace. I love this description of him
in Hebrews chapter one. The writer to the Hebrews says,
God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in times
past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last
days, and every day since the day of Christ's birth has been
the last days until God wraps all this up and time is no more.
He hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, That's God's purpose for doing
what he does. Christ is the heir of all things,
by whom also he made the worlds. Christ is the creator. He's the
one who said, let us make man in our own image, who being the
brightness of his glory and the express image of his person,
and upholding all things by the word of his power, When he had
by himself, that means without any help from any creature, when
he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down at the right
hand of the majesty on high. God said to him, his son, thy
throne, O God, is forever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. We read in John 1 verse 18, no
man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten son, the only
begotten son who is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared
him. There is no knowledge of God
apart from God the son. Now this eternal son who was
never created, he's eternal. He never began to be. The Eternal
Son, who inhabits eternity, made many pre-incarnate appearances
before He actually took on flesh. He, what do I mean by pre-incarnate? Well, that means before He became
flesh. Some 2,000 years ago, God was
manifest in the flesh. God became a man, but before
then, He made many pre-incarnate appearances in the Old Testament.
It was He, the voice of God, walking in the cool of the evening,
that's speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember when Abraham
paid tithes to Melchizedek? And Hebrews 7 speaks so much
of Melchizedek, I have no doubt that Melchizedek was nobody less
than Christ himself in a pre-incarnate appearance, having neither beginning
of days nor end of the life, made like unto the Son of God,
abiding a high priest continually, that is Christ. Christ is the
priest after the order of Melchizedek. He appeared to Abraham before
the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. He is the one who wrestled
with Jacob. And he appeared to Moses in a
bush that was on fire and could not be consumed. And he spake
to Moses from that bush. And that is so glorious. That bush, that fire didn't need
the wood of the bush, didn't need the energy of the wood to
keep on fire and keep combusting. Why is that? Well, it demonstrates
the independence of Christ. He has no needs because he's
God. And that bush couldn't be consumed. That speaks of the
perfect humanity of Christ that could not be consumed. He made
many appearances in the Old Testament. One of my favorite is found in
the book of Daniel. In Daniel chapter three, when
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were cast into the fiery furnace,
We read in verse 24, and then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished
and rose up in haste and spake and said unto his counselors,
did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They
answered and said unto him, true, O king. He answered and said,
lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and
they have no hurt. And the form of the fourth is
like unto the Son of God. Somebody says, well, how did
he know it was the Son of God? If you and I ever see him, we'll
know. We'll know. He certainly did. Now, we know that upon his birth
the angel said to Mary, that holy thing which shall be born
of thee shall be called the Son of God. And we know very little
about his first 30 years upon the earth. We're only given that
one time when he was 12 years old when he told his parents
after they thought they had lost him, wish ye not that I must
be about my father's business? His father's business was to
come down here and save his people from their sins, and that's what
he was doing. But upon the announcement of his public ministry, he came
to John the Baptist to be baptized. And John was taken back, he knew
who he was. He said, I have need to be baptized
of thee, and you come to me to be baptized? He said, suffer
it to be so now, for thus it becometh us, to fulfill all righteousness. So John baptized him. And what
happened when he came up out of the water? The Spirit of God
descending in the form of a dove came down upon him, and a voice
came from heaven, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased. Now, I have no doubt that every
moment of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, Satan was watching
him. And the Lord was brought out into the desert directly
after this to be tempted of the devil. And the devil said, if
you're the Son of God. He heard that voice from heaven,
but he said, if you're the Son of God, prove it. Command that
these stones be made bread. If you're the Son of God, Prove
it. Jump off the temple. The scripture
says he'll give his angels charge over thee if you're the son of
God. That's what the devil was questioning. I've heard people
say, well, the devil always makes you question your sonship. Well,
no he doesn't. He'll try to make you think you
are a son if you're not, so you'll be securely without the gospel. But he was questioning the sonship
of the Lord Jesus Christ if you're the son of God. prove it. When the multitudes went away
after one of his early sermons, he preached in John chapter 6
after he had fed 5,000 people, and people didn't like what he
said. They said, these are hard sayings. Who can hear them? The
multitudes left. All those people that he fed,
he turned and looked at the 12 and said, will you also go away? I love Peter's answer, to whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. These people that find these
hard sayings, we find them saying these sayings, words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ. the son of the living God. We're sure thou art that Christ.
That's speaking of his offices, the son of God's offices, as
prophet, priest, and king. But he's a prophet like no other
prophet. All other prophets said, thus saith the Lord. He said,
I say it to you. All other priests brought the
blood of an animal sacrifice that could never put away sins.
He brings his own blood into the presence of the Father. Every
other king has a borrowed authority. He's king of kings and Lord of
lords having inherent power and authority because he is the son
of God. We believe and are sure that
thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Now, hear
these words carefully. The issue is, who is Jesus Christ? That is the issue. Who is Jesus
Christ? Everything a man believes will
be determined by who he believes Jesus Christ really is. Now a
lot of people, if you ask the average person, I'm sure some
would deny, but if you'd ask the average religious person,
do you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God, they'd say yes.
Yes, I do. But the problem is, the God they
believe in does not resemble in any way the God of the Bible.
And the Christ they believe in does not in any way resemble
the Christ of the Bible. So really those words are meaningless
unless you know who God is and who Christ is. You see, if you
really know He's the Son of God, you really believe that all the
fullness of the Godhead dwells in His body. You really believe
that He's all-powerful, that His will is always done. that
he's absolutely sovereign, that he's immutable, that he's all
wise, that he is incapable of failure. If you believe He's
the Son of God, you believe that everybody He died for must be
saved. If you believe that He can die for somebody and they
end up being lost, you don't really believe He's the Son of
God in the scriptural sense. It's a smaller Jesus, one who's
really not real. He is God the Son and all the
fullness of the Godhead He possesses in its fullness in His own body. He said to that blind man that
he had healed, does thou believe on the Son of God? He said, who
is he, Lord? I love his answer. It's both
he, you've both seen him, and it's he that speaks with thee.
I love what Martha said, I believe that thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God. I love the story of the transfiguration. You can read about that in Matthew
chapter 17, where the scripture says he was transfigured before
his disciples. And His deity burst through His
humanity. I don't understand how this took
place, but the Scripture says His face shined above the brightness
of the sun. And His clothing became white
as light. And during this time, when Peter
and James and John were up there with Him on the mount, two men
appeared. Moses and Elijah. And they were
speaking with the Lord in this glorified state. And we know
what they were talking about. Luke 9.31 says they spake of
the decease which He should accomplish. They were talking about his glorious
death and the accomplishments of it, the complete salvation
of his people. That was the subject before time
began when he was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
That'll be the subject of the eternities. Worthy is the lamb
that was slain. That's what they were talking
about. And Peter just had to say something. He said, Lord,
it's good for us to be here. Let's make three tabernacles.
One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Wrong words. One tabernacle. The Lord Jesus
Christ only is to be worshiped. And the scripture says a bright
cloud overshadowed them at that time. And a voice came from that
cloud, this is my beloved son, hear ye him. And they hit the
dirt, scared to death. I understand why. And when They
opened up their eyes, the scripture says they saw no man save Jesus
only. I love it when the Lord said
to his disciples, whom do men say that I the son of man am?
And they said, well, some say you're John the Baptist or Jeremiah,
one of the prophets. They put you in some high cotton.
Now the fact of the matter is to compare the Lord Jesus Christ
to any man is blasphemous. He's so infinitely above. But
then he said, whom say ye that I am? I know what other men say
about me. Whom say ye that I am? And Peter
answered, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And the Lord said, blessed art
thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh and blood hath not revealed
that to thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say unto
you, thou art Peter, and upon this rock, this confession of
me, I'll build my church. He's the builder of the church.
And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He's gonna
bust down the gates and rescue everybody for whom he died. He's the Christ. Now, when they
came to arrest him, He said, whom seek ye? This was about
500 people. Some say as many as 1,000. Whom
seek ye? They said, Jesus of Nazareth.
He said, I am. And the scripture says they fell
backwards. Remember, I am is how he made himself known to
Moses in the bush. I am that I am. He's giving the
name of God at that time. And he's letting these people
know, I'm no victim. I'm in control of this. You're
only here according to my will, doing my purpose. He's letting
them know he's no victim. He said, I lay, he said, no man
takes my life from me. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it up. This commandment have I received
of my father. And so he let them arrest him
and they're brought before first the high priest. Then he said,
tell me, are you the son of the blessed? You can read this in
Mark. Are you the son of the blessed? He said, I am. And hereafter you shall see the
Son of Man sitting on the right hand and coming in the clouds
of heaven." And they were so upset they wanted to kill Him
that they said, let Him be crucified. You see, He is the Son of God. He's the uncreated creator. He's the one who's in control
of everything. My dear friends, He controls
the thoughts going through your mind right now. That's how much
He is in control. He controls everything. Somebody
says, I don't believe that. Well, He's in control of that
too. He is the Lord. He is the Son of God. When they
were making fun of Him while He was on the cross, If you're
the son of God, come down and save yourself. If you really
are the son of God, well, he really was the son of God, but
for me to be saved, he couldn't come down because he was working
as the great savior of his people, putting away their sins. I love
when he died. that Roman centurion was watching. And he said, after he heard him
cry out, it is finished, and the earth quaked when he did
it, and father into thy hands, I commend my spirit. And the
Roman centurion said, surely this was the son of God. How you know Roman centurion?
It was revealed to him who he is. It's just like that thief
on the cross, he knew. He saw that one hanging on a
cross and said, Lord, remember me when you come in your kingdom.
I know you're not gonna stay dead. You're gonna come back
as a mighty, reigning, ruling king of kings and Lord of lords. Remember me. Now this thing of
Christ being the son of God, and remember that means he's
absolutely sovereign. That means he's all powerful.
That means his will is always done. That means he can't be
anything but a success. This actually is the content
of faith. This is what people believe.
Faith doesn't have anything to do with what you believe about
yourself. Somebody says, I believe I'm saved. Well, that's not faith.
And just because you say that doesn't mean you are. Somebody
says, well, I'm afraid I'm not saved. Well, you may be afraid
you're not saved. Maybe you are. Maybe you just
lack assurance. The point is, what you think about yourself
is not what faith, what you think of Christ is what faith is. Remember
the Ethiopian eunuch? He said, what hinders me from
being baptized? And Philip said, if you believe
with all your heart, you may. He said, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. That's what saving faith is.
It's believing who He is and relying on who He is as the only
way you can be saved. You don't look to yourself in
any way. You look to Him and Him only. This is the actual
content of saving faith. Listen to this, I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life that I now live in the
flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me
and gave himself for me. These things are written that
you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that believing you might have life through his name. 1
John 5 says, Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth
that Jesus is the Son of God? Now, do you believe that Jesus
Christ is God the Son? Not only is this the content
of faith, this is the content of the gospel. Let me read a
passage from the very opening of the book of Romans, that great
epistle. We read, Paul, a servant of Jesus
Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of
God, which he had promised to four by his prophets in the Holy
Scriptures, concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. The gospel is the gospel concerning
his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of
David, according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of
God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection
from the dead. Now there's two things that prove
that he is the Son of God. His holiness. He never sinned
and his resurrection from the dead. This is the gospel concerning
his son. And this is the content of our
preaching. We read in second Corinthians chapter one, Paul
said, beginning in verse 17, when I therefore was thus minded,
did I use lightness? Or the things that I purpose,
do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should
be yea, yea, and nay, nay, saying yes and no to the same thing,
contradictory? But as God is true, our word
toward you is not yea and nay, for the Son of God. For the Son
of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even
by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, But in him
was yea, for all the promises of God in him are yea, and amen. The Son of God which was preached
among us. Now, this is very important.
The Son of God was not yea, nay. Our preaching was not yea, nay
preaching. What is that referring to? Well, do you believe that
Jesus Christ's blood is the only way into heaven? Yes, I do, but
I also believe there's other ways to heaven. Do you believe
that grace saves? Oh, yes, I do, but no, it doesn't
if you don't do your part. Do you believe the blood of Christ
actually accomplished salvation? Yes, I do. But if you don't accept
him as your personal savior, it won't do you any good and
you'll go to hell anyway. Well, that's yay nay. That's saying
yes and no to the same things. It doesn't even make sense. It's
a denial of the justice of God. All the promises of God in him
are yay. They're positive. They're amen.
They're so be it to the glory of God by us. Now, Jesus Christ,
is the Son of God. And that's why, if you trust
Him, you'll be saved. He's incapable of failure. He
said, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him
that cometh to me I'll in no wise cast out. This isn't about
going down to the front of the church. This isn't about going
to an altar. It's about coming to the one
who can do something for you. The only one who can do something
for you. He is the son of God, mighty
to save. And he says, come unto me, all
ye that labor and are heavy laden. You labor under a sense and burden
of your own sin. You can't do anything to save
yourself. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He's able to
do it because He is the Son of God, incapable of failure, and
anyone who comes to Him for salvation, He promises, I won't cast them
out for any reason at all. Now, we have this message on
CD and DVD. If you call the church, write
or 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
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