Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Niver. 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. I've entitled the message for
this morning, The Great Things He Did. I want to pick up reading
in Mark chapter 3, verse 6. And the Pharisees went forth,
and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him,
how they might destroy him. This happened very early in the
Lord's public ministry. It was before the calling of
the twelve disciples. He had infuriated the Pharisees
to the point where there was a murder plot even then. Now, this was after five consecutive
confrontations with the Pharisees. First, they heard him say to
a man, Thy sins be forgiven thee, and they were offended. Only
God can forgive sins. They were right, but they were
angry that he was saying what only God could do. They didn't
know he was God. And the next confrontation is
over the fact that he had meals with publicans and sinners, and
they said, what's wrong with this? Something's wrong with
this. Something's wrong with his morality. This is not right that
he eats with publicans and sinners. And then there was a confrontation
about his disciples. They said the disciples of the
Pharisees and the disciples of John fast often, and they pray
often, and your disciples don't seem to do this. They don't seem
to be as spiritual. I can't help but wonder how everybody knew
that they fasted often. They must have told people. They
must have been praying publicly so people can see. But they criticized
the Lord's disciples. They're not as spiritual as the
disciples of the Pharisees and the disciples of John. And then
they accused him of breaking the Sabbath day because he ate
from a cornfield on the Sabbath day. And they said, this is Sabbath
breaking. One wonders what they were doing in the cornfield in
the first place. It seems like they're always spying on the
Lord, looking for some kind of reason to condemn him. And then
he healed that man with a withered hand on the Sabbath day. He said,
stretch forth your hand. And they thought that was wrong. And he made them look like a
bunch of idiots at that time. So they hated him. And they wanted
to destroy him. And the scripture says, but Jesus
withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea. And a great multitude
from Galilee followed him, and from Judea, and from Jerusalem,
and from Idumea, and from beyond Jordan. People from all over
the place were following the Lord Jesus Christ as he withdrew
from the Pharisees. And they about Tyre and Sidon,
and a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he
did. came unto Him." Now, that is
what got my attention. When they heard the great things
He did, they came to Him. Now, this act of coming to the
Lord Jesus Christ is the act or the motion of spiritual life. People who have spiritual life,
this is what they do. They come to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the evidence of divine
election. The Lord said in John 6, 37, all that the Father giveth
me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. This thing of coming to Christ
really is the act of faith. The Lord said, he that cometh
to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth in me shall
never thirst. To come to Christ and to believe
on Christ is the precise same thing. The believer is always
coming to Christ. That's what faith is, always
coming to Christ. Peter put it this way, to whom
coming. Not to whom you came or to whom
you intend to come. This is what a believer's always
doing, to whom coming. As unto a living stone, it's
not a one-time act. This is the life of the believer
coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. I love that hymn, Just As I Am,
without one plea. And the hymn says, but that thy
blood was shed for me, but I like this better, but for the shed
blood of Calvary, just as I am without one plea, but the shed
blood of Calvary, and that thou bidst me come to me, O to thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come. And you know, when you come to
Christ, you don't come with faith. Lord, I believe you got to save
me now. No, you come for faith. You don't so much come with repentance. Lord, I've repented, now save
me. No, you come for repentance. You see, you come to the Lord
Jesus Christ for everything. To whom? Coming. Now, before they came, there's
something that had happened. They heard something. It says,
when they heard the great things that He did. Now, they didn't come until they'd
heard. of the great things that he did,
and you can't come to Christ if you've not heard the great
things he did. Now, the wording is so important.
This is the inspired word of God, and it does not say the
great things he would do if you, or the great things he will do
if you fill in the blank. It says nothing about the great
things he offers you. The gospel message is absent
from any preaching that makes the gospel an offer, God offering
something to you, and it's up to you to accept it or reject
it. The gospel is not an offer. You see, if it is an offer, that
means salvation is dependent upon you. It means salvation
is dependent upon whether you accept or whether you reject. It puts salvation in your hands,
and ultimately that is salvation by works. The gospel is not an
offer. The gospel is a declaration of
what He did. I love Luke 9, verse 31, when
the Lord is transfigured before the disciples, James and John
and Peter, up on the mountain, and Moses and Elijah are speaking
with him at this time. And you know what they're speaking
of? We don't have to guess, because Luke 9, verse 31 tells us, they
speak of the decease which he should accomplish. Not he's going
to die and offer you as to whether or not you're going to accept
it. They spake of the decease which he should accomplish. Now
I realize there are scriptures that sound like an invitation
and I like the way they sound. Come unto me all ye that labor
and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Come now, let
us reason together, though your sins be as scarlet, I'll make
them white as snow." Now, I'm thankful for those scriptures,
but let me remind you, the gospel, let me repeat this, I can't emphasize
this enough, the gospel is not offered to you, up to you to
accept or reject. The gospel is found in these
words, it is finished. It is completed. Salvation is
accomplished by what the Lord Jesus did on Calvary's tree. You see, the death of Christ
is not up to your acceptance or rejection. The death of Christ
was for God. So God would have a way to be
just and justify somebody unjust like me or you in a way that
glorifies His justice. The blood of Christ, the death
of Christ was for God to satisfy Him. It's not up for you to accept
or reject, not at all. His death is an accomplishment. When they heard of the great
things which He did, it was when they heard of the great things
that He did that they came. to him. You will remember how
the Lord told that man that was possessed with devils after he
cast them out and he was going to leave and the man wanted to
go with him and the Lord said, no you stay here and you go home
and you tell your friends. what great things the Lord hath
done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee." Now, if we understand
anything about the great things that he did, we will quit saying
things like, accept Jesus as your personal Savior, or I got
saved, or any of that foolish religious jargon. It'll change
your speech. If you ever understand the great
things that He did. Now, let me say before going
on, Christ saved me. He saved me. He didn't make me
savable. He didn't offer me salvation.
He saved me. Matthew 121, thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. He saved me. Hebrews 1.3 says,
when he had by himself, with no contribution from any sinner,
no contribution from any son of Adam, when he had by himself
purged our sins. He sat down at the right hand
of the majesty on high. You see, his work was completed. The only contribution I make
in my salvation is my sin. That's it. I like what one fella
said, I did the sinning, he did the saving. And that is true. They heard of the great things
he did. Now, this word did means the
great things he made. It means to make or to do. To make or to do. It's, let me give you some ways
this word is translated in the King James Version that'll give
you some idea of what it means when it speaks of the great things
he did. It is translated appointed, bear,
bring forth, caused, the great things he caused, The great things
he did, the great things he executed, the great things he fulfilled,
the great things he ordained, the great things he performed,
the great things he provided, the great things he purposed,
the great things he secured. Every, all of those words give
some idea of what this means, the great things he did. And
may the Lord allow us to hear with hearing ears of the great
things that he did. Here's the first thing I would
like to try to mention. He loved us. Now, who is the us? Everybody he loved. The us does
not mean all men without exception. He said, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. That's God's word. And if someone
says, well, that is not fair, well, you're saying you deserve
God's love, or somebody deserves God's love when we make some
kind of objection like that. The us is the elect of God, and
the evidence of election is believing God, coming to Christ. But the
us does not mean everybody, but listen to this. He loved us,
and this is, Behold, I have loved you. with an everlasting love,
a love that never had a beginning, a love that was known in eternity
before you had any existence. Behold, I've loved you with an
everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness,
have I drawn thee. Now, I love a hymn we sing. I
stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene. and wonder
how he could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean. I am amazed at his love. Now, everything we have flows
from his love. He says, as the Father hath loved
me, so have I loved you. Now, you think of the Father's
love for the Son. It's eternal. Let me say this. People talk
about God's unconditional love. There's no such thing. God doesn't
love His Son unconditionally. He loves His Son because it's
altogether lovely. And if I'm in Him, There's the
key in him, not in myself, but in him. If I'm in him, I deserve
the love of God because I'm in him. He deserves the love of
God because he's altogether lovely. Whom he did foreknow. Now that
word foreknow doesn't mean he knew who they were. Adam knew
his wife Eve. Whom he did foreknow is whom
he did forelove. He also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Everything flows from God's eternal
love to those who are vitally and eternally united to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, before time began, remember
we're talking about the great things He did? Before time began,
He stood as the surety for the elect, the guarantee of their
salvation. He said what Judah said to Jacob
with regard to Benjamin. He said, I will be surety for
him. I'll take full responsibility
for him. Of my hand shall thou require
him. If I bring him not to thee and
set him before thee, let me bear the blame forever. That's what
Christ said in behalf of his elect. I'm gonna take full responsibility
for their salvation. If I don't bring him back to
you and set him before you perfect and justified, the blame is all
upon me. Christ took the complete responsibility
for my salvation before the foundation of the world, and He actually
accomplished it as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world,
Revelation 13.8. Now, listen to this scripture,
2 Timothy 1.9. He saved us, and He called us. Note the order. He saved us. That saving took place before
the calling. He saved us and He called us with a 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. Hebrews 4.3 says all the works
were finished from the foundation of the world. You see, God is
eternal, and everything He does is eternal. We read of eternal
judgment and eternal salvation, of the eternal gospel. Eternal redemption. Everything
God does is eternal because that's who He is. He's not bound by
space or time the way you and I are. And all of our salvation
was accomplished before time began. Now, that doesn't mean
that we're not going to be saved in time. We are. You see, Christ
created the world. That's one of the great things
He has done. He created the world. That's
when this thing called time began. All things were made by Him.
and for Him. And He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist. The writer of the Hebrews says,
By whom also He made the worlds. Christ is the Creator. It was
Him who said, Let us make man in our own image. Now, if you
don't know Him as the Creator, you don't know Him at all. He
is the Creator. That's the great things He did.
And not only is creation the great things that He has done,
everything in time is the great things He has done. He is in
control of everything. You know, when Adam fell, our
first parents fell, do you know the Lord said to him, in the
day you eat thereof, you'll surely die? Now, He didn't say if you
eat, you'll die. He said, in the day you eat,
it's going to happen. You shall surely die. You see, the fall was all a part
of God's purpose for God to manifest Himself. And I'm so glad it's
this way. He's in absolute control of everything. And everything is His will being
done. By Him all things consist. He upholds all things by the
word of his power. The king's heart and everybody
else's heart is in the hand of the Lord. As the rivers of water,
he turneth it wither so ever he will. I am the Lord. I form light. I create darkness. I make peace. I create evil.
I, the Lord, do all these things. Isaiah 45, 7. Now, somebody says,
are you saying God's the author of evil? I'm saying the only
reason there's evil is because It's all a part of God's purpose.
God doesn't have a bunch of different purposes. He's got one purpose,
the glory and honor of His Son. And all of this fits under that
umbrella, God really is God. He doeth according to His will.
in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest
thou? God created the universe, and
everything in time is his will being done for his glory." And
let me remind you this. People talk about, well, what
about all the bad things that happen? And there are bad things
that happen. but God brings good out of evil. And the proof of
this is the cross, the most evil thing to ever take place. It's
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's the most glorious thing
to ever take place. Now, in this thing called time,
God became flesh. God became a man. The second person of the blessed
Trinity was born. He was conceived in a virgin's
womb, and he became a man. I Timothy 3.16, great is the
mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. What a great thing for God to
become a man. Now, before the incarnation of
Christ, before He came into the earth, He was not a man. He was
the second person of the Blessed Trinity, the Eternal Son, but
He was not the God-man. But He became a man some 2,000
years ago and will be a man eternally. There's a man in glory right
now, the man Christ Jesus. There's one God and one Mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And while he was
in the flesh, he kept God's law perfectly. That's the great things
he did. He never sinned. He never sinned. He never had
a sinful thought. He never had a sinful motive.
He never had a sinful action. He never sinned. He pleased God. He pleased his Father by his
perfect life. And listen to this, this great
thing of his perfect obedience, he did it as an us. He said to
John the Baptist, thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. And that us is everybody he represented.
When he fulfilled the righteousness of the law, every believer did
too. That is my personal righteousness
before God, that perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the righteousness everybody that's justified is justified by. He
is our righteousness before God. The great things he did is he
kept the law, and then, after that, talking about the great
things he did, he died. He died. Now that's, what a mystery
that the Son of God could die. I don't understand that. How
can the Son of God die? I don't know, but He did. He
did. He died. And how mysterious is
that? But why did He die? Why is there
death in the first place? One reason, because of sin, because
of sin. When the Lord killed him, he
wasn't killing someone who was innocent. You see, Christ took
the sins of God's people to himself, and they became his sins, and
he became guilty of them. That is why he died. The Son of God died with the
sins of God's elect being made his sins. And God was the one
who did this. For He, God, His Father, hath made Him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Now, He died. He died because
of sin, but He did something that no other man could do. He satisfied God. Now, hell is eternal. because no man can satisfy God
for their sins. Now, if you have a child and
somebody murdered him, and they said, well, here's $10 million.
Are you satisfied? You'd say no. Well, here's a
billion. Are you satisfied? No. There's
no satisfaction that could be made. But when Christ died, oh,
there's an infinite difference between his death and Christ's
death. If somebody is put to death for
putting to death your child, you're glad it happens, I suppose,
but you don't find satisfaction in it. It still doesn't bring
back your child. But when Christ died, he completely
satisfied the wrath of God. And the moment he died, ALL OF
THE PEOPLE HE DIED FOR WERE JUSTIFIED. THEIR SIN WAS WIPED OUT, WASHED
AWAY, MADE NOT TO BE. HE RENDERED COMPLETE SATISFACTION.
HIS BODY NEVER WENT THROUGH THE PROCESS OF DECAY. WHY? BECAUSE
GOD WAS SATISFIED WITH HIM AND EVERYBODY IN HIM. THAT'S THE
GREAT THING HE DID. HE ACTUALLY, HE ACCOMPLISHED
SALVATION, HE RENDERED PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS, HE SATISFIED THE
WRATH OF GOD, AND HE WAS RAISED AGAIN. OH, TALKING ABOUT THE
GREAT THINGS HE DID, HE WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD. He was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. I love
to think of Him being in that tomb. He was there for three
days. What happened during those three
days? I have no idea. I know he was dead for three
days. And all of a sudden, he opened his eyes. Nobody witnessed
this but the Father. I mean, the tomb was closed up
when he did this, but he opened his eyes. He was raised from
the dead. The stone was rolled away, and
he walked out of that tomb as the complete salvation of his
people. Now, while he was here on Earth,
After his resurrection, it was 40 days. He gave his disciples
instruction, and then the scripture says he ascended back to glory.
What a great thing that must have been to watch him ascend
back to glory. But there's something great he's
doing right now. He is the intercessor for his people, the great high
priest and intercessor for his people. John said, these things
write I unto you that you sin not. Sin is never okay for a
believer. These things write I unto you
that you sin not. But if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he's
no corrupt lawyer. He doesn't try to get his clients
to plead not guilty when they are guilty. He has all of his
clients plead guilty as charged, and he makes them to be without
guilt before God, righteous, justified, and this lawyer has
never lost a case. Jesus Christ the righteous. Oh, what a lawyer we have. Peter,
I've prayed for you. And the next great thing that
he's going to do is going to return. And when he returns,
every eye is going to see him, and everyone who sees him as
he is is going to be made just like him. That's the hope of
every believer. When they heard of the great
things he did, oh, that's all I want to preach is the great
things he did. When they heard of the great
things he did. They came to Him. May the Lord enable you and I
to do the same.