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. I've entitled the message for
this morning, Doing the Truth. Our text is found in John chapter
3. I'd like to read verses 20 and
21 of John chapter 3. For everyone, these are the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he's speaking to Nicodemus at
this time, For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light,
neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they
are wrought in God. Doing the truth, did you know
that the truth is something you do? Now let me say this first,
the truth is an objective message. It's not subject to our experience. It's not subject to what we think. The truth is the truth. It's
not subject to us. It's the objective truth of the
word of God. The Lord said in John chapter
17, verse 17, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. And then he said in John
chapter 18 verse 37, Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou king
then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am king. To this end was
I born. And for this cause came I into
the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Now, the word bear witness is
where we get the word martyr from. He said, this was my reason
for coming to bear witness to the truth Everyone that is of
the truth heareth my voice. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ bore
witness to the truth by his death. Now, you see Christ nailed to
a cross, that's the truth concerning me and you. Now, you may be a
good person on the outside, But if God left you or me to ourselves,
we would demonstrate our hatred of God by nailing him to a cross. Now, somebody says, I don't hate
God. Well, you don't hate the God
you feel comfortable with, the God you've invented. But I'm talking
about the God of the Bible. Every natural man hates that
God. And when man was left to his
own will to do what he wanted to do, he nailed him to a cross. It's only the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ that tells us the truth concerning God. Every attribute
of God is on full display in Christ crucified. We see His
justice, His hatred of sin, His love, His mercy, His grace, His
absolute sovereignty, His changelessness. Every attribute of God is displayed
in the cross of Christ, and there's really no knowledge of God or
understanding of God without the cross, and the cross tells
us the truth about salvation. When he said it is finished,
the salvation of everybody he died for was finished and accomplished,
accomplished by what he did. The lamb slain from the foundation
of the world came in time to be slain, and he saved everybody
he died for. Now, the truth, the truth, it's
always simple. If it's complex, it's not true. If it's not simple, it's not
true. And listen to this. The truth
is its own witness. It recommends itself so that
when you hear the truth, you know it's the truth. You may
not understand it all. You might not be able to intellectually
grasp it all, but you know it's the truth. That's the way the
truth works. It recommends itself as being
nothing less than the truth of God. Now, the truth is objective,
but it becomes subjective when you become a doer of the truth. He that doeth the truth. Now, how does one go about doing
the truth? Well, first of all, you have
to hear the truth. There is no salvation apart from
hearing the truth. In whom you trusted, after that
you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
Ephesians 1.13. There is no doing of the truth
without first hearing the truth, the objective message of the
truth of the gospel. And not only do you hear, you
believe the truth. But we're bound to thank God
always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Now, if you really believe
the truth, it's because you've been sanctified, set apart by
the Spirit of God and given life to hear. And what is the evidence
of being sanctified by the Spirit? You believe the truth. You hear
the truth, you believe the truth, and the truth makes you a worshiper. You worship God for who he is.
They that worship him must, our Lord said, they that worship
him must worship him in spirit and in truth. There is no worship
of the living God apart from the truth. And when you hear
the truth, you believe the truth, you worship. And there's something else really
involved in this thing of doing the truth. Paul warned us in
2 Thessalonians 2 of those who receive not the love of the truth.
You see, when you hear When you believe, when you worship, you
also have a love of the truth, a genuine love of the truth.
It's not just an intellectual acknowledgment. There is a love
of the truth. Maybe you've been taught that
the Bible is the word of God and you believe it. You don't
give much more thought to what you've been taught. Well, it's
the word of God. But do you love that God has given a revelation
of himself? Do you love the Word of God? Do you think, well, the fact
that God controls everything is only logical. You know, I
even read it in Stephen Hawking's book on A Brief History of Time,
where he said, if there is a God, there's no such thing as free
will. God controls everything. That's just logical. But have
you ever learned to love that God is in control of everything,
and He's sovereign, and He controls everybody and everything, And
the only thing that's done is His will. Do you love that? It's one thing to believe that
the Bible teaches that men are sinful and totally depraved.
I mean, if you read the Bible, you've got to come up with that.
If you don't believe that, you're not reading the same book I'm
reading. The Bible teaches that. But it's another thing to believe
that you yourself are totally depraved. It's one thing to acknowledge,
yes, the scripture does teach that God elected who would be
saved before time began, can't deny it, it's taught in the word
of God, but have you ever learned to love God's sovereign choice
of his people? The Bible teaches that Christ
died for his sheep and that he was successful, that everybody
he died for is saved, but do you love that his death is salvation? That's the only hope you have.
It's one thing to acknowledge that the Bible doesn't teach
grace. It's another thing to love being saved by the grace
of God. You see, you receive the love
of the truth. And repentance is defined in
2 Timothy 2.24 as repentance to the acknowledgment of the
truth. When you truly repent, you're going to acknowledge the
truth. And faith is described in Titus 1.3 as the faith of
God's elect, the acknowledging of the truth, which is after
godliness. And when we think of the Christian's
armor given in Ephesians 6, the very first statement made is
having your loins girt about with truth. Our Lord said, you
shall know. This is true of all of his disciples. You shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. Doing the truth. Now let's look
at this statement in the context in which it's given. In verse
17 of John chapter 3, for God sent not his Son into the world
to condemn the world. You see the world already was
condemned, was condemned in Adam when he fell. All of us have
proved that by our own sin. For God sent not his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. That was his purpose in sending
his Son. He that believeth, verse 18, He that believeth on him
is not condemned. You know why? There's nothing
to condemn him for. Now let's consider this statement. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. Christ Jesus himself is the object
of faith. Not God the Father. Somebody
says, well, if I knew God elected me, I could believe I'm saved.
No. Not God the Holy Spirit. If I could see the work of the
Spirit within me, that would give me some evidence I'm saved.
No, he that believeth on him. The Son of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, is the object of faith. Faith is not what you believe
about yourself. Faith is what you believe concerning
him. Somebody says, well, I believe
I'm saved. Well, that's not faith. That's not faith. You can believe
you're saved and not be. But you can't believe on him and
not be saved. I love what the Ethiopian eunuch
said when Philip, or he, what hinders me from being baptized?
Philip said, if you believe with all your heart, you may. He said,
I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. It's what you
believe concerning him. I believe he's God. I believe
he's perfect man. I believe that His righteousness
is the only righteousness there is, and the righteousness that
I'm justified by. I believe that His death is all
that's needed to make one perfect before God's sight. I believe
when He was raised from the dead, everybody He was raised for was
justified, and all my eggs are in this basket, what He did alone. He that believeth on Him is not condemned. Now, what is the reason a man
believes? He that believeth on him is not
condemned. Why is it that one man believes
and another does not? Well, somebody says, well, one
sees his need and one doesn't. Well, that's true, but let's
take it back farther. Why is it that one sees his need
and the other doesn't? Because in reality, they're both
equally sinful. Why is it that one sees his need and the other
doesn't? Because God has made a difference. That's why. God
gave the one life, and he now sees his need of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the other remains indifferent toward the gospel.
It's the grace of God that makes the difference. The Lord said,
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
you have hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed
them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. Now, upon what ground may a man
or woman believe that Christ died for them? Now, I've got
to say this, Jesus Christ did not die for all men. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. Now somebody says, why do you make an issue of that?
Because the Bible does. He died for his people. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins." Now, here's
why we make an issue of this, or the Bible makes an issue of
this, is to teach us that if Christ died for you, your salvation
is a necessity. If He could die for someone,
and that person He died for wind up in hell anyway, why? That
would take away the only hope I have, because the only hope
I have is the cross died for me. And if He can die for somebody,
and they wind up in hell anyway, I know where I'm going to be.
And really that's against the justice of God. That means he
could punish for sin once and then on the cross then punish
somebody for the same sins in hell. God would not be just that
way. Christ died for the elect. Now,
how can I know if he died for me? Let me give you one way. Are you a sinner? Think about that. Are you a sinner? Somebody says, well, isn't everybody
a sinner? Not in their own mind. Yes, everybody's equally sinful.
All fallen, fell, and Adam, and sinful, and corrupt. But not
everybody believes themselves to be that way. Here's what a
sinner is. A sinner is someone who all they
do, everything they do, is sinful. If they did it, it's sinful.
And they cannot not sin. They can't look down in judgment
upon anybody, because they know themselves. And they know their
sin is all their fault. They're not victims. Their sin
is all their fault. And if God passed them by, they
know it would be an act of His justice, because they do not
deserve anything by way of works at God's hands. Now that's what
a sinner is. Now listen to this scripture. Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. If you're a sinner, Christ came
for you. Listen to this scripture. Romans
chapter 5, verse 6, When we were yet without strength, In due
time, Christ died for the ungodly. If you're without strength, if
you're ungodly, Christ died for you. Somebody says, well, I'm
not ungodly, I'm not a sinner. Well, okay, but Christ didn't
die for you then. The only people he died for is
sinners. And the only people who will
be saved is sinners. He that believeth on him is not
condemned. Well, how can I believe? What gives me the right to think
I can believe? Well, God commands you to. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shalt be saved. He that believeth on him is not
condemned because there's nothing to condemn him for. You see,
Christ put away those sins on Galbraith's tree. His perfect
righteousness is given to that sinner and that sinner has absolutely
nothing to be condemned for. He's justified, not guilty, perfect
in God's sight. Now this justification is continual,
it's complete, it's effectual, it's always in place. He that
believeth on him is not condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. What a crime to not believe on
his name. That's criminal. Verse 19. And this is the condemnation. That light has come into the
world. The light of how God can save
sinners by Christ. This is the condemnation. This
is why God sends men to hell. Right here. Because light has
come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light. because
their deeds were evil. They don't love the light. They love darkness. They love
salvation by works. They have no love for the truth. Verse 20, for everyone that doeth
evil, hateth the light. Neither comes to the light lest
his deed should be reproved or exposed. That's what that means.
They don't want to come to the light because all the light exposes
is that everything they do is sin, even the things they're
hoping in, the things they think will save them. All the light
does is expose it as sin. In John 7, verse 7, the Lord
said, the world cannot hate you, but me it hateth, because I testify
that the works thereof are evil. That's all the light says regarding
any work that me and you have. It's evil. It's evil. What about
the good works? They're evil. No natural man
has anything that God would accept. And the light of the gospel exposes
it all as sin. You say, well, what's good about
this? Well, the remedy's good. There is a remedy. There is a
way to stand right before God. Let's go on reading. Verse 21,
here's our text. But he that doeth truth comes to the light,
that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. And that one who does the truth,
he's heard the truth, he believes the truth, He receives the love
of the truth. He worships in the truth. He's
a doer of the truth. That one who is a doer of the
truth comes to the light, the light of God's Word, that his
deeds might be made manifest. That they are wrought in God. Now, what in the world does that
mean? That they are wrought in God. Now, in the original language,
this word is in the perfect passive tense. And I'll explain what
that means. And it's the word that's generally
translated work. What must we do that we might
work the works of God. My Father worketh hitherto, and
I work. This simply means work. Now,
the fact that it's in the perfect passive means this deed is a
perfectly completed deed. Nothing needs to be added to
it. And the fact that it's in the passive means that I didn't
have anything to do with it. It wasn't some work performed
by my flesh. where it says their works were
wrought in God, that preposition can just as easily be translated,
they were worked by God. It's something God did. And so
the reason this person can come to the light, he's not ashamed
to bring his works to the light of God's word, to the light of
God's holiness, because his works are what God has worked. Now, is this something new? No,
this is what the Old Testament teaches. Isaiah chapter 26, verse
12, thus will the Lord ordain peace for us, for thou also has
wrought all our works in us. And my marginal reading says
for us. Now, what all does that mean?
Well, that means that I'm not afraid to come to the light of
God's salvation and bring my deeds before Him because my righteousness
is the righteousness that Jesus Christ worked out in my behalf. I'm not afraid to bring His obedience
to the light. I know His obedience is perfect
obedience. I know His righteousness is perfect
righteousness, and His righteousness is my personal righteousness
before God. You know, when it says in Revelation
chapter 19 verse 8, to her it was granted
that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white.
This is the righteousness of the saints. The righteousness
of Jesus Christ is the righteousness of the saints. Now, that is my
righteousness before God. I'm not fearing being brought
to judgment and sent to hell because I have perfect righteousness.
And it doesn't have anything to do with something I've done.
It's what He has done for me. I love it when He said to John
the Baptist, thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. He said that after John the Baptist
said, I need to be baptized of thee. when the Lord came to be
baptized of him, and the Lord said, Suffer it to be so now,
for thus it becometh us, to fulfill all righteousness. You see, when
Jesus Christ kept the law, He did it as an us. He did it for
every single person He represented. And I am not afraid to bring
His righteousness and His merits to the light of God's holiness,
because I know the righteousness of my Redeemer is the only righteousness
there is. And I have such confidence in
Him. I've got such confidence in His righteousness. I'm not
afraid to bring it. And that's true with regard to
everything that He has worked in me. Now I know that I have
faith, He gave it to me. And it's His faith. Paul said,
I live by the faith of the Son of God, 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. The repentance I have, and there's
no salvation apart from repentance, it's a change of mind, it's a
True, I used to think this, I don't think it anymore, that repentance
is the gift of His grace. If God, peradventure, will grant
them repentance according, grant them repentance to the acknowledging
of the truth. The love I have, and I do love
the Lord, I love Him, I don't love him the way I want to, but
I do love him. I don't love him the way I'm going to one of these
days when I no longer have a sinful nature. But I do love him, and
that love I have is because of his gift to me. He gave me that
love. He gave me the heart to love him. I've got a new heart
that I didn't have before, that I wasn't born with. A new heart
also will I give you. You see, everything God requires,
he provides. Yes, he requires faith in himself.
He gives it. Yes, He requires repentance.
He gives it. Yes, He requires a new heart. He gives that new heart. I love this passage of Scripture
in 1 John 4, verse 17. It says, We can have boldness
on the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world. Now, I will bring anything to
the light that He did. Now, if it has my fingerprints
on it, I won't bring it to the light, because I know it'll be
sinful, it'll be hypocritical, it'll be insincere. There won't
be anything good about it. If my fingerprints are on it,
anything that has anything to do with me, I'm not bringing
that to the light. And the Scripture says our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. No, I'm not going to bring anything
that has anything to do with me to the light. But oh, I'll
bring that which He has done for me. I'll bring that which
He has done in me to the light. I love what Paul said in Philippians
2.13. Work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling, for it's God that worketh in you, both
to will and to do His good pleasure. I'll bring anything that He has
done to the light. Now what about you? Are you a
doer of the truth or are you a doer of evil? If you're a doer
of the truth, all you bring is Christ. He's all you have. If you're evil, you'll bring
something else, and it will be exposed on judgment day as no
good. May the Lord enable you and me
to be doers of the truth. And we'd like to invite you to
services at Todd's Road Grace Church this morning. Services
begin at 1030. You can make it, hopefully. Hope
to see you there. This is Todd Nyberg. praying
that God will be pleased to make himself known to you. That's
our prayer. Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at todsroadgracechurch.com
or you may write or call the church at the information provided
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