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 1 John chapter 5, verse 1,
we read these words, Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ
is born of God. What a statement. Born of God. It's called being born again
or born from above. Born of God. You don't believe and become
born of God. You're born of God. That's why
you believe. This is a sovereign work of God. Now it's illustrated in different
ways in the scripture. It's illustrated as a creation. How much participation did man
have in creation? Absolutely none. It's the work
of God alone. You think of the virgin birth
of Christ. It can be illustrated something
like that is happening when someone is born again. They're born of
God. You think of resurrection from
the dead. That is the way the new birth is illustrated. You
hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Now,
if the Lord saves me or you, we are going to be born of God,
the life of God in the soul, birthed by God. Now let me read
some scriptures regarding this new birth. First, I want to read
a verse of scripture that tells something that doesn't take place
in the new birth. Verse 12 of John 1 says, but
as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born.
Here's that birth, which were born. I was born on a day of
September 9th, 1959. Well, there was a day I was born
again. There was a sustained time. Now, I don't remember what
it was, but there was a time when I was born. I wasn't alive. And then all of a sudden I was
given spiritual life, which were born. not of blood, not of the
will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God. Now,
let me tell you three things about the new birth that do not
cause it. First, if you're born, it's not
because of any fleshly relation. You're not born again because
your mother or dad are born again. Not of the will of the flesh.
You're not born again as a act of your will, where you heard
the gospel and chose to believe it, and then God gave you faith,
and you were saved because you willed it. You know, the very
notion of free will is a lie. There's no such thing as free
will. Your will is controlled by your nature. If you have an
evil nature, that's what controls your will. God doesn't even have
a free will. His will is controlled by His
nature. He can't sin. He can't freely choose to do
wrong. He can't lie. He's God. His will
is controlled by his nature. And the very idea of free will
is a philosophical absurdity. Yet people try to promote this
thing. Well, no. Your will has nothing
to do with you being born of God, not the will of man. That's talking about a bunch
of men trying to get together and praying for you until you
are born again. Like, they can do that. I'm not
going to give God any rest. I'm going to keep praying until
this person is born again. I love the scripture in Zechariah,
not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord. Well, what is the new birth?
Well, Nicodemus came to the Lord by night and he said, Master,
we know you're a man sent from God because nobody can do the
miracles you do except God be with him. He recognized that.
Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, except a man
be born again, born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of
God. You can't understand anything about the kingdom of God unless
you're born from above. And then he said in verse 5,
Verily I say unto you, Except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. There's no entrance
into the kingdom of God without being born from above. And then
he says in verse 6, That which is born of the flesh is flesh.
It'll never rise above that. That which is born of the Spirit,
God the Holy Spirit, You see, God the Holy Spirit is the one
who gives this new birth. Marvel not that I said unto you,
you must be born again. The wind blows where it listeth,
where it wills. And you hear the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth.
So is every one that's born of the Spirit. This is the sovereign
work of God. He gives birth to whom he will,
and he uses the Word of God. James 1 18 says, of his own will
begat he us through the word of truth. Being born again, not
of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God that liveth
and abideth forever. The gospel message is what God
uses. God the Holy Spirit takes the
gospel message and raises somebody from the dead, giving them life
that was not there before. creating new life within. It's a supernatural, mysterious
work of God that takes place invincibly and irresistibly through
the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we
read, whosoever believeth is born of God. Now here's the question
I want to ask. We've been talking about being
born of God. How can I know if I've been born of God? What is
the evidence that one sees when he is born of God? What is the
tangible evidence, something that is actually taught in the
Word of God where I can see, yes, I'm born of God. What is
the evidence that a man has experienced this supernatural work of grace
and been given a new nature and a new heart, there's a new creation
in Christ Jesus. What is the evidence that God
has done this great work in a man's soul? Well, our text tells us. whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Now, I fear either not telling
what this passage of Scripture means in its simplicity or overcomplicating
it and taking away the meaning. I don't want to do that. I want
to take this passage of scripture as it stands. Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Whosoever, that's the
way the verse begins, whosoever Now, I'm a whosoever. This is
better than if it said my name, because there are perhaps hundreds
of Todd Nyberts around the world. And if it said Todd Nybert, it
might not mean me. It might mean some other Todd
Nybert. But whosoever, I am in that group. This is a glorious,
wide, broad word. You're a whosoever, so this is
addressed to you. Whosoever, anybody that fits
this description, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, whosoever
believeth. Now, in order for me to take
a promise to myself, I'm going to have to fit the description
of the one the promise is made to. Here's an example. Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the
chief." Now that's better than if it said, Christ Jesus came
into the world to save Todd Nybert. Because like I said, that might
mean another Todd Nybert, but sinners. Well, whatever else
I may or may not say about myself, I can say this, I'm a sinner.
I'm a sinner. I say that to my shame. I don't
say I used to be a sinner. I say I am a sinner. If I did it, it's sin. Whatever
I do, if I did it, it's sin. I cannot not sin. And this is
all my fault. I'm not a victim. I can't blame
anybody. This is all my fault that I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner
by nature. I'm a sinner by choice. I'm a sinner by practice. I cannot
sit in judgment on any human being and look down my nose and
think I'm better than them if I really believe I'm a sinner.
And I've got no claims on God. If God passed me by, he'd be
just. I don't have a sense of entitlement to anything from
God because of my sinfulness. I am a sinner. Therefore, I can
conclude that Christ came to save me because it says he came
to save sinners. I'm one of them. Oh, I love this
word, whosoever. Whosoever. Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ. Now notice this word, whosoever
believeth. Not seeth, but believeth. We're not talking about something
you see. We're talking about something you believe. Now, most
people, when they think, well, if I've been born again, they
would look for evidences in their lives where they could say, well,
God's changed me. God's changed me. I'm less sinful
than I used to be. I'm more holy than I used to
be. I have more good works. I commit less sins. I'm doing
better. I can see evidence in my life.
I can see growth in my life. And because of the what I see
in my life, I must be born again. Now, John doesn't say anything
like that. Not here he doesn't. He says,
whosoever believeth. Not someone who sees certain
set things and concludes they must be saved because of the
things they see in themselves. As a matter of fact, if you can
see something in yourself that makes you think you're saved,
all that is is self-righteousness. It has nothing to do with saving
faith. Faith doesn't have anything to do with what you believe about
yourself. It says, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ. Not whosoever believes he's saved,
not whosoever sees certain evidences in their lives that make them
think that they're more holy and less sinful and just looking
for things in their lives, things they do or don't do that makes
them think they're saved. It doesn't say anything like
that. It doesn't say whosoever believes that Christ died for
their sins. It doesn't say whosoever believes they're born again or
elect or anything like that. Faith has nothing to do with
what you believe about yourself. It has wholly to do with what
you believe regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ. is born of God. Now the issue is, always has
been, and always will be, what think ye of Christ? That's God's issue. What do you
think of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ? Just forget everything
else. This is the only thing we want to deal with. What do
you think of Christ. Whosoever believeth that Jesus,
Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Mary, the one born in a stable,
the carpenter, the man Christ Jesus, the one who was nailed
to a cross and was raised from the dead and ascended back to
glory, Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of
God. Now there were a lot of people
who believed in the Christ in the days of the Lord Jesus Christ.
They were looking for the coming Messiah. They were looking for
a Christ. That's the Greek word for the
Hebrew word Messiah. It means the anointed. They were
looking for a mighty political deliverer to come and rescue
them from Roman rule, and set back up Jerusalem as the head
of the world, and they wanted political power, and they wanted
the law to rule, and they wanted this kingdom, and they had no
understanding of the kingdom of Christ. It didn't even make
any sense to them. They had no desire for that.
They believed in Messiah. They just didn't believe Jesus
was that Messiah. They didn't believe Jesus was
the Christ. In the opening of the Lord's
public ministry, and I think this will help us understand
what the Christ means. Somebody once said to me, that's
too simplistic to simply say that whosoever believed that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God. That's too simplistic. Everybody
believes Jesus is the Christ. No, they don't because not very
many people know what Christ means. The Lord said in Luke
4 beginning in verse 18, this is the opening of His public
ministry. He says, the Spirit of the Lord
is upon me because He hath anointed me. Now that's what Christ means,
the anointed one. He hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, and to
preach the acceptable year of the Lord. He hath anointed me
for those things. Now in the Old Testament, there
were three offices where an anointing took place, where oil was smeared
upon them and they were acknowledged to be these things. There was
the anointing of the prophet, There was the anointing of the
priest, and there was the anointing of the king. Now in the Old Testament,
some men held one office, some men held two offices, nobody
held three offices. Moses was a prophet and he was
a king, but he was no priest. Samuel was a priest and a prophet,
but he wasn't a king. David was a king and a prophet,
but he was no priest. You see, there's only one man
that holds all three offices, and that man is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's God's prophet. He's God's
priest. He's God's king. Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ. Now, what is a prophet? A prophet
brings men the Word from God. You know, Christ is called the
Word of God. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And Christ
is all God has to say. He said, this is my beloved Son,
in whom I'm well pleased. Him. He is the Word of God. I love that passage of scripture
in John chapter 6 where after the Lord gave this message, their
analysis of what He said was, these are hard words, harsh,
disagreeable to humanity. Who can hear them? And the Lord
heard them murmur and He said, does this offend you, what I've
just said? Does this offend you? What if
you shall see the Son of Man ascended up where he was before?
What he means by that is if you're offended now, you'll really be
offended then when you see me in my glory. The words that I
speak to you as God's prophet, the words that I speak to you,
they're spirit and they are life. And you know a bunch of people
left after this, people who claimed to be his disciples, they left.
They didn't want to hear these words anymore. And the Lord looked
at the 12 and he said, will you also go away? And Peter answered,
Lord, to whom shall we go? It's not like we have any options.
Thou has the words of eternal life. And we believe and are
sure that thou art that Christ, the son of the living God. A prophet brings men God's word. Christ is the word of God. Do you believe he's God's prophet?
Do you believe he is the word of God? Do you believe he is
the expression of God? Jesus Christ, God's prophet.
Secondly, he's God's priest. Now a priest brings men to God
and represents men to God. A prophet brings the Word of
God to men. A priest brings men to God. And a priest does this through
sacrifice. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is
that great high priest who brings the Father a sacrifice in behalf
of men so that those men can be accepted by God. That's what
the priesthood of Christ is. That's why it's an abomination
for a man to call himself a priest of other men. There's only one
true priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Not some man dressed in an odd
way. That's not a priest. The true
priest is the Lord Jesus Christ, and he brings men to God through
the sacrifice of himself. He presents his own blood to
the Father. Now, he's the altar. He's the priest, he's the altar,
and he himself is the sacrifice. And he is always successful.
Everyone he represents is saved. I love that passage of Scripture
in 1 John 2, 1 and 2, these things write unto you that you sin not,
but as any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, our
great high priest, Jesus Christ the righteous. Oh, he's makes,
he's never lost a case as our advocate, as the great high priest.
He makes all of his clients plead guilty and it makes them all
to be justified. What a priest. Now there's a
passage in Daniel chapter nine that speaks of the Messiah that
will let us identify who this priest really is. Now we read
beginning in verse 24, 70 weeks are determined upon thy
people. This is speaking of the Messiah, and that's talking about
490 years. The Magi, the wise men that came
at the birth of our Lord, they came after reading this passage
of Scripture, knowing it's time for the Messiah to be born. It
was prophesied at this time, 70 weeks are determined upon
thy people, upon thy holy city, and here's what Messiah the Prince
will do. He shall finish the transgression. He shall make
an end of sins. He shall make reconciliation
for iniquity. He shall bring in everlasting
righteousness. He shall seal up the vision and
the prophecy. He's going to make it real, seal
it up. It's gonna be fulfilled in him.
And to anoint the most holy. Now this is what the Messiah
Prince will do. And this is how you can tell
if you really believe he's God's priest. He's someone who finished
the transgression. When he said it is finished,
sin was gone. Everybody he died for was saved.
Everybody he died for, their salvation was accomplished. He's
going to make an end of sin because Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. He's going to make reconciliation
for iniquity. That's what he did on Calvary's
tree. He put it away and he reconciled everybody he represented as a
priest to God. And He's going to bring in everlasting
righteousness. Every believer is saved by His
righteousness. He is the fulfillment of all
the Old Testament Scriptures, and He has anointed the Most
Holy. That's the priest. Now, whosoever
believeth that he is the Christ, the prophet, the priest, And
the third office that was anointed was the king. Remember when David
was anointed king and Samuel put the oil upon the king. Christ is God's king. Now what's
a king? A king's the one who rules. A
king's the one who reigns. The king is the one who has absolute
and complete control. Somebody once said to me, they
were looking forward to the millennial reign. They said, when Christ
will reign. And I told the person, he reigns
right now. He reigns right now. He has absolute control right
now. I don't have to wait till a millennial reign. The Lord's
reigning right now. He rules. He reigns. He's the
king. He's the sovereign king of the
earth. His will is always done. He controls everything in time
because He determined everything in eternity. And I need Him as
my King to cause me to do His will, to cause me to believe.
I need His sovereign will to cause me to do all I'm supposed
to do. I need Him to rule and reign
for me, in me, all. Whosoever believe it, that Jesus
is the Christ, God's prophet, God's priest. God's King is born
of God, birthed by God. They've experienced this supernatural
new birth. And really, my dear friends,
this is the rock upon which the church is built. Every believer
understands this, not intellectually, but they believe it. I think
of the thief on the cross. When he saw the Lord nailed to
a cross, he still knew he was prophet, priest, and king. He
knew he was God's Christ. He knew he wouldn't stay dead.
He said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. You're
going to come back as a mighty reigning king. Oh, remember me. Do you remember when the Lord
in Matthew chapter 16 said to his disciples, whom say men that
I the son of man am? And they said, well, they say
pretty good things about you. Some say you're Jeremias. Some
say you're Elijah, one of the prophets. They put you in some
high cotton. They say good things about you. But whom say ye that
I am? Peter answered. Thou art the
Christ, God's prophet, God's priest, and God's king, the Son
of the living God, the eternal, uncreated, second person of the
blessed Trinity. Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. And the Lord said, blessed art
thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, Flesh and blood didn't reveal that
to thee, but my Father which is in heaven. The only reason
you know this is because God the Father revealed this to you. And I say unto you, thou art
Peter, little rock, little stone. And upon this rock, this confession
of me, will I build my church. It's the confession of who the
Lord Jesus Christ is. He's the Son of God. He's the
creator. He's all-powerful. All that God is, He is. Jesus
Christ is God. He's God the Son, God manifest
in the flesh. Jesus Christ is God, the Son
of the living God. He is God's Christ. He's God's prophet. He's the
word of God. He's God's priest. If he represents
you before God, you must be saved. He's God's king, ruling and reigning. Upon this rock, God says, Christ
says, I will build my church and the gates of hell itself
shall not prevail against it. This battering ram of the gospel
will knock down the doors of hell and rescue everybody for
whom Christ died. Now what is the evidence, what
is the tangible evidence of being born of God? Thank God for this verse of scripture,
the simplicity of it, yet the vastness of it. Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And that verse goes on
to say, and he that loveth him that begat. If you're born of
God, you know where you came from. You came from God. God
gave you that life. He that loveth him that begat,
loveth also him that is begotten of him. You see, true brothers
and sisters, born of God in Christ Jesus. Now we have this message
on DVD or CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Knight. that God
will be pleased to make Himself known to you. To request a copy of the sermon
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