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'm preaching this morning from
the 14th chapter of the book of Matthew. If you can get, look
in your Bible and follow along, it would be helpful. I've entitled
this message, Lord, Save Me. That's my prayer right now. Lord, save me. And I hope it's
your prayer as well. Lord, save me." In Matthew chapter
14, we read, in a straight way, Jesus constrained His disciples
to get into a ship. He's the one that had them go
into this ship, and to go before Him and to the other side while
He sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes
away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray. And when the evening
was come, he was there alone. Now, in the meantime, but the
ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for
the wind was contrary. Now you can see the disciples
in the ship at this time. The Lord had sent them into this
ship, and the Lord sent the storm as well. And we can see them
being tossed by the waves, scared to death at this time. Verse
25, and in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them,
walking on the sea. He's in control of the law of
physics, and if He wants to walk on the water, He can. He's the
Lord. He controls everything. And He walks on the water toward
them while that ship is being tossed about by the waves. Verse 26, And when the disciples
saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It's a
spirit. And they cried out for fear.
The straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer. It's I. Be not afraid. And my dear friend, we can say
that with regard to everything. He is the first cause behind
everything. Be of good cheer. It's I. It's me doing this. Be not afraid. and Peter, verse 28, answered
him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on
the water. Now, in the King James Version,
this word bid is translated 26 other times, command. He's not saying, invite me. He's
saying, command me to come to thee. Now, if I'm going to come
to Christ, and that's what I desperately want to do, he's going to have
to command me to and cause me to. And I'm going to say, Lord,
command me to come to thee on the water. And he said, come. And when Peter was come down,
if you ever come to Christ, You'll be coming down from your high
views of yourself, down in repentance, seeing yourself to be what you
are, a sinner. And he said, come. And when Peter
was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water. to go
to Jesus, how we admire Peter's faith at this time, as he's looking
to Christ, walking toward Him on the water. This is an actual
occurrence. This is not a fairy tale. This
actually happened. You see, Christ is all-powerful,
and if Christ wills for someone to walk on the water to get to
Him, they're going to do it. And then we read in verse 30,
But when he saw the wind boisterous, He quit looking at Christ and
started looking at the circumstances. When he saw the wind boisterous,
he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord,
save me. Now, that's why I've entitled
this message, Lord, Save Me. for that question, my greatest
need. I need the Lord to save me. And this is a prayer that I pray
personally, repeatedly. Lord, save me. Not, Lord, make me savable. Not,
Lord, help me to save myself. but Lord, save me. Lord, this is a recognition of
his ability to do it, his right to do it, or his right to pass
me by. He's the Lord. Whatever he does
is right. We don't dictate to him. We know
he's the Lord. Lord, like the leper, Lord, if
you will, you can make me clean. Lord, save me. If you do not save me, I will
not be saved. You and I hear people saying
things like, I got saved, or you need to get saved. Something
is wrong with that kind of language. Salvation is of the Lord. It's not something you get. It's
something he does for you. Lord, save me. Saved from what? Why would someone pray this prayer? We know in Peter's case, he was
going down and he would be drowned if the Lord didn't save him.
But saved from what? First, I need to be saved from
God himself. You see, my sin is against God. And He is the one who has the
right and the power to cast me into hell. My sin's against Him. And I need to be saved from God. And not only do I need to be
saved from God, I need to be saved from myself. I am my biggest
problem. It's not the devil. It's not
other men. It's not my circumstances. It's
me. I am my biggest problem. I think
of where God said through Hosea to Israel, O Israel, thou hast
destroyed thyself. And if the Lord leaves me to
myself, all he's got to do is leave me alone and I will destroy
myself. I'm my biggest problem. Lord,
save me from myself. I need to be safe from my sins.
David said my sins are ever before me. I'm a sinner. I'm the one
who commits the sins. I cannot not sin. I can't change
in the sense of stopping sinning and going even 10 seconds with
a perfectly holy view of things. I cannot not be a sinner. My
sin is all my fault. I cannot look down my nose at
anybody. I have no claims on God. I'm
a sinner. The prayer of the public and
in the temple is always appropriate with me. God, be merciful to
me, the sinner. I need to be saved from my sins.
Matthew 121 says, Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sins. That's exactly what I need. I
need to be saved from the penalty of sin. I need to be saved from
the power of sin. I need to be saved from the love
of sin. I need to be saved from the commission of sin to where
I never sin again, which every believer will have in glory.
I need to be saved from my sins. And I need to be saved from my
circumstances, the bad situations my sin brings me into. I need
God to do for me what only he can do, bring good out of evil. Lord, save me." Is that your prayer this morning?
Lord, save me. And I want Him to save you. I
know that I can't save you any more than I can save myself,
but He can. And I want Him to save you. And
really, this is so personal, this prayer, Lord, save me. I hope you can pray this prayer
yourself right now. Lord, save me. One time, somebody asked the
Lord, Lord, are there few to be saved? And he answered, you
strive to enter in at the straight gate. For many shall seek to
enter in and shall not be able. You don't need to worry whether
there's many or few. You strive. to enter. Now, here's where I begin to
strive to enter. Lord, save me. That's my prayer. This is where
I'm beginning. Lord, save me. Now, what I want us to do is
look at the scriptural promises where if we do these things,
We are promised to be saved. Now, I'm not saved because I
do these things, but I will not be saved apart from doing these
things. If you're saved, it's because
God saved you. It's not because you did anything. If you're saved,
it's because God elected you and Christ died for you and God
the Holy Spirit gave you new life. Salvation's of the Lord. If you're saved, it's because
He saved you. It's not because you did anything, but you will
not be saved apart from doing these things. But before I get
into those, let me give you some scriptures regarding salvation. Jonah said in Jonah 2.9, salvation
is of the Lord. You know what that means? It
comes from Him. It originates from Him. It's
done by Him. It's done for His glory. Salvation
is of the Lord. It's not of man. It's not of
your works. Salvation is of the Lord. Don't
look anywhere else. Salvation is of the Lord. And
I remember when the disciples saw the rich young ruler turn
away. And they were amazed when they
saw this man turn away. And they looked at the Lord and
they said, who then can be saved? If this man can't be saved, who
then can be saved? And the Lord replied, with men,
it is impossible. Now, salvation is in any way
impossible. to any degree, dependent upon
something me or you have to do, or we can't be saved, we will
not be saved. With men, salvation is impossible,
but not with God. For with God, all things are
possible. I think of that statement that
Peter made in Acts chapter 15, verse 11, but we believe that
through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved
even as they. Now, salvation is by grace. What that means, it doesn't have
anything to do with anything you do. Salvation is by grace. Paul had been describing the
unbelievers, and he said, we were children of wrath, even
as others, dead in trespasses and sins, but God. Here's grace,
but God. who is rich in mercy for his
great love, wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace are you
saved. You see, grace is what God does
for you. wherefore he is able to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by him." Now, here are
the scriptures where we're given this promise of salvation if
we do these things. Now, the first one is found in
Luke 8, verse 50. Jairus has a daughter that's
very sick. He comes to the Lord and says,
we heal her. The Lord goes with him back to
his home to heal his daughter. And while they're going in that
direction, some people come and say, why trouble you, the master? Your daughter's dead. There's
no hope now. And I can imagine how Jairus'
heart must have sunk when he heard those tidings. There's
no hope now. And the Lord says in Luke chapter
8 verse 50, believe only and she shall be saved. She shall
be made whole. Believe only. And my dear friend, faith is
faith only or it's not faith at all. Believe only. Salvation comes through faith
only, not faith and. Not faith and your sincerity,
not faith and your good works, not faith and your church membership,
not faith in your baptism, not faith and faith only. Now listen real carefully to
this statement. The hardest, most easy thing that you and
I are ever called upon to do is to look to Christ only. To have nothing else. Christ
alone. He's all I have. He's all I want. He's all I need. Believe only. That's the word. Believe only. And thy daughter shall be made
whole. And then we have in Acts chapter
16, verse 30, the Philippian jailer, after God had sent an
earthquake and all the prisoners had been set free, or the doors,
they didn't leave, but the doors were all opened. And when he
woke up, he supposed that they were all escaped. So he was getting
ready to kill himself. And Paul said, do thyself no
harm. And then he came in to Paul and
Silas, trembling, and said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Obviously, I am not saved. Have you ever been not saved?
Somebody says, I've been a Christian all my life. That's way too long.
That's way too long. Have you ever been not saved? Well, this man was not saved
and he said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And Paul didn't say, now you
shouldn't ask me a question like that because salvation is by
grace. There's nothing you can do to be saved. No, that's not
the way Paul answered that question. He said to this man, believe. on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved." Saved from God and His wrath. Saved from
yourself. Saved from your sins. Saved from
your circumstances. Believe. Rest. Trust. Believe on the Lord. Now, He's the Lord. He's everybody's
Lord, whether they know it or not. He's the Lord of the living,
He's the Lord of the dead, but He's Lord. That means He has
absolute, complete control over everything and everybody. He's
the God-man. He's Lord. But not only is He
Lord, He's the Lord Jesus. He is the Savior. If you need
saved, He's the only one who can save you. Matthew 121 says,
Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people
from their sins. He's the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is His offices, His offices
as prophet, priest, and king. He is God's prophet. He's the
very Word of God. He's what God has to say. He's
God's priest. If He brings you into the presence
of God, if He represents you, you must be saved. He's God's
king. That means he has absolute rule
and control. He can cause you to believe on
him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. What do you mean believe on him?
Believe that who he is and what he did is all that's needed to
save you. Your works are not needed. His
works are needed. And then we read in John 10,
verse 9, where the Lord said, I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved. Now, what a simple illustration
our Lord gives us as to what he is. Now, obviously, he's not
a literal door. He's the Son of God. But what
is the use of a door? A door lets people in. A door
keeps people in. A door keeps people out. And
a door lets people out. Christ said, I am the door. He's the door of entrance into
salvation and sonship and all the blessings of God's grace.
You can only come through Him. He said, no man cometh to the
Father but by me, but he's the door of entrance. He's an open
door to everyone who has nothing but sin. He's an open door. Now, he's a closed door to anyone
that has any righteousness. If you try to come into God's
presence with anything of your own, you're going to find the
door shut. But He's an open door for every
sinner who sees their need of Him. And He's a shut door in
the sense that all of God's people are shut in. They're secure. They're enclosed in Christ. They
don't want to get away. They can't get away. They must
stay in Him. And He's an open door of liberty
from bondage. He's the open door to freedom,
the freedom that's in Christ Jesus and not under the works
of the law. Oh, what a blessed name of our
Lord Jesus Christ. He is the door. And then we read
in Romans chapter 10, beginning in verse 5. For Moses described that the
righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth
those things shall live by them. Now here's what the law says,
live and do. Or I mean, do and live. Do and
live. If you do, salvation by works,
you'll live. Now that won't do me and you
any good at all. But the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise, say not in thine heart, who shall
ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down from above.
Don't say in your heart, what can I do to get Christ to come
down here and save me? All that is is another form of
salvation by works. or who shall descend into the
deep, that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead, don't say,
what can I do to make his death work for me? Once again, that's
putting the emphasis on something you do, rather than on something
he did. But what saith it? The word is
nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is, the
word of faith, which we preach, that if thou shalt confess Now
there's something public about confession. If thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus. Now what you confess with your
mouth is what's first found in your heart. You believe that
he is the Lord. Do you believe that concerning
Jesus Christ? He's Lord of all. He's the absolute
Lord of heaven and earth. His will is always done. He's absolutely sovereign. He's
God. He's the Lord. And if you believe that in your
heart, you will confess it with your mouth. Now let's go on reading.
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, You
believe God raised him from the dead. You believe he died. He
died as a sin-bearing substitute. The sins of God's elect became
his sins. He became guilty of them, but
he rendered complete satisfaction to the justice of God. Those
sins were paid for, and that's why God raised him from the dead.
Nothing to condemn me for. My sin put away. He was delivered
for our offenses, raised again for our justification. God raised
him from the dead, and you believe that in your heart. Your heart
is your mind. It's your affections. It's your
will. You BELIEVE INTELLECTUALLY, UNDERSTANDING
WHY GOD RAISED HIM FROM THE DEAD, BECAUSE HE COMPLETELY SATISFIED
ALL OF GOD'S REQUIREMENTS. SALVATION'S IN HIM. NOT ONLY
DO YOU HAVE SOME UNDERSTANDING OF THIS, YOU LOVE IT. IT'S THE
WAY YOU WANT IT TO BE. AND IT'S THE WAY YOU DESIRE IT
TO BE. THAT'S WHERE YOUR WILL IS INVOLVED.
NOW LOOK WHAT HE SAYS NEXT IN VERSE 10. FOUR. THE THOUGHT'S
NOT OVER. FOUR. WITH THE HEART, MAN BELIEVETH
UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS. With your heart, with your understanding,
you believe that the righteousness of Christ is the only righteousness
you have. With your affections, you love
having Christ's righteousness as your only righteousness. With
your will, this is the only way you want it to be, to be saved
by the very righteousness of Christ. Oh, with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. Now let's go on reading. For
the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek.
For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon
him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved." Now, did you hear that? Whosoever. Can you put
yourself in that demographic? Whosoever. That's better than
if it said Todd Nybert, because there are other Todd Nyberts.
It might not amend me. But I'm a whosoever. Whosoever
shall call. What an easy word. Help. That's
what Peter was doing when he was sinking. Lord, save me. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord. Now there's the important
word. The name of the Lord is not simply
audibly calling upon His name. The name of the Lord is who He
is. It's the person behind the name. The name of the Lord represents
His attributes. When I call upon His name, I'm
calling On His name like this, Lord, save me as an act of Your
sovereign will. Will my salvation. Lord, save
me in a way that honors Your justice and glorifies Your justice. Save me by Your wisdom. Save
me by Your grace. Save me by Your power. Save me
by all that You are. That's the important name. I'm
asking the Lord to save me by who He is. All of His attributes
are used in His glorious salvation. Lord, save me. And here's the
sure word, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved. What a promise. And then the
Lord said in Mark 16, 16, he that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Does that mean that baptism is
necessary for salvation? Was the thief on the cross baptized?
No. Was he saved? Yes. So no, the act of baptism doesn't
save anybody. But if the thief could have been
baptized, he would have been baptized. He was nailed to a
cross. It was impossible for him. but he would have confessed
Christ in believer's baptism. Now, no, baptism doesn't save. Christ saves, but every believer
ought to confess Him in believer's baptism willingly. And he that
believeth not shall be damned. Believe the gospel, believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Now, Lord, save
me. This is my continual prayer.
It's not a one-time prayer. Save me. I hope it's your prayer
as well. Now, we have this message on
DVD and CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. We'd like to invite you to the
services at Todd's Road to Grace Church. Our services begin at
1030 this morning, if you can make it. This is Todd Nyberg,
praying that God would be pleased to make Himself known to you.
To request a copy of the sermon you have just heard, send your
request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.