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 speaking from Acts chapter
5. I've entitled this morning's
message, The Neutrality of Gamaliel. The Neutrality of Gamaliel. I think you'll see why I've entitled
this message like that as we look at this passage of scripture.
Now, when Peter had been preaching in Acts chapter five, he evoked
this response. When they heard, they were cut
to the heart and took counsel to slay them. These men were
so upset by what Peter had to say that they began to plot his
assassination. That's how upset they were. Now, if you preach in such a
way as to not offend anyone, if you preach in a way as to
say to somebody, what I'm saying is true, but what you're saying,
although it's the opposite, is okay, I'm okay, you're okay,
you're not gonna get any opposition. But when you're preaching declares
the absolute truthfulness of what you're saying and anything
else contrary to it is just wrong and there's no salvation in that
kind of thinking, that's when people get upset. People were
upset with Peter and wanted to slay him. Now we have the words
of Gamaliel. Then verse 34 of Acts chapter
five, Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee named
Gamaliel. This is the same Gamaliel that
Paul said, I sat at his feet before the Lord had saved me.
And the scripture says he was a doctor of the law. He had his
PhD in the law and had in reputation among all the people. He was
a widely respected man. He was somebody. Now, what did
he say to these men who were plotting to put Peter to death
because of his sermon? He commanded them to put the
apostles forth a little space. Hold on, don't react so quickly,
he said to these men. And he said unto them, ye men
of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do as touching
these men. Don't act so rashly. And then
he gives a couple of events that took place to illustrate what
he was saying. For before these days rose up
Thutis, boasting himself to be somebody. A lot of people do
that, don't they? To whom a number of men, about
400, joined themselves. They followed this man who was
slain, and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered and brought
to nothing. It seemed to be something, but
it was all brought to nothing. This might be what is happening
here with Peter. Verse 37, after this man rose
up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing and drew away much
people after him, he was objecting to the Jews having to pay taxes
to the Romans, and he got something started. He also perished, and
all, even as many as obeyed, were dispersed. These things
started out large, but they came to nothing. Verse 38, and now
I say unto you, refrain from these men. Let them alone. Don't try to put them to death.
For if this counsel, or if this work, be of man, it'll come to
nothing. That's so true. If the only thing
behind this is the power of the flesh, it will come to nothing. But if it be of God, you cannot
overthrow it. lest happily you be found even
to fight against God. And that's a battle you cannot
possibly win if God is behind this. And to him they agreed,
and when they'd called the apostles and beaten them, they commanded
that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them
go. Now, if this is of God, you cannot
possibly stop this. If it's of man, it will come
to nothing. Those words are very true. But what I would notice about
Gamaliel is he would not take sides. He remained on neutral
ground. He was nonpartisan. He stayed away. He made no affiliation. His view
began with an if. Very much like Satan said, if
you're the son of God. I'm not saying you're not, but
if you are, prove it. Command that these stones be
made bread. This man was saying, I don't
know if this is of man or of God. If it is of man, it's gonna
come to nothing, but I'm not sure. I'm not making a statement,
I'm just, Making a general observation, in fact, if this is of man, it'll
come to nothing, but if it's of God, I'm not saying it is,
I'm not saying it's not. I'm remaining neutral, but if
it is, there's nothing that you can do to stop it. Now, what
he said was true, and in some respects, he seemed to show more
wisdom than these hot-headed Pharisees. They were getting
ready to kill Peter. And he said, now hold on, hold
on, what he said seems true, but he was not in, he was not
out. He was lukewarm. He was neither
cold nor hot, just waiting to see how things would turn out. That was his position, neutral. The neutrality of Gamaliel. Now, would God commend his attitude
of being neutral? What would the Lord Jesus Christ
have to say about this man? Would he be thankful for his
defense? Listen to the words of our Lord
in Matthew 12, verse 30. He that is not with me is against me. and he that gathereth
not with me scattereth abroad." Now, according to the words of
the Lord Jesus, Gamaliel not being with Peter and his message
was against him and against the Lord Jesus Christ. We read where
the Lord said in Luke chapter 14, beginning in verse 25, and
there were great multitudes with him, and he turned, said unto
them, If any man come to me, oh, I want to do that, don't
you? If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother,
and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, his own life
also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his
cross, and come after me, he cannot be my disciple." Now,
when the Lord speaks of us hating our mother and father, he's not
talking about having a hatred toward them. He's talking about
they are not important in comparison to me. And you're gonna say goodbye
to them in order to follow me. What I say is infinitely more
important than what they say. And if you would show allegiance
to your family and relatives above me, you can't follow me. We're called upon to deny ourselves,
to take up our cross, and that's the cross of confessing Him in
this world, bringing a message the world has no love for. And
if we don't do that, we cannot be his disciple. I think of that
passage in John chapter 12, where we read of the Pharisees, beginning
in verse 42. Nevertheless, among the chief
rulers, also many believed on him. They believed he was really
from God. They believed that he is who
he said he was. Nevertheless, among the chief
rulers also, many believed on him. But because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the
synagogue. For they loved the praise of men more than the praise
of God." Now, it says they believed. BUT THEY WOULD NOT CONFESS. NOW WHAT THAT TELLS ME IS THEY
DIDN'T REALLY BELIEVE. BECAUSE IF THEY REALLY BELIEVED,
THEY WOULD IN FACT CONFESS EVEN IF IT CAUSED THEM TO BE PUT OUT
OF THE SYNAGOGUES. I THINK OF ELIJAH'S APPEAL TO
THE UNDECIDED WHERE IN I KINGS CHAPTER 18 WE READ ABOUT THE
CHILDREN OF ISRAEL TRYING TO WORSHIP BAAL AND JEHOVAH. IT WAS POLITICALLY CORRECT. IT
WAS ECONOMICALLY ADVANTAGEOUS TO WORSHIP BAAL. THEY HAD BEEN
RAISED WORSHIPPING JEHOVAH AND THEY WERE AFRAID TO FORSAKE THE
WORSHIP OF JEHOVAH. SO THEY SAID THIS IS WHAT WE'LL
DO. WE'LL DO BOTH. WE'LL WORSHIP BAAL AND JEHOVAH. AND THAT IS WHEN Elijah said
to them, how long halt ye between two opinions? If Baal be God,
serve him. If Jehovah be God, serve Him,
but you cannot do both. You see, when you do both, you're
remaining in a neutral ground. You're really not for either,
and that is what Gamaliel was doing. He was halting between
two opinions. He listened to the message of
Peter, PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND WHO
CHRIST IS, AND WHAT HE DID, AND WHERE HE IS NOW, AND HE SAID,
WELL, IF THIS IS MERELY OF MEN, IT'LL DISSIPATE, IT'LL DISSOLVE,
IT'LL COME TO NOTHING. BUT IF IT'S OF GOD, WE CAN'T
STOP IT. IF GOD BE FOR US, WHO CAN BE
AGAINST US? IF IT'S OF GOD, IT'S GONNA WORK. BUT HE WOULD MAKE
A COMMITMENT TO NEITHER. HE REMAINED NEUTRAL. He was on
neither side. Now, what I thought about when
I thought about this is in Exodus chapter 32, this is after the
children of Israel had made this golden calf while Moses was gone. He'd been gone 40 days, and they
said, where's Moses? We don't know what happened to
them. So they made a golden calf and
worshiped it and said, these be thy gods, O Israel. And Moses
comes down with the law of God. written in stones in his hands.
And he sees this idolatry going on, the children of Israel eating
and drinking and rising up to play, the scripture says. And
I know what they were playing. They were playing religion. It was
a religious game with them. And Moses was angry. And he ground
that golden calf into powder. And and put it in the water and
he made the children of Israel drink it. He was angry with them,
but look what he says in verse 26 of Exodus chapter 32. Then Moses stood in the gate
of the camp and said, who is on the Lord's side? What a question. Who is on the
Lord's side? In Joshua chapter five, Joshua
sees the angel of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ with a drawn
sword. And he says to him, are you on
our side or the side of our adversaries? And he answered, neither. I am
the captain of the Lord of hosts. You see, the question is not,
is he on your side? The question is, are you on his
side? This is what Moses says, who
is on the Lord's side? You see, there is man's side
and there is the Lord's side. And the question is, are you
on his side? Now let me make a couple of statements
with regard to that, being on the Lord's side and not on man's
side. Are we on the side of the scriptures,
God's word, or are we on man's side following the traditions
of men that they make in religion? Now, religion, the stuff that
goes on under the name of Christianity is mostly just human tradition.
things men have made up, things that are very important to men,
but they're not found in the scripture. That's man side. And then there is the scripture,
God's word. And what you and I think of God
is most clearly seen in how we respond to his word, the Bible. The Bible claims to be the inspired
word of God. II Timothy 3.16, all Scripture
is given by inspiration of God. Literally, God breathed. YES, MEN WROTE IT. AND SOMEBODY
SAYS, CAN'T MEN MAKE MISTAKES? YEAH, THEY CAN, BUT NOT IN WRITING
THE SCRIPTURE. YOU SEE, HE WHO CREATED THE WORLD
HAS THE POWER TO INSPIRE MEN TO WRITE A BOOK AND HIM TO PRESERVE
THAT BOOK THROUGH THE CENTURIES. AND IF WE DON'T HAVE THE WORD
OF GOD, WHAT DO WE HAVE? MY OPINION, YOUR OPINION, WHICH
BOTH OPINIONS PUT TOGETHER ARE WORTHLESS. WHAT SAYETH THE SCRIPTURE
IS THE ONLY ISSUE. Timothy, Timothy, preach the
Word. Does the Word declare that God
is absolutely sovereign, the first cause behind all things?
Then preach it. Does the Word of God declare
that men are dead in sins and cannot do anything to save themselves? Then preach it. Does the Word
declare that God, before time began, chose a people in Christ
to be saved? If it does, preach it. Does the Word declare that Christ
finished the work of salvation on Calvary's tree? His last words,
it is finished. That means the salvation of the
elect was accomplished by what he did, not by what they do,
but by what he did. Does the Word declare that? Then
preach it. Does the Word declare that grace saves? Then it's just
not an offer, up for you to accept or reject, but it's almighty
and invincible. Grace saves, by grace ye are
saved. Does the Word declare salvation
by grace? Preach it. Does the Word declare
that God's people will persevere all the way to the end, looking
to Christ only? Does the Word declare that? then
preach it. Now, in this thing of preaching
the gospel, you can't be neutral. There's not two sides. God is either sovereign or man
is sovereign. It can't be both. Men are either
dead in sins and can't save themselves or men have some spiritual life
already in them and can do something to contribute to their salvation.
But it's not both. God either elected a people or
election is a lie. It can't be both. Somebody's not telling the truth.
Christ either finished the work of salvation or he didn't and
man must do something to complete it. but it can't be both. Which is it? We cannot remain
on neutral ground. Scriptures or man's tradition? Here's another statement. Salvation
is either caused by God's will or man's will. Free grace or
free will. Now, I realize this religious
world teaches that God wants to save you, but as to whether
or not you're saved, it's up to an act of your will. Whether
or not you'll decide to accept what he did or reject what he
did, salvation is ultimately dependent upon your will. But the Bible says, it's not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. TO AS MANY AS RECEIVED HIM, TO
THEM GAVE HE THE POWER TO BECOME THE SONS OF GOD, EVEN TO THEM
WHICH BELIEVE ON HIS NAME, WHICH WERE BORN, NOT OF BLOOD, NOT
OF THE WILL OF THE FLESH, NOT OF THE WILL OF MAN, BUT OF GOD. NOW, IT'S EITHER GOD'S WILL OR
MAN'S WILL, BUT IT CANNOT BE BOTH, AND YOU CAN'T BELIEVE BOTH
AND ACCEPT BOTH. ONE EXCLUDES THE OTHER. God's
will is God's side. Man's will is man's side. Whose
side are you on? I'm either saved by Christ's
righteousness or my own righteousness. but there is no mixture. Now, according to the scriptures,
the righteousness of Jesus Christ, His personal obedience, His law-keeping,
is the righteousness of every believer. I'm not saved because
of anything that I've done. I'm saved because God took the
righteousness of His Son and gave it to me, and it becomes
mine. I'm saved by the righteousness
of somebody else. or I'm saved by me doing something
to make myself righteous. It's one of the other. It cannot
be both. Christ's righteousness is God's
side. Human righteousness is man's
side. God gets all the glory in salvation
or man gets some glory? Which is it? It can't be both.
Now, God's side is God getting all the glory. MEN GETTING ANY
GLORY OR ANY CREDIT IN SALVATION IF YOU DID SOMETHING THAT MADE
YOU DIFFERENT FROM SOMEBODY ELSE. You're on man's side. You're
giving man the credit. Whose side are you on? You can't
be neutral. That's what Gamaliel was. He
was neutral. He was nonpartisan. He was on
neither side. But the fact of the matter is
you cannot be on neither side. If you're not on the Lord's side,
you're on man's side. Now let's look what Moses said.
Verse 26, then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said,
who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me. A visible separation took place
at that time. Those who were on the Lord's
side identified with Moses. They came to Moses. Those who were not, on the Lord's
side stayed away. Now, here's the point. There
were men who were on the Lord's side, and there were men who
were not on the Lord's side, and those who were on the Lord's
side made a visible demonstration that they were on the Lord's
side. They came to Moses. Now, if you
are on the Lord's side, You're going to identify with his people. You're going to identify with
the message of the gospel. Birds of a feather flock together.
I love what Paul said in Acts 24, verse 14. This I confess
to thee. I plead guilty here. I'm not
ashamed of this. I'm going to make this my public
identification. This I confess to thee, that
after the way which they call heresy, So worship I, the God
of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the
law and in the prophets. I want to be identified with
those on the Lord's side. I don't want to be like Gamaliel
and stay in neutral. I want to identify myself with
God's side. Now look what he said next in
verse 27. And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
Put every man on a sword by his side. Now those who were on the
Lord's side have a weapon. And what is that sword? The sword
of the Spirit is the Word of God. That's our weapon, the Word
of God. You know, I think it's interesting
when Paul gives the spiritual armor the believer is to put
on. The only thing for offense is
the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Everything
else is for defense, but this is for offense, the word of God. And he says, go in and out from
gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother,
every man his companion, and every man his neighbor." Now,
those people who were on the Lord's side were called upon
to go slay their brother, their companion and their neighbor.
And this is what they did literally. And in this thing of the gospel,
now remember this, this isn't saying that if somebody doesn't
believe what we do, we ought to go out and kill them. No,
not in any way. That would be terribly wrong
and it'd be evil to take a position like that. But it is saying this,
in this thing of the gospel, we overcome natural ties, the
truth of God, is more important than my relationship with any
man. I don't care if it's my mom or
dad, my wife or my children. The truth of God, serving God
is more important than them. And I'm not going to compromise
the truth of how God saves sinners to keep them happy and try to
bring them into heaven and say they're saved just because they're
my relatives, even though they do not believe the gospel. No. A man's foes, the Scripture says,
shall be they of his own household. So I'm not going to look at my
friend or companion or brother. If they reject the gospel, I'm
not going to try to say, well, they're saved anyway because
of fleshly ties. No. The gospel is more important
than that. I don't know how many times I've
and people said, well, what you're saying is so, my mother is not
saved, or my wife is not saved. Well, whatever the implication
is, the gospel is the gospel, whether it makes your mom saved
or not saved. The gospel is the gospel. And then he says in verse 28,
and the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses,
and there fell of that people that day about 3,000 men, for
Moses had said, consecrate yourselves today to the Lord. And that's
what those who are on the Lord's side are called to do, to consecrate
themselves to the Lord. Paul put it this way. In 2 Timothy
1, 12, he said, I'm not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed
to him against that day. Now here's Paul's consecration.
He was persuaded. that Christ was able to save
him. And he proved that by committing
the entire salvation of his soul to Christ. Hands off, he did
it all if what he did is not enough. With no help from me,
I will not be saved. Now that's commitment. That's
consecration. Anything less is not true commitment. Paul says, I have no plan B.
I'm burning my bridges. I'm looking to Christ only as
everything in my salvation. May God deliver us from being
gamaliels. one foot in, one foot out, neutral. Now we have this message on DVD
and CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Diver praying that
God will be pleased to make himself known to you. To request a copy of the sermon
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