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 the last chapter of the last
book of the Bible, Revelation 22, the Lord Jesus Christ says,
surely I come quickly. What is John's response? Even
so, come Lord Jesus. That word translated, even so,
is quite often in the scriptures translated, yes. When the Lord
Jesus says, behold, I come quickly, John says, yes, come Lord Jesus. I've entitled this message, Yes. And this has something to do
with the believer's response to the gospel. Yes. I recall one time having some
people in our home who had been visiting the church, and while
we were talking, I tried to explain what the Bible teaches concerning
grace and the doctrine of grace. I thought that they were in agreement
with what they were hearing, and we looked at how the Bible
did in fact teach that God is absolutely sovereign. The scripture says, 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? He is absolutely sovereign and
his grace is sovereign grace. That means if you give, if you
have his grace, it's because he willed to give it to you and
saved you must be. That's what sovereign grace means.
Men are dead in sins according to the scripture. Now what does
dead in sin mean? It means that if I'm left to
myself, I will not and cannot be saved because I can't perform
any of the functions of spiritual life. I can't believe, I can't
repent, I can't love unless God does something for me. The scriptures
teach that God before time began chose a people, a number that
can't be added to or taken from, and he chose those people in
Christ to be saved. Ephesians 1 verse 4 says, According
as he hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the
world. According to the scriptures,
the death of Christ was for the elect and he actually accomplished
their salvation. He didn't make them savable,
he saved them. When he said it is finished,
their salvation was accomplished. All their sins were paid for.
The Lord wasn't making salvation possible or available, he was
saving. And God's grace actually saves. God's grace is not an offer according
to the scriptures. 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, God's grace is irresistible. God's grace is invincible. God's
grace saves. And the Scripture teaches that
all of those people that God elected and Christ died for and
God the Holy Spirit gave life to by His grace, they will persevere
all the way to the end. They'll continue in the faith,
grounded and settled. And the man who was eating with
me after we'd gone over that, he replied to me, he said, well,
I see that that's what the scripture teaches. I see that, but that
doesn't mean I like it. I never will forget that response.
That doesn't mean I like it. Now, I'm a sports fan. I love sports. I love when my
team wins, whether football, baseball, or basketball. I'm
a big fan in all three of those sports. And when my team wins
hundreds of times, this has been my response when something good
happens. Yes. Yes, I'm happy. My team is winning. My team scored
a touchdown. My favorite pitcher pitched a
no-hitter. My favorite basketball team wins. Yes. That's the response. Yes. Now, the word yes is a strong
affirmation. It's speaking of strong agreement,
rejoicing. Yes, I'm happy about this. Yes. Now you may not be a sports
fan, but there are things that you, that elicit that response
from you. Yes. Maybe you would win the
lottery and you'd say, yes. Now, if I would say 2 plus 2
equals 4, or you told me 2 plus 2 equals 4, I would say, yes,
I see that, but that's not a strong response of affirmation. I'm
strongly responding yes when I'm very happy about something. And this man was not happy about
the gospel. I want to be happy about the
gospel. I want to give this strong affirmation. Now, if you tell me that my sins
are all forgiven for Christ's sake, and that I stand before
God justified, without guilt, you know what I'm going to say?
Yes. That's my response to that. Yes,
I'm glad it's that way. I love it that way. Now, I want
to look in the Bible where men responded with this Yes. In Matthew 9, beginning in verse
27, and when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying
and saying, Thou son of David, have mercy on us. And when he
was coming to the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus
saith unto them, believe ye that I am able to do this?" Their
reply, yea, Lord, yes. Now faith is believing his ability. He asked them, do you believe
that I am able to do this? He didn't ask them, are you saved?
He didn't ask them, can you save yourself? He asked them, do you
believe that I am able to do this? 2 Timothy 1.12, Paul said, I
know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I've committed to him against that day. Paul,
what did you commit to him? The complete salvation of my
soul. My hands are off. If he doesn't
do it all, I will not be saved, and I've committed the salvation
of my soul to him, and I'm persuaded he is able, without any contribution
from me, without any help from me, he is able to save me. It was said of Abraham in Romans
chapter four that he staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully
persuaded that what God had promised, he was able also to perform. Now the Lord says to these blind
men, do you believe that I'm able to do this? They said, yay,
Lord, we believe that you're able to do this and how they
rejoiced in that. Now, the next passage of scripture
I'd like to read is found in Matthew chapter 11, beginning
in verse 25. At that time, Jesus answered
and 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. Now, hear what the Lord says.
He thanks his father that he had hid these things so they
could not be found from the wise and prudent, those who are righteous
in their own eyes. He hid the things of salvation
from them so they could not see, but he revealed them unto babes. And you know what our Lord's
response to that was? even so father and that word even so
is yes yes father for so it seemed good in thy sight and if it seemed
good in God's sight that was enough to satisfy the Lord Jesus
Christ when he saw that his father was pleased with what he did
the Lord was pleased with it too there one He's the father,
he's the son of the father, they're one. And he said, even so, father,
even so, I'm glad it's that way. Now, here's the point. Is this enough to satisfy you? Even so, father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. If it seems good in God's sight,
is it good in your sight? whatever he does is right shall
not the judge of the earth do right now if it's in good in
his sight here's our response yes even so father for so it
seemed good in thy sight if it's good in your sight it is good
and then in matthew chapter 13 verse 51 after he had given them
many parables he said jesus saith unto them have you understood
all these things. And their response was, Yay,
Lord! Yay, Lord! They rejoiced in what
they were hearing. They were made to understand,
and their response to the gospel was, Yay, Lord! Now, with regard
to our understanding, I realize our understanding is limited.
We don't completely understand anything because we're frail,
finite, sinful creatures. But we do understand when God
opens our understanding. Remember that scripture? He opened
their understanding and they understand the scriptures. Now,
I understand how God can love me and accept me and see me as
perfectly righteous through the gospel. I understand that. I
understand how my sin actually became his sin and he put it
away and his righteousness becomes my personal righteousness before
God. It's called justification. And you know what my response
to that is? Yes. I love that. Do you understand
that you're a sinner? Yes, I do. Do you understand
that Christ is all in salvation? Yes, I do. He is all I need. He's all I have. And he's all
I want. I understand that. And my response
to that is, yes, Lord. Yes, Lord, I have understood
these things. And then I love this passage
of scripture regarding the Syrophoenician woman. She comes into the Lord's
presence. You can read about this in Matthew
chapter 15, verses 21 through 27. She comes into the Lord's
presence and says, have mercy upon me, thou son of David. My
daughter is grievously vexed with the devil. She came with
a great need. And you know what the Lord did? He answered her, not a word. He ignored her. He did not respond
to her cry. Have you ever been there where
you felt like your prayer was going no further than the ceiling? That's where she was. But she
didn't quit crying. She continued to cry, have mercy
upon me, oh Lord, thou son of David. My daughter is grievously
vexed with the devil. And the Lord said, I'm not sent,
but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I didn't come
to save everybody. I only came to save the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. Now this woman was a Gentile
and all she could hear was, he didn't come to save everybody.
Now, what was her response? The scripture says, then came
she and worshiped him saying, Lord, help me. If you don't help
me, I have nowhere else to go. I need your help. Help me. If you don't help me, I won't
be helped. The fact that he only came to
save the lost sheep of the house of Israel didn't stop her from
asking for his help. And then he made this statement.
He said, it's not meat to take the children's bread and to cast
it to dogs. Now, think of what he says to
this woman. It's not meat. It's not appropriate. It's not right to take my gospel
grace and throw it out to the dogs. And you know what she said?
Yes, Lord. If I ever heard the truth, that's
the truth because I know I'm a dog and I know I don't deserve
your grace. I really believe that that's
the truth. If I ever heard the truth, that's the truth. Yet
the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the master's table.
I don't expect a place sitting with the children. I expect a
place with the dogs, but even the dogs are dependent upon the
crumbs that fall from the master's table. And you know what the
Lord said to her? Woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee
even as thou wilt. Yes, Lord. And then in Matthew
chapter 21, We read where the people had been praising the
Lord. Verse 15, And when the chief
priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children
crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David,
they were sore displeased. And said unto him, Hearest thou
what these say? Can you allow them to speak in
such high and lofty terms of you, saying, Hosanna to the Son
of David, Hosanna to the Lord? Why, you should tell these people
to quit saying this. And Jesus said unto them, yea. What they're saying of me is
absolutely accurate. He would take in the divine praise
because that's who he is. Yea, have you never read, they've
read many times, I love the way the Lord slams them. Have you
never read out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, thou hast
perfected praise. When you hear of the exaltation
and glory of the person of Christ. Is your response, yes? You're glad it's that way. Someone
cannot speak high enough of His glory and His power and His infinite
excellence and His sovereignty. When you hear the ascription
of praise to Him, is this your response? Yes, Lord. And then in John chapter 11 in
verse 25, this is after Lazarus had died. And the Lord says to
Martha, thy brother shall rise again. And Martha said, I know
he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. I understand
my eschatology. I know the end times. I know
at the end there will be a final resurrection and he will be raised
as well. And the Lord said to her, I am
the resurrection and the life. He that believeth on me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. Believest thou this? Now what's
the Lord saying? The resurrection's not an event.
I am the resurrection. Now by that, he's saying when
I'm raised, everybody's raised. And the scripture teaches that
as far as I'm talking about his people, those who believe. When
Christ was raised from the dead, all of his people were in him,
all of his elect. When he was raised from the dead,
they were raised. As He's seated together in heaven,
they're seated with Him. That's what the scriptures teach
in Ephesians chapter 2. The resurrection is not an event.
I am the resurrection. When I was raised, my people
were raised. And I am the life. If I have
life before God, it's His life. His life is my personal life,
is my personal righteousness before God. He said, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father, but
by me, I'm the life. What's your response to that?
I know what Martha's was. Yea, Lord. She loved what she
was hearing. And then in John chapter 21,
The Lord asked Peter, now remember Peter had denied him three times,
and he asked him three times, Peter, do you love me? Lovest thou me? Now I want you to think about
that question. And try not to think about yourself,
whether or not you're saved or whether or not, just would you
be able, by the grace of God, to forget yourself for just a
moment and think of His person. Jesus Christ is God. He's the creator of the universe.
Do you love Him for that? Do you say, yay, Lord? He's absolutely
sovereign. That means He controls everybody
and everything. And He is the cause of all things. Do you love Him for that? He's
all-powerful. Anything He wants, He has the
power to possess. That's why His sovereignty works. Whatever He wills, He has the
power to make sure His will comes to pass. He's just. He's absolutely just. He would
die before He would let His Father's law be dishonored. Oh, the justice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's gracious. He delights in
mercy. He's meek. He's lowly in heart. He's altogether lovely. He's
immutable. He never changes. Jesus Christ
the same yesterday, today, and forever. He's eternal. He never
began to be. He is God the Son. Peter, do you love me? And what was Peter's reply? Yea,
Lord. Now, when I think of my love,
I know I don't love him as much as I ought to, but I want to
quit thinking about my love. Yes, I love him just as he is. And if it were in my power, I
wouldn't change him if I could. Yay, Lord. And then in 2 Corinthians
1, we have this very interesting passage of scripture where Paul
was speaking in verse 15 And in this confidence, I was
minded to come to you before that you might have a second
benefit. It was my plans to come to you and to pass by you into
Macedonia and to come again out of Macedonia unto you and of
you to be brought on my way toward Judea. That was my plan. That's
what I wanted to take place, but it didn't take place. God
and his providence caused it not to take place. When I therefore
was thus minded, when I planned on doing this, Did I use likeness? Or the things that I purpose,
do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should
be yay-yay and nay-nay? Yes and no to the same thing,
that's what he was being accused of. He says in verse 18, but
as God is true, our word or our preaching to you was not yea
and nay, for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached
among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not
yea and nay, but in him was yea, for all the promises of God in
him are yea, and in him, amen to the glory of God by us. Now
most preaching, would go under the title yay-nay preaching. Yes and no to the same thing. Is salvation by grace? Yes, yes,
salvation's by grace, but that grace won't save you unless you
decide to accept it and receive it. Yes, salvation is by grace,
but no, you need to do something with that grace in order for
it to save you. Now that's yea, nay preaching.
It's a complete denial of what grace is in the first place.
Is the blood of Christ sufficient to make a man clean before God
and without sin? Well, yes, he died to cover all
your sins, but no, he may have died for you and covered your
sins, but you won't get that benefit unless you accept him
as your personal Savior. If you reject him, even though
he died for you, you won't be saved. Now, that's yea, nay,
preaching. Everybody He died for must be
saved. Their sins are forgiven. They
will believe. They will come to Him. They will
repent. They must. All He died for must
be saved. Yes. Not yay and nay. Yes. And then Paul says all of
the promises of God, every promise of salvation, all the promises
of God in him are yay. They're not dependent upon you
doing something for them to come to pass. They're all yay. They're
all amen. They're all going to come to
pass. Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. Whatever God promises must come
to pass because of who promised it. And then in Revelation chapter
1, John makes this statement in
verse 7. Behold, he cometh with the clouds,
every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him,
and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him, even
so. And that's that same word, yes,
amen. Now this is what, how a believer
responds to Christ's coming. We desire for everybody to see
Him, even the people who don't love Him. We want them all to
know that He is God, and when He returns, every eye is going
to see Him, and everybody is going to know exactly who He
is. And our response is, yes, even so. And then in Revelation
16, verse 7, we read, And I heard another out of the altar say,
Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. Now, we can say with regard to
whatever he does, he's talking about his judgments. His judgments,
His judgments against sin, His judgments against sinners, whatever
He does, we say with regard to whatever He does, yes, whatever
He does is right. And He doesn't do it because
it's right, it's right because He does it. He doesn't have a
law over his head that he has to live up to. He is the law. He is righteousness. And whatever
he does is right. And he doesn't do it because
it's right. It's right because he does it. And this is the way
every believer responds to whatever God does. It's right. Yes. I may not understand it,
but that's okay. I don't need to understand it.
He does. And our response to what he does is yes. And then
the last one is found in Revelation 22. This is the way I opened
this message. Verse 20, he would testify these
things, say, surely I come quickly, amen. Even so, yes, come Lord
Jesus. And that is the believer's response
to his coming. Come Lord Jesus, we anxiously
await your return. Now, if you really believe, that
he is all in salvation and that all God requires of you, he looks
to his son for. If you really believe salvation
is all by grace, if you really believe that his righteousness
is the only righteousness, this is what your response is to his
second coming, even so. Yes, come Lord Jesus, when he
shall come with trumpet sound, oh, may I then in him be found,
dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before
the throne. Now, when God saves a man or
a woman, their response to the truth, to the gospel is not,
well, I see it's true, but that doesn't mean I like it. Their
response to the gospel is, yes. Now, everybody's going to be
made to say yes, some willingly, some unwillingly. I want to be
one of those people who are willing. 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 Knopper praying
that God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's
our prayer. Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
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