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 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Our text for this morning is found in 1 John chapter 3. If
you could get a Bible and read along it would be helpful. But
this week I want to first announce that we're having our annual
Sovereign Grace Bible conference. What is meant by sovereign grace?
Salvation is of the Lord. That's what that means. Every
aspect of salvation is by the grace of God. Election by the
Father, redemption by the Son, and regeneration by the Holy
Spirit. Now, beginning this Friday night at 7, Saturday morning
at 10, Saturday evening at 6, and Sunday morning at 10, we'll
have two speakers each service, and the theme of this Bible conference
is, What is the Gospel? And every speaker will bring
a message regarding what is the gospel, and that is always the
issue. What is the gospel? So we want
to invite you to come to these services. Nursery will be provided,
and I hope to see you. 1 John 3, beginning in verse
4. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth
also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. What a simple definition of sin. Sin is breaking God's holy law. If I lie, I sin. If I fail to
love God with all my heart, soul, and strength, I sin. If I steal
something, if I take credit where credit's not due, I sin. Sin
is the transgression of the law. And that is what is meant throughout
this passage of Scripture, so remember that. He identifies
first what sin is. Sin is the transgression of the
law, verse 5, and you know that he was manifested to take away
our sins. Why did he come? To take away
our sins. Did he do it? When he said, it
is finished, the sins of everybody he died for were taken away,
canceled, blotted out, made to not be. He was manifested to
take away our sins, and in Him is no sin. That means if you're
in Him, you have no sin. When God looks at you, He sees
you as holy and unblameable and unapprovable in His sight. And
let me remind you, how He sees things is how they really are,
in Him. is no sin. Verse 6, Whosoever
abideth in him sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him, neither known him. Now, who are those people who
abide in Christ? Well, in Christ there's a place.
You stay in that place. You never want to be viewed independently
of Jesus Christ. Just like when the Lord was coming
through to destroy the firstborn, if you're in the house, you are
safe. If you're outside of the house,
your firstborn would be killed. If you are in the ark, you are
safe. If you are outside of the ark,
destruction. Now that person who abides in
Christ is that person who only wants to be found in Him. When
God comes looking for me, I simply want to be found in Christ. That's
all I want God to see. Now, that person who abides in
him does not sin. Somebody says that means he doesn't
practice sin. No, it doesn't mean that. It means he doesn't
sin, period. That's the reality of justification. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth
not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive
you. He that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as he is righteous. And he that committeth sin is
of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this
purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works
of the devil. And that's what he did. He destroyed
them. It was the devil who brought sin into the world to our parents
first. So he, our first parents, Adam
and Eve, but he destroyed the works of the devil. And look
at verse nine. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him
and he cannot sin. He lacks the ability to sin because
he's born of God. Now this concept of being born
of God, that's what I'd like for us to consider. Born of God. What does this new birth do?
What does the new birth not do? That's what I want us to consider.
But what I'm going to do is look at every scripture that says
something about being born of God. In John 1, verse 11, he came unto his own, and his
own received him not. But as many as received him,
TO THEM GAVE HE POWER TO BECOME THE SONS OF GOD, EVEN TO THEM
THAT BELIEVED ON HIS NAME WHICH WERE BORN. Don?t miss that, which
were born, not of blood. You?re not born again because
your mom and dad are, or because of any fleshly connections. Not
of the will of the flesh. The new birth doesn't come as
a result of man's will. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Free
will is a lie. You're not born because you decided
to be at an act of your free will, nor of the will of man,
not because a bunch of men got together and decided we're going
to pray for you till God saves you. It's going to happen. No, the new birth is of God,
not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will
of man, but of God. Now, this is God's sovereign
work. not of the will of the flesh,
not of the will of man, but of God. If you're saved, it's because
God birthed you into his kingdom. It's because he elected you,
Christ died for your sins, and then God the Holy Spirit birthed
you into his kingdom. And this is absolutely necessary
for salvation, because if he doesn't give me life, I won't
live. As far as salvation goes, I think of what The Lord said
to His disciples as they watched that rich, young ruler leave,
and they said, if this man can't be saved, who then can be saved?
With men, it is impossible. If God leaves me and you to ourselves,
we will not be saved. God's got to intervene and give
us life. Now, these people who are made
the sons of God, who believe on His name, were born. They
were born. of blood, not of the will of
the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God. And then in John chapter three,
beginning in verse one, there was a man of the Pharisees named
Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night.
Maybe it's because he was ashamed, but I think the imagery is he
was in utter darkness. He didn't understand anything.
He had no light. And he said unto him, Rabbi,
which is teacher. You know, Nicodemus thought he
needed to be taught. He needed more than that. He
needed to be given life. But he addresses Christ as a
teacher. Rabbi, we know that thou art
a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles
that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and
said unto him, Verily I say unto you, except a man be born again,
born from above, he cannot see. the kingdom of heaven. Now, unless
I am born from above, I just can't see, I can't perceive,
I can't understand the things of the kingdom of God. There's
no way I can understand it. If you had the best calculus
teacher to ever live that could make things so simple, or the
best algebra teacher that could make things so simple that they're
better than anybody else, if they were teaching a monkey,
He still wouldn't be able to learn calculus or algebra. It's
beyond his comprehension. The things of the kingdom of
God is above the natural man's comprehension. He cannot see
the kingdom of God unless he is born from above. There's no understanding of the
gospel. You see, this is not something you can understand
intellectually. You can be the smartest man alive and still
be blind unless God gives you life so you see. Let's go on
reading. Nicodemus saith unto him, How
can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter in the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Now that water
represents the Word, the washing of water by the Word. There's
no new birth without the Word, and you have to be born of the
Spirit. God the Holy Spirit has to give
you life through the Word, and if He doesn't do that, you cannot
enter the Kingdom of Heaven. You can't get in unless God gives
you life from above. Then he says in verse six, that
which is born of the flesh is flesh. It'll never rise above
that. And that which is born of the
spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto you
that you must be born again. It's absolutely necessary for
you to be born from above, born again to enter or to see the
kingdom of heaven. And then he says in verse eight,
the wind blows where it listed, it wills. It blows wherever it
wants to. You don't have any control in
this. You can't control the direction of the wind. The wind blows where
it wills. You hear the sound thereof, but
canst not tell whence it cometh or whether it goeth. So is everyone
that is born of the Spirit. This is the sovereign work of
God. You don't have any control in
this. You don't have any more control of this birth than you
did your first birth. It happened because God willed
it, and this is the same way. The new birth is a sovereign
work of God. Now, the next time we read of
this birth is found in Galatians chapter four, beginning in verse
21. Tell me you that desire to be
under the law. Do you not hear the law? For it's written that
Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a
free woman. Now you can remember the story
from Genesis chapter 16, where God had made a promise. to Abraham,
you're going to have a child through Sarah. Some years pass,
Sarah says it hadn't happened, and Abraham, what we need to
do is we need to do our part. Obviously God's promise won't
come to pass unless we do our part. And so she pointed to her
maid, Hagar. You go into Hagar, a young woman,
she had already gone through menopause, she couldn't have
a child. You go into Hagar, we'll do our part, and we'll have a
child. And you know that he did go into Hagar, and they had Ishmael. And Ishmael's never acknowledged
a son by God. Remember when he said to Abraham,
take now thy son, thy only son, Isaac, whom you love. Well, that's
the story in Genesis chapter 16. But he, who was of the bondwoman, was
born after the flesh. There's nothing miraculous about
it, but the free woman was by promise. By the Spirit of God,
there was something supernatural about it. Which things are an
allegory? Now remember when you read the
Old Testament, these stories are not just historical events
and things that really happen. They're given as an allegory
to teach us truth. These things are an allegory,
for these are the two covenants. One represents Mount Sinai. Now,
Hagar, Abraham going into Hagar, them doing their part to make
God's purpose and promise come to pass is a representative salvation
by works. If salvation in any way is dependent
upon you doing something, that's salvation by works. But salvation
by grace is the child, Isaac, being born supernaturally of
a woman who had already gone through menopause. And this teaches,
this birth teaches grace. Salvation truly is all of grace. Look what it says in verse 29
of this chapter. But as then he which was born after the flesh
persecuted him that was born after the spirit, even so it
is now. You know, grace and works can't
coexist. They can't get along. Works is always going to persecute
grace. Now, the next passage of Scripture
is found in 1 Peter 1, when we hear about a new birth or being
born. 1 Peter 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy
hath begotten us, there it is, hath birthed us unto a living
hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Now, if
I'm born from above, I know this, the only reason I am is because
of the resurrection of Christ from the dead. The reason God
gives me this new birth is because Christ died for my sins, put
them away, was raised from the grave for my justification, and
now God can give me this new birth, this new life. It comes
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And then
we read in verse 23 of this same chapter, Peter says, being born
again. There it is again. Being born
again, Not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the
Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. Now, this new
birth doesn't come from corruptible seed, salvation by work, salvation
by what man does, but the incorruptible seed, the living Word of God,
the Gospel. Only the Gospel begets this life.
being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by
the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. And then
he quotes a passage from Isaiah chapter 40. Here's the message.
All flesh is its grass and all the glory of man as the flower
of grass. The grass withers, and the flower
thereof falls away. That's the works of the flesh.
But the word of the Lord endures forever. The only thing that's
going to abide God's judgment and endure is not something you've
done, but who He is and what He has done. The word of the
Lord abides forever and this is the word which by the gospel
is preached unto you. This is the message. First John
chapter 2 verse 29. If you know that he is righteous,
You know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of Him. Now, the only way you can do
righteousness is if you're born of God. A natural man, an unbeliever,
cannot do righteousness. He has nothing but an evil nature,
and if he does something good, it's still not good because he
did it. I think of that passage of Scripture, the plowing of
the wicked is sin. I mean, that seems like a very
wholesome activity, but if a wicked man does it, it's sin. Only the
new man who is born of God can do righteousness. That's talking
about the righteous nature. That's what the new nature can
do. It's the doing of righteousness.
Now, somebody says, well, what is that? Anything the righteous
nature does. Anything the righteous nature
does. It's the doing of righteousness. Look in verse nine of chapter
three. Whosoever is born of God, there we have it again. Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin. For his seed, the seed of
God, remains in him, and he cannot sin. He lacks the ability to
sin because he's born of God. Now I realize people say, well,
that means he doesn't practice sin. But that's not, the language
won't even allow that. He doesn't sin, period, because
he's born of God. That's talking about the new
man in Christ Jesus, the new nature. It's the new nature that
believes, not the old man. It's the new nature that loves
God, not the old man. The new nature cannot sin. Can God sin? No. Can the Lord
Jesus Christ sin? No. Can the Holy Spirit sin? No. Can the new nature sin? No. We're said to be partakers
of the divine nature, and holiness cannot sin. Now, in 1 John 4,
verse 7, we read these words. Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God, and
knoweth God. Now here's what the new nature
does. It loves God, and it knows God. To know God is to love God. To love God is to know Him, and
that's what the new nature does. We read in verse 8, he that loveth
not knoweth not God, for God is love. Now the love he's speaking
of. It's not romantic love. It's
not the love between a man and a woman. It's not the love between
a parent and a child. I'm thankful for those loves,
but a lost man can have all those loves. It's not love and loyalty
to your country. I'm thankful for that, but a
lost man can have that. This is talking about love to
God as He is, and love to His people as they are. I love God as He is. I love His
sovereignty. I love His absolute control.
I love His justice. I love His righteousness. I love
His independence. These are all attributes of God.
I love His eternality. He never had a beginning. He
never had an end. I love His righteousness. I love
being saved by His righteousness. I love His way of saving by Christ.
By grace. Oh, how I love his precious blood.
How I love the intercession of Christ. How I love his people.
Everybody that loves Christ, I love. 1 John 5.1 says, everyone
that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of
him. There is a genuine love to God and love to his people. And that's the result only of
being born of God. The natural man has no love for
God. And that is seen when he hears the true gospel. He says,
well, I don't love that. Well, I know you don't. The natural
man doesn't love God as revealed in the scriptures, but that which
is born of God does. Now look at 1 John 5, verse 1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Now, did you hear that? Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ. Now, the Christ is the Messiah,
the anointed one. In the Old Testament, there were
three anointed offices, all which picture the person and work of
Christ, the The priest was anointed, the prophet was anointed, and
the king was anointed with oil by God. They were recognized
and anointed. Now, Jesus Christ is God's anointed
prophet. He is the Word of God. He's all
that God has to say. This is my beloved Son. Hear
ye Him. He is God's Word. He's called
the Word of God. He's God's priest. You know what
that means? That means if he represents you,
you must be saved. You really believe that? Now
what's a priest? A prophet is someone who brings
God's word to men. A priest is someone who brings
men to God. He's God's priest after the order
of Melchizedek. If he brings me to God, if he
represents me, I must be saved. He's God's king. God's King is
the one whose will is done. He's in absolute control. And
I need Him as an absolute sovereign whose will is done to cause me
to do His will, to cause me to believe the gospel. I need Him.
Oh, whoso believeth that Jesus is the Christ, God's prophet,
God's priest, God's King, is born of God. It takes the new
birth even to believe that. Look in 1 John 5, verse 4. For whatsoever is born of God, there's
the word again. Whatsoever is born of God overcometh
the world. And this is the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh
the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. I want you to do something that's
very difficult to do for me or you. May God give us grace to
do this. I want you to forget about yourself
completely. I don't want you to wonder whether
or not you're saved, whether or not Christ died for you, whether
or not you're one of the elect. Just forget about yourself completely. Faith is what you believe concerning
Him. Not what you believe concerning
yourself, what you believe concerning Him. For whatsoever is born of
God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh
the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the
world but he that believeth? that Jesus is the Son of God,
faith is believing that He is the eternal, uncreated Creator,
God the Son, equal with the Father, so much so that the Father worships
the Son, and the Son worships the Father. For He, God said
to the Son, Thy throne, O God, is forever. The only issue is
what you think of Him. I think of where the Lord said
to His disciples, Whom say men that I the Son of Man am? They
said, well, they say good things. Some say you're Elijah, Elias,
Moses, one of the prophets, Jeremiah. Whom say ye that I am? Peter
answered, Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Blessed art Thou, Simon Bar-Jonah.
Flesh and blood didn't reveal that to thee, but my Father which
is in heaven. Upon this rock, upon this confession
of me, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. I'll build
my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I think of when the Lord watched
that crowd go away in John chapter 6. He didn't ask them back after
they heard that message. He watched them file off. From
that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more
with him. They said, we're not going this
direction. He looked at the 12 and said, will you also go away?
Peter answered, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words
of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that
Christ. the Son of the Living God. They
didn't say anything about themselves, but who He is. The Philippian,
or the Ethiopian eunuch, he's heard Philip preach, see, here's
water, what hinders me from being baptized? If you believe with
all your heart, you may. And he said, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. He didn't say, I believe I'm
saved. He didn't say, I believe I'm born again. He didn't say,
I believe I'm one of the elect. He said, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the son of God. That is faith. It doesn't have
anything to do with what you think about yourself. It has
wholly to do with what you think about him. Now you remember the
Lord said to Peter, I prayed for you that your faith fail
not. Well, Peter failed, didn't he? I mean, he denied he even
knew the Lord. And he went out and went bitterly. And when the Lord arose from
the dead, I bet he might have thought, I'm not saved. He remembered
the Lord saying, whoso denieth me before men, him will I deny
before my Father which is in heaven. He said, I did that.
And if you would have asked Peter at that time, are you saved?
I don't know. Did Christ die for you? I'm not
real sure, maybe not. Are you one of the elect? I don't
give much evidence of it. He couldn't have answered those
positively, but if you would have said, do you believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Yes, I do with all my heart. That is what faith is. And finally, 1 John 5, 18, we
know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not, but he that's
begotten of God, there it is, keeps himself. He keeps himself,
by the grace of God, in Christ, looking to Christ alone, and
he will not look anywhere else. Now, I want to remind you that
we're going to have special services, Sovereign Grace Bible Conference,
beginning at 7 o'clock Friday, Friday night, Saturday morning
at 10, Saturday evening at 6, and Sunday morning at 10. And
we'd love to have you come out and hear the gospel. This is
Todd Divert, 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 toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
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