Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyvert. 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 Nyvert. I'm reading from Luke chapter
24, and I want us to consider the message of the angels when
they announced the resurrection of Christ to the women who came
to the tomb that early Sunday morning. Beginning in verse 4, and it came to pass as they were
much perplexed, they couldn't understand why the Lord's body
was no longer in the tomb. They knew he died, and they don't
know how his body has been removed. There, behold, two men stood
by them in shining garments. These men were angels. And as they were afraid and bowed
down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, the angels
said to these women, why seek ye the living among the dead? What a question. He's not here. He is risen. Remember how He spake unto you
when He was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered
into the hands of sinful men and be crucified. And the third
day, rise again. There was a necessity for him
to be crucified. There was a necessity for him
to be delivered into the hands of sinful men. There was a necessity
for him to be raised from the dead. And they remembered his
words. Now there are created beings
called angels. We know very little about them,
and I think they want us to know very little about them. I think
it's interesting when we read of the angels that were around
the throne, they would cover their faces and cover their feet. With two wings, they would fly,
but with the other two wings, they'd cover their faces and
cover their feet. We know very little about angels,
but we know there could be different orders of them. Cherubims, seraphims,
we have a couple of angels named in scriptures, Gabriel, Michael,
and Peter tells us that they're greater in power and might. They appeared with the Lord to
destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. They announced the Lord's birth
to Joseph and Mary and to the shepherds in the field. They
ministered to the Lord when he was being tempted in the desert.
And they came and aided him in Gethsemane's garden when he was
sweating great drops of blood. There appeared angels and ministered
to him. They were waiting at the cross
for orders. didn't know why he was there
and they were waiting for God to tell them to smite the people
that were nailing him to a cross. And they took the form of men
to announce his resurrection. Now the scripture says they're
ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who shall
be the heirs of salvation. And every believer does have
a guardian angel Matthew 18, verse 10, take heed that ye despise
not one of these little ones, for I say unto you that in heaven
there are angels. Do always behold the face of
my Father which is in heaven. Now these angels came and announced
to these women the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I repeat,
we know little of angels, but we love them. They're God's creatures
doing God's will. The demons are fallen angels.
The devil is a fallen angel, and the only reason these angels
that have not fallen have not fallen is because they're, as
Paul calls them in 1 Timothy 5, elect angels. God chose them
to not fall, and that's why they did not fall. Now, these women
arrive at the empty tomb, verse three, and they entered in and
found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass as
they were much perplexed, There about behold two men stood by
them in shining garments, these angels, and they were afraid. I can understand that. I'd be
afraid too. And they bowed down their faces to the earth. They
said unto them, these angels said unto them, and I love this
question, why seek ye the living among the dead? And this is a
question to me and a question to you. Why do you seek him who
lives in your dead works, thinking somehow you can approach him
because of those, or your dead nature, or in dead religion? Why seek ye him that lives among
the dead? He's not here, verse six, he's
risen. Remember how he spake unto you
when he was yet in Galilee? You know that on at least three
different times, the Lord told his disciples that he would be
killed, crucified, mistreated, and raised from the dead. He
told them that on at least three occasions. And the angels remind
them of this. They had either not been listening
or it just didn't register with him. You know, all the disciples
should have been at the sepulcher that Sunday morning waiting for
him to walk out because he said that is what he was going to
do. Even his enemies knew it. They said right after his death,
we remember this deceiver said, that after three days he's rise
from the dead and you need to do something to keep the sepulchre
sure and not let this happen so the last error will be worse
than the first. You can read about that in Matthew
27, 63. They knew the Lord said this, his enemies, the Pharisees,
but the disciples did not. But the angels remind them, remember
how he said to you while he was yet in Galilee saying, now listen
to these words real carefully. This is the message of the angels.
The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men
and be crucified and the third day raise again. There is an absolute necessity
for the Son of Man to be delivered into the hands of sinful men
There's an absolute necessity for the Son of Man to be crucified,
and there's an absolute necessity for the Son of Man to rise from
the dead. Now, belief in the resurrection
is a part of the stuff of faith. If you confess with your mouth
the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God hath raised
Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Now there are many
who believe in the physical death, burial, and resurrection of Christ
And they would say, I believe he was raised from the dead,
yet they don't have saving faith because they don't know why he
died in the first place, or what his death means, or what his
resurrection means. And this is what I want us to
consider. What does the death of Christ
really mean? Why did God deliver him into
the hands of sinful men? Why was that necessary? Why was
it necessary for him to be crucified? Why not some other kind of death?
Why was it necessary for him to be raised from the dead? Now
that word must means necessary and binding. Do you remember
when the Lord said, I must be about my father's business? It's
necessary and binding for me to be about my father's business.
He said, you must be born again. You cannot enter the kingdom
of heaven. You must be born again or you can't enter in. I love
the scripture in John chapter four, it says he must need to
go through Samaria. Why must need he go through Samaria? Because
one of his elects there, that woman at the well. Zacchaeus,
make haste, come down, for today I must abide at thy house. Now
the only reason he must do anything is he must do the Father's will.
He said, other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also
I must bring. And there shall be one fold and
one shepherd. There's none other name given
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Paul preached that he must needs
have suffered and risen again from the dead. He must reign. There was a must needs for him
to be delivered. There was a must needs for him
to be crucified. And there was a must needs for
him to be raised from the dead. Now I want us to consider these
three things. Why was it necessary? for him
to be delivered into the hands of sinful men. And what a horrible
thing this was, to be falsely accused, to be spit on, to have
your beard ripped out, to have the crown of thorns pressed upon
your brow, to be beat with a cat of nine tails, to be nailed to
a cross. Why must needs he be delivered? Now, He could have prevented
this when they came to arrest him. He said, whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
He said, I am. And they were knocked backwards
by an irresistible almighty force. He was letting them know at this
time, I'm not in your hands. You're in mine. I'm the one who's
in control of this situation. Do you remember when he remained
silent before Pilate and Pilate said, speakest thou not to me?
Don't you know that I have power to release you and I have power
to let you go? The Lord said, you could have
no power at all over me, except it be given thee from above.
Now he was in complete control of this situation. So why was
he delivered when he could have prevented it? He was delivered
into the hands of sinful men because it was the will of God
for this to happen. Let me repeat that. There's one
singular reason why he was delivered into the hands of sinful men. It was God's will. Romans chapter eight, verse 32
says, he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up
for us all. How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? On the day of Pentecost, Peter
begins his message, him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain. There was one reason for
him being delivered into the hands of sinful men. IT WAS THE
WILL OF GOD. IT WAS THE PURPOSE OF GOD. HIM BEING DELIVERED INTO THE
HANDS OF SINFUL MEN WAS GOD'S WILL BEING DONE. NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS, AND
NOTHING ELSE. WHY WAS HE DELIVERED INTO THE
HANDS OF SINFUL MEN It was God's will and purpose. Now let me remind you that God
is sovereign. He's in control of everything.
He's in control of everybody. He's in control of every event.
He is sovereign. And that sovereignty extends
to the free and uncoerced actions of sinful men. These men hated
the Lord Jesus Christ. They wanted Him to be put to
death, but all they were doing was doing God's will. Now, men are responsible for
their actions. You can't say, well, God sovereignly
caused me to do that or kept me from doing what I should do.
No, your sin is all your fault. But God is completely sovereign
over everything about you. You know, I heard a preacher
recently say that during the cross, God relinquished His sovereignty
and let men be in control. Oh, no. What a blasphemous statement. God is always absolutely in control,
and the only reason Christ was delivered into the hands of sinful
men is because it was the will of God. Now, He must be delivered
into the hands of sinful men, and next it says He must be crucified. There's an absolute necessity
in this thing of Him being crucified. Now, why is that? Well, because
he said he'd be crucified for one reason. He told his disciples,
the Son of Man must be mistreated, taken by the Gentiles, spit upon,
be crucified. He actually used the word crucified,
and be raised again the third day. You see, crucifixion is
the way the Roman government punished the worst criminals.
And the scripture says, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a
tree. Christ was hung on a tree. and
cursed under Roman law because it was God's will and because
that's the way God determined he would die. Cursed be everyone
that hangeth upon a tree. Now, the crucifixion speaks of
his death. Why is there death? This morning, I went to a funeral. The man had died. Why is there
death? There's one reason for death.
Sin. The wages of sin is death. Christ was not on the cross as
an innocent victim. Christ was not on the cross as
a martyr. Christ was not on the cross as
an example. The reason He was there was because
of sin. He had the sins of His people
placed in Him. He bare our own sins in His body. He bare our own sins in His body
on the tree. This is talking about everybody
He died for. When He drank that cup, He was drinking the sins
of His elect. They became His sins. Now understand this. In Christ's
person, He never sinned. He knew no sin. He did no sin. In Him was no sin. And when He
was made sin, and took upon him the sins of his left." That doesn't
mean he began to sin and he began to curse God and he began to
lie and he began to lust and he began to have sinful thoughts
and sinful desires. No, not so. Worse, he was made
sin. If you want to know what sin
is, if you want to know what God thinks of sin, look to the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ when God forsakes His Son because
of sin. On the cross, God didn't condemn
someone that was innocent. He condemned someone that was
guilty because my sin became His sin. He took my sins and
my sorrows and made them his very own. He bore the burden
to Calvary and suffered and died alone like the scapegoat bear
all the iniquities and transgressions and sins of Israel. The great
high priest putting his hands on the scapegoat's head signifying
not only the transferal of the guilt, but the transferal of
the sins themselves. In his person, Christ never sinned,
but he bore our sins in his own body on the tree, so that he
didn't die as an innocent victim, but as the one guilty of committing
those sins. Did you hear me? Christ didn't
die. as an innocent victim. He died
as the one who was guilty of committing those sins. Why did he not defend himself
when he was being tried in an unjust manner and accusations
brought against him? Why did he not open his mouth?
Why did he remain silent? Because he knew he was guilty. That's how real substitution
is. He became guilty of my sins when
he bore them in his own body on the tree. The reason he must
be crucified was he was getting exactly what he deserved. God must be just. He said, I'll
by no means clear the guilty on the cross. Christ Jesus was
guilty, and God must punish sin, and God poured His wrath out
upon Him. That is why He must be crucified. But here's the third thing the
angel said. First, He must be delivered into the hands of sinful
men. Second, He must be crucified. But third, He must. There's an
absolute necessity to this. He must be raised from the dead. Now, the reason he must be raised
from the dead, well, for one reason, because he said it, he
said, destroy this temple in three days, I'll raise it up.
He said, when people said, show us a sign to prove you are who
you said you are. He said, a wicked and adulterous
generation seeketh after a sign, but there shall no sign be given
it but the sign of Jonas, the prophet. Remember, Jonah was
in the belly three days and came back out. Christ will be in the
heart of the earth three days and come back out. But why must
he rise from the dead? Well, because he said it, but
let me give you a reason that is of infinite importance. In
Romans chapter 4 verse 25 it says, he was delivered for our
offenses and he was raised again for our justification. The moment he died all sin was
put away. The moment he was raised from
the dead All of God's people were justified. Now, if you're
justified, that means you're not guilty. That means you have
no sin. That means you have a perfect
righteousness before God. When he died, something took
place that could only take place if he died. God was satisfied. God was satisfied. His offended law was satisfied. His justice was satisfied. He could not accept less, but
he could ask for no more. When he was raised from the dead,
all of God's people were justified. He shall see the travail of his
soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Now, because of his resurrection,
We can go back to Luke chapter 18. There was a man in the temple
praying who was called a publican. And hear his prayer, God be merciful
to me, the sinner. By this man's own admission,
He was a guilty sinner that needed God's mercy. That's all he could
say with regard to himself. God be merciful to me, the sinner,
the worst man to ever live. That's how this man viewed himself.
the most sinful, the most evil, the most undeserving man to ever
live. God, do something about my sin. I can't do anything about it.
Be merciful. Be propitious is the word. The
word propitiation means a sin-removing sacrifice. God, be propitious. Remove my sin. If you don't remove
my sin, if you leave me to myself, I'll go to hell. God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. And you know what the Lord Jesus
said about that man? He said, I say unto you, this man, with
his confession, went down to his house justified, not merely
pardoned, not merely forgiven, although those are great blessings,
but justified. I've heard people define justification
as just as if I never sinned. Now, if justification is just
as if I never sinned, that means still I sinned. I sinned. That's not what justification
means. Justification means I never sinned. I stand without guilt before
God. Now, how can that be? Let me
read you a passage of scripture from Romans chapter three. We
read beginning in verse 22, the last phrase for there's no difference. Do you know there's no difference
between the most moral man and the most evil man that you know
in God's sight? There's no difference. For all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified
freely. That means there's nothing you
pay for this by his grace, through the redemption, the redeeming
work of Christ on the cross, whom God has set forth to be
a propitiation. Now that word perpetuation means
a sin removing sacrifice. God ordained him to be a sin
removing sacrifice. Well, how can I know if he's
removed my sin? Through faith in his blood. Do
you have faith in his blood? Do you believe that his blood
has the power and efficacy to wash away all your sins so you
stand before God without guilt? to declare His righteousness,
not His mercy, not His grace, but His righteousness for the
remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God,
to declare, I say at this time, His righteousness, that He might
be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. And listen to me. The very justice
and righteousness of God demands the salvation of everybody Christ
died for. When he was raised from the dead,
God was completely satisfied with him. Now, the resurrection
of Christ was an utter necessity because sin was paid for, because
sin was put away. because all of the elect were
justified by what he did. Now, what preachers these angels
were, in this three-point message, he must be delivered into the
hands of sinful men, he must be crucified, and he must be
raised from the dead. But there's one detail that Luke
fails to give that Mark gives. When they were saying to these
women, you go tell his disciples, they also said, and Peter, you
go tell his disciples and Peter. I had no doubt that Peter did
not believe himself to be a disciple anymore. But the Lord says, because
of my being delivered into the hands of sinful men, because
of my being crucified and my being raised from the dead, you
go tell Peter. I've risen from the dead." Peter
needed to hear this message. So does every sinner who needs
to be saved by the grace of God. Now, we have this message on
CD and DVD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg, praying
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer. 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.