Tis not that I did choose thee Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Niber. 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.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nibert. I'm going to read the last verse
of the Bible. Now don't you think it's interesting
to try to consider what the last verse would be? If you don't
know, let me read it to you. Revelation chapter 22, verse
21. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. Amen. I've entitled this message,
The Grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Now in that statement, it's a
statement Paul used very frequently when he would close his epistles.
In that statement, we have such depth of meaning. the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the grace of God, the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the possession by grace
of every believer. I am my beloved's and he is mine. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Lord. He's the Lord
of creation. He spake the world into existence. All things were made by Him.
He's the Lord of providence. That means He is the first cause
behind everything that happens. He's absolutely sovereign and
in control of everything that happens in time. It's simply
what He decreed in eternity. And most especially, He's the
Lord of salvation. What that means is, my salvation
and your salvation is in His hands. It's up to Him as to whether
or not me or you will be saved. He is in control of salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. And when someone learns that,
they go to Him for salvation. Until you've learned that, you're
going to try to save yourself. But when you find out that salvation
is in His sovereign hand, you're going to ask Him for mercy, and
not until then. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
That's his offices. He's God's prophet. He's God's priest. He's God's king. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. Amen. Now the greatest desire
you can have for somebody else is that they would have the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The greatest desire you can have
for yourself is that you might know and experience and be saved
by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now I have eleven words
which are inherent in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. These
are words from the Bible, and in these words we're given the
meaning of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I just like
saying the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Every word is beautiful,
but what does it mean? That's what we need to understand.
What is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ? And in these 11
words I'm going to give you from the scripture, we're going to
learn just what the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is. Now,
here's the first word. John 1, verse 17, the law was
given by Moses. But grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. Here's the point. Grace, the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is the truth. John said, We beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. Now the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the truth. Anything contrary to the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ is not the truth. Oh, I want the truth,
don't you? That's where we want to begin
is with the truth. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ is the
truth. I want to know the truth, don't
you? Keep listening and you're going to hear it. But the first
word that describes the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is the truth. and anything contrary
to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is not the truth. Now here's the second word I'd
like to use to describe the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul
said in Galatians chapter 1 verse 6 to the Galatians, I marvel
that you're so soon removed from the grace of Christ to another
gospel." Hear those words again. Paul said to the Galatians, I
marvel that you're so soon removed from him that called you to the
grace of Christ, to another gospel. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
is the gospel. Yes, the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the truth. But the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the gospel, and anything else is another gospel. Paul
went on to say in the next verse, which is not another, but there
be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we or an angel from
heaven preach any other gospel to you than that which we've
preached unto you, let him be accursed. Let him be damned is
what that means. Let him be sent to hell and have
no mercy from God. Now somebody thinks, isn't that
awfully harsh? No, it's not. No, it's not. Paul
said that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. If any man
preach any other gospel, let him be accursed. You see, the grace of Christ,
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is the content of the gospel. Here's my third word. First,
truth, then the gospel. Here's the third word, revelation. Revelation. In 1 Peter 1.13,
we read of the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation
of Jesus Christ. Now, to be a grace believer,
to have some understanding and love for the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, God must reveal this to me and you. It's not
learned by education. It's learned by revelation. I
am completely dependent upon Christ to make Himself known. I cannot know Him unless He is
pleased to make Himself known. I have to be born again. This
is not something you can understand intellectually. You might be
able to give some correct definitions and so on, but a spiritual understanding
of this, I have to be born from above. I have to have God reveal
the gospel to me. The Lord said, I thank Thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hid these
things. Who did? God did. You have hid
these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto
babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight." Now the gospel of the grace of Christ can only
be spiritually discerned, and we're totally dependent upon
God to reveal this to us. It's not something we can figure
out. It's something God must be pleased
to reveal. Now, here's the fourth word. We read in Luke 4, verse 22,
and all bear him witness and wondered at the gracious words. literally the grace words. That word gracious is the same
word that's generally translated grace. All wondered at the grace
words which proceeded out of his mouth. Now there are grace
words that are always with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And if these grace words are
not stated and defined, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is neither
preached nor believed. Now think about this. We have
words in the Bible like the election of grace. Romans 11.4, the election
of grace. God, by his grace, chose who
would be saved before time began. The election of grace. Somebody
doesn't believe in election, doesn't believe in grace, period.
We read of the redemption, the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus by His grace. Romans chapter 3 verse 24, redeeming
grace, saving grace. By grace ye are saved, not made
savable, but saved. All these words in the scripture,
speaking of the grace that's in Christ Jesus and the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, if these words are not used and
defined, grace isn't preached. You see, the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ has a content, and that content is found in the
Bible, and if that content is not preached, grace is not preached. There are words of grace. Oh, when they heard the grace
words that proceeded out of His mouth. Now, if we don't have
these grace words, we do not have the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Here's the fifth word, Acts 15,
verse 11. Peter said, We believe that through
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. His grace is always saving grace. His grace is not something that's
offered to you. And it's up to you as to whether
or not you're going to receive it or reject it. That's not God's
grace. God doesn't offer grace. His
grace always saves. We believe that through the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved. Even as they, His grace
is always saving grace. Ephesians 2.8 says, By grace
are you saved. Through faith in that not of
yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man
should boast. His grace is not an offer, it's
saving grace. Somebody says, well, I've not
received the grace of God. Well, then He never gave it to
you. Because if He gave it to you, you will receive it and
you will be saved by it. God's grace, the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, is always sovereign. He gives it to whom
He will. It's always free. There's nothing
you can do to earn it. And it's always saving. Excuse
me. Here's the sixth word. The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ is eternal. The grace, the saving grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ is eternal. It's not something that was given
to us in time. It's eternal. Second Timothy
1.9. He saved us, and He called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Now, grace doesn't begin in time.
Grace began before time. Now let me tell you why this
is such an issue. All of the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ was given to all of the elect before time began. Everything God does is eternal.
He's not like us, stuck to wait in time, waiting to see what's
gonna happen next. There's no sequence of events
for God. He sees everything at once. He decreed with his great mind
everything all at once. Now, do I understand that? Not
much. Do I believe it? Absolutely. And all that I have
was given me in Christ Jesus before time began. Now, let me
tell you why this is so important. If God's grace began in time,
sometime in my experience, if God's grace began in time, that
means there was a time when I was not viewed in Christ. That means
God saw me in my sins. And if God sees me in my sins,
the scripture says he will by no means clear the guilty. If
he ever sees me independently of Christ, there's only one thing
that can be done for me, send him to hell. All my salvation
is simply being found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And if I'm
ever viewed at any time independently of Christ, there's no hope for
my salvation, none at all. Secondly, grace, if grace is in time, grace
becomes God's response to me. rather than God's response to
His own will, purpose, and counsel. You see, God does what He does
for reasons outside of me and you. The reason He does what
He does is only because He does it. It's found only in Himself. And if He has to look to me for
some reason to do something for me, I won't be saved, but thank
God that's not the case. All the grace that he has was
given me in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now, if somebody
doesn't preach eternal grace, grace that began before the world,
then the floodgate of salvation by works is opened. Listen to
this scripture, Romans 9, 11, for the children, being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand not of works, but
of him that calleth." That's God's purpose, that salvation
might not be of works, but of him that calleth. One dear lady
said, I'm glad God chose me before I was born, because if he would
have waited till after I was born, he would have never chosen
me. And I understand totally what she's saying. The grace
of God is eternal grace. And here's the next word. When
we're talking about the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, here's
the next word, costly. Doesn't cost us anything, but
oh, how it cost him. 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 says, For
you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he
was rich. And I think of the riches of
Christ. However rich God is, that's how
rich Christ is because he's God. rich in righteousness, rich in
praise, rich in love, all the riches of the Lord Jesus Christ. No one can describe them, the
riches of omnipotence, the riches of divine sovereignty, the riches
of everything He is. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes,
He became poor. He who was rich in righteousness,
was poor of righteousness when my sin was made his sin. When
he took my place and stood in my place, oh, how poor he became. He who once was rich in communion
with God was cut off from communion with God. He wasn't allowed to
feel any favor from God. He bore the full equivalent of
an eternal hell on Calvary's tree. Oh, you know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your
sakes he became poor. He lost everything that you through
his poverty might be rich. Think of how costly The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ was to God. God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth
on Him should not perish but have eternal life. Oh, the costliness of His grace
and the ultimate insult to God is to think you can pay for the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, to think that there's something
that you can do that would gain His grace. All we do when we
have that kind of thinking is show how little we value the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. To him that worketh is the reward,
not reckoned of grace, but of debt. If you think any part of
your salvation is dependent upon something you do, you think grace
is owed to you. And what an insult to God. But
to him that worketh not, but believeth. on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Now here's
the next word that defines the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
reigning grace, reigning grace. That's where the term sovereign
grace comes from, a good term. Somebody says, the word sovereign
is not in the Bible. Maybe so, but the doctrine sure
is there, just like the word trinity is not in the Bible,
but the doctrine sure is there. reigning grace. Let me read Romans
chapter 5 verses 20 and 21. Moreover the law entered that
the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. Now before I go on reading, think
about what he said. Where sin abounded, This is the
place where grace abounds, and this is the only place where
grace abounds, where sin abounds. Now, are you someone where sin
abounds? Somebody says, well, I make mistakes,
and I do wrong things occasionally, but I wouldn't say sin abounds
in me. Well, you're cutting your own throat, because the only
place grace abounds is where sin abounds. You find me a sinner
where he sees that he's nothing but sin, and sin is abounding,
overflowing over everything he does and says. I'll show you
a person where the grace of God is abounding. Where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound, that as sin hath reigned unto death. Here's the reign of sin unto
death. How much ability do you have to prevent death? You can
take care of yourself, you can never eat anything but what is
perfect, you can exercise, you can get plenty of sleep, you
can never take any harmful substance into your body, and how much
will that prevent death? Not at all. You're gonna die,
and you can't prevent it. would just as sin reigned unto
death, no one can prevent it, even so in the same manner does
grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life which is by
Jesus Christ our Lord. Now the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ reigns. That's grace that can't be prevented.
That's grace that will not take no for an answer. That's saving
grace, reigning grace, sovereign grace. I love that. Now, how much does sin reign?
Well, it reigns unto death. You can't prevent it. That's
the way grace reigns. You can't prevent it. You can't
do anything to mess it up. If you're a recipient of His
grace, it's reigning sovereign grace. And the next word is sufficient
grace, sufficient grace. Do you remember when the Lord
said to Paul, my grace is sufficient for thee? Now Paul had been talking
about the thorn in the flesh that was given him, and we do
not know what that thorn was. Some people try to make it a
physical ailment. It may have been, but I doubt
it. I doubt it. Paul had so much grace that a
physical ailment problem wouldn't have bothered him that much. It was something else, I think.
A thorn in the flesh. Very painful. Very painful. And he asked the Lord three times
that this thorn that Satan used to buffet him. That tells me
it's not just something physical. Satan used this to buffet him.
Three times I asked, Lord, take this away. Let it be removed.
And you know what his answer was? My grace is sufficient for
thee. My strength is made perfect in
weakness." Paul was made to see that he was going to be saved
by pure, free, sheer grace without any contribution by him at all. And the Lord said to him, My
grace, being saved by My grace, and not by your works, being
saved by My grace, is sufficient for thee. And I'm sure Paul thought,
yes, His grace is sufficient. And then the next word is the
riches of His grace. in whom we have redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of his grace. Now let me tell you how rich
the grace of God is. After He bestows all of His grace
on you, His grace is not diminished in the least. He never runs out
of grace. It's always full, complete, and
free. Oh, the riches of His grace that
can take a sinner and make him perfectly conformed to the image
of the Lord Jesus Christ and put away all his sin through
the blood of the cross. Oh, the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and the last word I want to use is the exclusiveness of
His grace. Now let me show you what I mean
by that, or what the Bible means. Turn in Galatians chapter 5.
Paul says to the Galatians, Stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free. Free from the law, O happy
condition, Jesus hath bled, and there is remission. Free from
salvation by works, free to be saved by the grace of God. Now
you stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us
free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold
I, Paul, saying to you, that if you be circumcised, if you
go that route, And that's not simply talking about physical
circumcision because Paul was physically circumcised. That's
talking about thinking any aspect of your salvation is dependent
upon you doing anything. If you be circumcised, Christ
shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every
man that circumcised, that he's a debtor to do the whole law. If any part of your salvation,
I don't care where it is in the beginning, middle, or end, an
act of your will, you making yourself holier, or getting a
higher reward in heaven because of your personal obedience, if
any part of your salvation is dependent upon what you do, Christ
will profit you nothing. You're a debtor to do the whole
law on your own. He says in verse 4, for Christ
has become no effect unto you. Whosoever you are, they're justified
by law. You've fallen from grace. Now if you think any part of
your salvation is dependent upon you, you can kiss the grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ goodbye because it's not going to be
for you. It is only for those who have nothing to bring to
the table. Oh, the beauty of the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ. It's the truth, the gospel, revelation,
grace words, saving grace, eternal, costly, reigning, sufficient,
and exclusive. And that's the grace of Christ.
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 Kniper praying
God will 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
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