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 Nibbert. I want to speak to you upon this
subject, the reason for my hope. The text is found in 1 Peter
3, verse 15. Peter says, But sanctify the
Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer
to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that's in
you with meekness and fear. Not with a cocksure, arrogant
attitude, but in meekness and fear. Now I have a hope. And let me tell you what that
hope is. I have a confident expectation
that when I stand before God on judgment day, I will be accepted
as one who has never sinned. One who is perfect. One who has no faults and blameless. Jude said now unto him that's
able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless. Did you hear that? Faultless
before his presence with exceeding joy. That word faultless is found
seven times in the New Testament. It's translated without blame,
without blemish, unblameable, without spot, without fault,
and faultless. There will be nothing to accuse
me of when I stand before God in judgment day. You know when
preachers present this judgment where believers will be judged
according to their works and they'll be handed either a higher
reward in heaven or a lower reward in heaven based upon their works,
that would mean that there was some fault found in them in judgment
day. Now, I don't want to have anything
to do with anything like that, where I have faults that are
brought up and sins that are brought up and acts of disobedience
that are brought up, that perhaps somebody's going to get a higher
reward in heaven than I will because of some fault in me.
But the scripture teaches no such thing. Every believer, the
hope I have is the hope every believer has, that I will stand
before God justified. That's what the scripture speaks
of. Justification. I'm gonna hear him say to me,
well done, thou good and faithful servant. Now, do you remember
the publican in the temple? Standing afar off and beating
on his breast, crying, God, be merciful to me, thee, sinner. What did Christ say about that
man? He said, I tell you, That man
went down to his house justified. Now, if you're justified, that
means you've never done anything wrong. There's nothing to bring
to your charge. Everything is right. That man
went down to his house more than forgiven, but justified. Now every believer has this hope
that when I stand before God in judgment, there will be absolutely
nothing to accuse me of. I will be justified. And furthermore, I have a hope
that everything that happens to me from the day of my birth
to the day of my death, God is using that and working according
to His purpose, everything for my good and His glory. Everything. Everything that happens
to me, the supposedly bad things, the good things, the indifferent
things, everything is under God's control and He is using it, whatever
it may be. All things means all things.
You can't get anything outside of that umbrella. All things.
All things are working together for my good. Now that's the hope
that I have. that when I stand before God
in judgment, I will be judged as someone who has never sinned,
who has kept God's law perfectly. I have nothing to fear. And with
regard to everything that happens in time, I have a hope that it's
all good. God is using everything that
happens to me. He's in control of it. And it's
all working together for my good and His glory. Now somebody is
thinking, How can you have a hope that you stand perfect and sinless
before God when the facts say differently? You're still a sinner. And I will confess to that. Why,
even in the time I've been preaching this message, I've sinned. Because
of my evil nature, I can't do anything without sin. How do you know that everything
is working together for your good? I mean, how do you know
that? What gives you confidence that
that is the case? Is this pie in the sky or do
you actually have a reason? to believe that you're sinless
before God? And do you have a reason to believe
that everything is working together for your good? Now it sounds
mighty good, no doubt, somebody listening. I'd like to have that
kind of hope where I knew that I stood sinless before God and
I didn't have anything to worry about. And that everything in
time, all the things that are going to happen to me, all the
terrible things even that could happen to me, the sickness, the
falls, everything, is working together for my good. Oh, is
this pie in the sky? Is there really such a hope as
this? Give me a reason for this hope." Now, I want to begin reading
in verse 8 of 1 Peter chapter 3 and see what led him to make
this statement. He said in verse 8, finally,
be ye all of one mind. Now, this is spoken to every
believer. Now, people are different. There's no doubt about that.
Some have some likes, some have other likes. Some have dislikes
and somebody else might like what somebody else dislikes.
People are different. My wife always says different is good.
That's debatable, but it is good. People are different. So how
can they all have the same mind? Well, we're all in agreement
if we're believers regarding this, Christ is all. He's all
that God is. He's all that the scriptures
speak of. He's all in my salvation. He
gets all the glory. Every believer is like-minded
right there. He says have compassion one of
another. Be truly sympathetic, love as
brethren. Be pitiful, full of mercy. Be courteous, be friendly. Not
rendering evil for evil or railing for railing. Don't try paying
anybody back. but contrarywise blessing, knowing
that you're there unto call that you should inherit a blessing.
Four, he that will love life and see good days, and I want
that, don't you? I want to love life and see good
days. Well, let him refrain his tongue from evil. James said, if any man among
you seemeth to be religious and bridles not his tongue, but deceives
his own heart, his religion is vain. When someone seems to be
religious, yet they boast about their own works and they just
can't restrain themselves from talking about themselves and
saying things contrary to the gospel. Well, their religion
is vain, it's not real. They're not refraining their
tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no guile or deceit.
You know, I thought about this. Every problem I've ever got into,
it begins with something that comes out of my mouth. Oh, to
refrain your tongue from evil in the lips that they speak no
guile. Let him eschew or avoid evil and do good. Let him seek
peace and pursue it, peace with God through Christ, not to be
in conflict with people. For the eyes of the Lord are
over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers.
But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. We read of
two kinds of people in that verse, the righteous and the evil. The Lord is for the righteous.
The Lord is against the evil. And who is he that will harm
you if you be followers of that which is good? But if you suffer
for righteousness' sake, Remember how the Lord said, blessed are
they that are persecuted for righteousness sake. Now that's
not talking about human righteousness, being persecuted because of some
good work you perform. That's talking about standing
for the righteousness of Jesus Christ as the only righteousness
God will accept. There's only one righteousness.
His. and the righteous are clothed
in his righteousness. That's the difference between
a believer and an unbeliever. A believer has the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. That's their personal righteousness
before God. The unbeliever stands on his
own and he stands before God as nothing but sinful. But if
you suffer for righteousness sake, happier you. Be not afraid
of their terror, neither be troubled, but sanctify the Lord God in
your heart. Now how do you do that? You don't
make him. The word to sanctify means to
set apart to be holy. You can't set apart God to be
holy. You can't make him holy. But you can regard him to be
holy. And you know how you regard him to be holy? By looking to
Christ alone. Everyone who regards God as holy
is someone who dares not look anywhere but Christ as their
everything in salvation. You look to Christ and you are
regarding God to be holy. Now he says, sanctify the Lord
God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every
man that asks you a reason of the hope that's in you with meekness
and fear, with gentleness and respect. Now, here's what I want
to do. I want to give you a reason. for this hope that I have that
I will stand before God with nothing to blame me for, perfect
and holy, just like the Lord Jesus Christ. And I have a hope
that everything is working together for my good and for his glory. Now, what about this thing of
hope? Always be ready to give every
man that asks you a reason for the hope that's in you. In Romans
8, verse 24, Paul makes this statement, we are saved by hope. That's a strong statement, isn't
it? We're saved by hope. Now that's not talking about
me being saved by my feeling of hope. Because of this, I don't
even have this feeling of hope. Sometimes I feel despair. Sometimes
I feel fear. And I don't always have this
glorious feeling of hope. But the Bible calls God the God
of hope. And 1 Timothy 1, verse 1 speaks
of Christ, our hope. I'm saved by my hope. I'm saved
by Christ Jesus, the Lord. Now, listen to this. We're saved
by hope. But hope that is seen is not
hope. For what a man seeth, why doth
he yet hope for? Now, can I see that I'm sinless
before God? Can I see clearly how everything
is working together for my good and his glory? The answer is
no. I can't see that. On the contrary,
when I look at myself, all I see in myself is sin. That's it. I don't see sinlessness. I don't
see perfection. I see my sinfulness. And with
regard to how everything is working together for my good, I can't
see it. There are all kinds of things
that just seem terrible, and why did this happen to me? Why
did I do this? How can this be for my good?
No, I don't see these things, but the scripture says, but hope
that is seen is not hope. If I could see it, it would be
experience, not hope. I couldn't have a confident expectation. For what a man seeth, why doth
he yet hope for? But if we hope for that which
we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Now, this hope that
I have of being sinless and having everything to work together for
my good is not something I can see. It's not something I have
tangible, empirical evidence. There's not a segment of my life
that I could pull out and say, see, I have this hope of being
sinless and everything working together for my good because
of this that you can see. No, not at all. This hope is
not something that I can see. You see, faith is the evidence
of things not seen. I can't see my sinlessness. I
can't see how everything is working together for my good, but I know
they are. Now, give me a reason, somebody
says. Give me a reason behind the hope
that's in you. Well, here's my first reason,
and this is the best reason. It's because it's what the Bible
teaches. I don't need any other reason.
The Bible tells me in Colossians 1, verses 21 and 22, and you
that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death to present you holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight. That's what the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ did. He put away my sins on the cross
so effectually that I am now holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in His sight. I am sinless in His sight. And Romans chapter 8 verse 28
says, And we know that all things work together for good. To them
that love God, to them who are the call according to His purpose. So there we have it. This is
what the Bible teaches. That every believer stands justified
before God. That means holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable. When God sees me, He sees someone
without sin. Someone who is perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ. That's because of what Christ
did for me. Not because of anything I've done, but because of what
Christ has done for me. And the Bible tells me that everything
is working together for my good and his glory. Now, in this hope
that I have, this hope comes to me where I am. It doesn't come to me where I
should be. You know, preachers say, if you do this, God will
do that. If you do this, God will respond to that. Well, that's
just not so. It's not so because according
to the scripture, I'm dead in sin. Now, what can a dead man
do? absolutely nothing toward his
own salvation. The scripture says there's none
righteous, no, not one. There's none that understands.
There are none that seeketh after God. They've all gone out of
the way. They've together become unprofitable. There's none that
doeth good, no, not one. Now that's where I'm at, dead
in trespasses and sins. Romans 5.12 says, For as by one
man sin entered the world, and death by sin, so death passed
upon all men, in that all have sinned. When Adam sinned, I did
too. When Adam died, I did too, because
I was in him. And what my hope does, it comes
to me where I am, dead in sins, and does something for me. Like
the Good Samaritan, the man laying in the ditch. The scripture says
the Good Samaritan came to him where he was. That's what I need. I need God to come to me where
I am and do something for me if any part of my salvation is
dependent upon me first doing something before God can do something. I have no hope. My hope must come to me where
I am. Now for a man like me, sinful,
to be sinless, this hope must be a hope that begins with God
and is carried all the way through by God. Jonas said salvation
is of the Lord. That means he does everything. Now, if my hope is what God does,
not what I do, but what God does, with God, nothing should be impossible.
Is God able to take a sinful man and make him sinless? Yes,
he is. Yes, he is. Now, my hope is that
God does everything in my salvation. It's entirely the work of God
Almighty. Now listen carefully, this hope
I have, this hope I have of being sinless, before God on Judgment
Day. This hope I have of everything
working together for my good and the glory of God. This hope
I have is a hope because Christ bore the full responsibility
of my salvation before time ever began. Did you hear that? Christ, the
Lord Jesus Christ, took full responsibility for my salvation,
for my sinlessness, for everything working together for my good
and His glory. He took full responsibility for
that before time began. He's called in Hebrews 7.19 the
surety. of a better covenant. Now, what's
a surety? I remember when I first borrowed
money, my grandfather signed as my surety. If I didn't pay
the loan, he'd pay it. Now, I made all the payments,
but he stood behind it as my surety. Now, Christ didn't say,
bear responsibility for him if he can't do his part. He just
said, I take full responsibility for his salvation. We have a
beautiful example of this in Genesis chapter 43 when Judah
stood as a surety for Benjamin. Joseph said, you can't come here
unless you bring Benjamin. Jacob didn't want to bring Benjamin.
And Judah said, I'll take care of him. He said in verse 8, and
Judah said unto Israel, his father, send the lad with me, and we
will arise and go, that we may live and not die, both we and
thou, and also our little ones. I will be surety for him. I will
take full responsibility for him. Of my hand shalt thou require
him. If I bring him not unto thee
and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever. And the Lord Jesus Christ, before
time began, said, Of my hand shalt thou require of him. And
all that God requires of me, the perfect sinlessness He requires
of me, He looks to His Son for. Thank God for that. Christ stood
as my surety. Ephesians 1 verse 4 says, According
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him. Now, this hope
I have This is a hope that honors and glorifies every single one
of God's attributes. Now the hope is no good if it
runs contrary to God's attributes. It's a false hope based upon
falsehood. But the hope I have is a hope
that glorifies all of God's glorious attributes. Now this is seen
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ made a way by
His work on the cross for God to be just and to by no means
clear the guilty and to punish all sin and yet justify somebody
sinful like me. Listen, the cross is the most
God-like thing God ever did. The cross was not for the fall. The fall was for the cross so
that God might make Himself known. Every attribute, His holiness,
His justice, His hatred of sin, His sovereignty, His love, His
mercy, His grace, every attribute of God is made known in the cross
of Christ. So my sinlessness is is produced
by God through the cross in a way that magnifies every one of God's
most glorious, excellent attributes. I love that passage of scripture
in Romans chapter 8, verse 34, when Paul said, Who is he that
condemneth? It's Christ that died. I need
no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough
that Jesus died and that he died for me. Now, somebody may be
thinking, well, what about that part about you being dead in
sins? Are you forgetting that? How are you going to believe? How are you going to repent?
How are you going to love God? when you're dead in sins. I mean,
what you're saying sounds awful good, but what about the fact
that you're dead in sins? Well, the hope I have is a hope
where because that Christ died for me, God gives me life. God gives me a new heart. He put something there that was
not there before, a new nature. And I now believe the gospel. I now confess my sins. I now repent before God. I'm
in a continual state of repentance because of this new heart that
God has given me. It's called being born again.
It's called regeneration. It's called the new man. And
I can now do what I could not do before. Well, there's another
problem. What about my sinfulness? Even
if I've got a new heart, I still sin. What about my daily sin? I sin every day. I commit the
same sins every day. Somebody says, I don't do that.
You do too. I don't believe that for a second. All men are sinners. All men sin every day. Well,
what about that? Well, the gospel is a gospel
that cleanses me. of my daily sins. The Lord said
to his disciples, you're clean every whit. You're perfectly
clean. You don't need washed except for your feet. Our feet
get dirty in their walk through this world. You can't walk in
this world. You can't have a sinful nature
without being dirty. But he washes our feet every
day with the gospel of his grace. Now, this hope I have, remember,
I'm going to die. I'm going to die, I'm going to
turn into a pile of dirt, and there's no way that I can raise
myself from the dead. Now this hope I have is a hope
that where God says, be raised, and the dead in Christ shall
be raised. I have a hope of the resurrection.
that God is going to resurrect me, and when he resurrects me,
I will be perfectly conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now this is why I have this hope
of sinlessness. It's a hope that the scripture
teaches. It's a hope that comes to me
where I am. It's a hope where God does everything
from the beginning to the end. It's a hope where Christ took
full responsibility for me being sinless before time began. He
said, I'm going to make sure it happens. It's a hope that
magnifies all of God's attributes. It's a hope that puts life in
me so that I can do what is required of me. I can believe and I can
repent. It is a hope that preserves me. and cleanses me daily, and it's
a hope that I have that He will raise me up in perfect conformity
to the image of His Son, and God is actually going to say
to me, well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou
in to the joy of thy Lord. Now that's the reason for my
hope. This is Todd Nyberg praying that God will be pleased to give
you this great hope. To request a copy of the sermon
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