Did you? Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nivert. 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 Nivert. I want to read the last line
of Romans chapter 15, verse 19. Paul says to the Roman believers,
I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Now that phrase is
unique. We don't find it anywhere else.
That doesn't take away from its importance. I've entitled this
message, fully preaching the gospel. Paul says, I have fully
preached the gospel of Christ. How many preachers can say this? Every true preacher, and not
one false preacher. Now, there are a lot of false
preachers. There are a lot of false prophets. The Lord said,
beware of false prophets. A false prophet never fully preaches
the gospel. A true preacher of the gospel
always fully preaches the gospel. Now, I hope by the end of this
message you and I will understand what it means. to fully preach
the gospel. Now, beginning in verse 17 of
Romans chapter 15, Paul says, I have thereof whereof I may
glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to
God. He's speaking of his preaching. Now, when he says I have something
to glory in, we know what he doesn't mean. He's not talking
about boasting and bragging about himself. In another place, he
said, God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ. He wasn't bragging on his preaching.
He wasn't bragging on the way God was using him, although God
did use him in a mighty way. He wasn't thinking, well, he
did it because of me. No, he did it in spite of me.
He did it for the glory of his son. But I do have something
to glory in, in the sense that God has indeed blessed the preaching
of the gospel. Men and women have been brought
to a saving knowledge of Christ through my preaching. That's
what Paul is saying, and I'm grateful for that. I know it's
God doing it. It's not me. It's not me doing
it with God's help. It's God doing it. God gives
the increase. Men are nothing. but how thankful
I am in the way that God has blessed me in my preaching of
the gospel. Paul was used more than any other
man to expound the gospel. He says in verse 18, for I'll
not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not
wrought by me. to make the Gentiles obedient
by word and deed. Now a lot of men who call themselves
preachers do this. They boast about things they
never did in the first place. They take credit for things they
never did in the first place. And Paul says, I won't dare do
that. But God has used my preaching to make the Gentiles, the heathen,
the unbelievers, obedient by word and deed. Now listen real
carefully. The gospel is a thing to be obeyed. The gospel is a thing to be obeyed. When the scripture says, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, that's a
command. You're commanded right now to
believe on Christ. Matthew 11, 28, come unto me All ye that labor and are heavy
laden, I'll give you rest. Now that's a command. That's
not good advice. That's not an offer. That's a
command. Come to Christ. If you're weary,
heavy laden, burdened by your sin, burdened by your inability,
Christ commands you, come to me and I will give you rest. We read in Acts 17, verse 30,
God commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Now, this is God's
command to me and you, to repent, to change your mind, to change
your mind regarding everything that's contrary to the gospel
of God's grace. Repent, change your mind. Lazarus, come forth. That was a command, and when
Christ commands, The dead obey. He that was dead came forth. Zacchaeus, make haste, come down. Today I must abide at thy house.
Zacchaeus made haste and came down and received him joyfully,
obeying the command. He said to Matthew, follow me. Matthew rose up, forsook all,
and followed the Lord Jesus Christ. This is His commandment that
we should believe on the name of His Son and love one another
as God gave His commandment. This is a commandment. It's not advice. It's not an
offer. The gospel is to be obeyed. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't wait for anything. Don't
wait to get better. Don't wait till you understand
more. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now, Paul says in verse 19, He
says that through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of
the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem around about Elycrium,
I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. Now, Paul, he talks
about these powers and mighty signs and wonders. Do you know
Paul? was given the ability to heal the sick. He could speak
in tongues. He even raised the dead. He was
able to work mighty miracles. Now understand this, that ceased
with the apostles. The scripture says, when they
saw by the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given.
This is talking about those special miracle-working abilities that
the people in the early church had through the apostles laying
their hands on them. And when the apostles died, no
one else could transfer these gifts. It was only the apostles. Now, men who claim these special
gifts, I think, why don't you go into a hospital and start
healing people? The reason being, they can't really do it. If you
could really have miraculous healing powers, you'd be going
into a hospital, and you'd be healing everybody there, and
you wouldn't be saying you gotta have enough faith to do it. You'd
just be saying, be healed, and they're healed. So Paul had this
power, and we no longer have that power in this day. It died
out with the apostles, but something more miraculous takes place,
the new birth. God, by a miracle-working power
of His grace, giving life to a dead sinner, revealing Christ
to them. Paul says, through mighty signs
and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from
Jerusalem round about and to Lycraeum, I have fully preached
the gospel of Christ. Now, what does it mean to fully
preach the gospel of Christ? It's very simple. It means you
leave nothing out. Let me repeat that. To fully preach the gospel of
Christ is to leave nothing out. Now understand, the gospel is
made of many truths. which make the one truth. And if you leave any of those
truths out, you no longer have the gospel. And a man who will
willingly leave some truth out or try to dress it up to make
it more palatable to the flesh and less likely to offend someone,
he's no longer preaching the gospel. If he ever did, he's
not now. Our Lord said to the Pharisees,
you tithe, mint, and anise, and cumin, but you've omitted, you've
left out the weightier matters of the law, the things that are
really important. Now, think of this. The gospel is made of
many truths. God is the creator. Can you leave
that out? God is the creator of salvation.
Can you leave that out? Before time began, God elected
a people. He chose a people in Christ before
the foundation of the world. Christ became surety for those
people before time began and stood as their representative.
He's called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Before there was ever a sinner, there was a Savior. The God-man,
Christ Jesus, came to this planet and took on flesh. He was made
flesh. God was manifest in the flesh.
He had to do this for these people he was going to save. They were
flesh. He had to become flesh. In the flesh, he kept the law
for them and perfectly obeyed God's law for them and worked
out a perfect righteousness for them. In His death, their sins
were made His sins. That's why He died. There's only
one reason for death. It's sin. The Scripture says,
For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Christ paid for
my sins. He takes His righteousness and
gives it to me. All this was done before I was
ever born. In time, when He was raised from the dead, the salvation
of all of His people was accomplished. Now, in time, I'm born. I was
born September 9th, 1959, sometime during my life, God the Holy
Spirit came to me through the preaching of the gospel and revealed
himself to me and gave me a new nature, gave me eyes to behold
Christ, gave me faith, gave me repentance, gave me love to Christ. Christ's work was a justifying
work. Now remember, I'm talking about
the many truths of the gospel that make up the gospel. Christ's
work is a justifying work. You know what that means? That
means if you're justified, you don't have any sin. You don't
have anything to feel guilty about. You are perfectly righteous
before God, having the righteousness of Christ. If you're justified,
that means you're not guilty. You don't have any sin. His work
was a redeeming work. It was a redemption that actually
redeemed. He put away the sins of everybody
he died for, paid in full. We don't sing, Jesus paid a half
the other half I owe. Jesus paid it all, all the debt
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow. And my sin is gone. I'm preserved. The reason I continue
in the faith is because I'm preserved by His grace. I would fall away
right now if He didn't keep me. Now, this is the truth regarding
salvation. Now, let me ask you a question.
What part of that would be okay to leave out? What part of that
would be okay to omit? If you left out any of that,
you would no longer have the gospel. The gospel is made of
many truths, faith, repentance, the new birth, election, justification,
redemption, union with Christ. the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ,
all the attributes of God made manifest in the cross. Now, what
can you leave out? That's what Paul's talking about
when he is talking about fully preaching the gospel. He said
in Acts chapter 20, both in verse 20 and 27, he said, I've not
shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. I've kept
back nothing that was profitable to you. Now, if a preacher redresses
the gospel and takes the offense out and makes it more easy for
a natural man to receive, or he doesn't preach the truth at
all, He's neutered the gospel. There's no saving power in it
at all. He's made the cross of Christ
of none effect. Paul said, I have fully preached
the gospel of Christ. Now here's an example of what
I would call, well not what I call, what the Bible would call full
preaching. We're going to We're going to look at the preaching
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's look what the Lord said
in Psalm 40. Now, I know this is the Lord
speaking, and really when you read the Psalms, always look
first as of the Lord speaking. Yes, it's David's words, but
it's also the Lord's words. We read in verse 6 of Psalm 40,
Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire. Mine ears hast thou
opened. Burnt offering and sin offering
hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come, and
the volume of the book is written of me. I delight to do thy will,
O God. Yea, thy law is within my heart.
Now, those are the words directly of the Lord Jesus Christ. As
a matter of fact, they're quoted in Hebrews chapter 10. That's
the words of Christ. Now, look what he says. He says,
I have preached righteousness in the great congregation. Lo,
I've not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest. I've not hid thy
righteousness within my heart. I've declared thy faithfulness
and thy salvation I've not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth
from the great congregation." Now, in these two verses, the
Lord Jesus tells us three things which he did not do when he preached. He did not refrain his lips. He did not hide anything. He
didn't conceal anything. He was totally in the open with
regard to what he preached. And what did he preach? He says,
I have preached righteousness in the great congregation. Now,
what does the Lord mean by righteousness? Well, we don't have to guess
because he tells us in verse 10, I've not hid thy righteousness
within my heart. Now, that's the preaching of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He preached righteousness. He
preached the righteousness of God, his Father. Now, Romans
chapter 1, Verse 16, Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God and the salvation to everyone
that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for therein
in the gospel is the righteousness of God revealed. Now, you listen
to me real carefully. God is utterly righteous, utterly
holy. He is completely unable to accept
anything short of perfect righteousness because that's who He is. And
He doesn't have to compromise that. He's absolutely righteous,
and He will accept nothing but absolute righteousness. God is
righteous, and God is righteous if He sends me or you to hell.
Amen? He is righteous if He cuts us
off, because we're sinners. And He is righteous if He does
not extend mercy toward any of us. He is righteous in doing
that. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? If God sends me to hell and doesn't
show me mercy, just and holy is His name. God is righteous. But you know what else? God's
righteousness is seen in my salvation. If God saves me, he saves me
in a way that his righteousness is honored. All my sin is punished. His very righteousness is given
to me, and the righteousness of God is revealed even in the
salvation of the sinner. And Christ said, I've not hid
these things. I've not refrained my lips. I've not concealed these
things. I preach thy righteousness. Now, understand this about righteousness.
God, there's only one righteousness, the righteousness of God, the
righteousness of Christ. And that righteousness is imputed
to the believer. It becomes his. And that righteousness
is imparted to the believer when he's given a new nature, a holy
nature, being born of the Spirit. Now, he still has the old nature,
but now he has a new nature that was not there before. Now, what takes place when the
gospel is being fully preached? I want to give you four things
that are always true when the gospel is fully preached. First, the gospel is fully preached
when God's character is acknowledged. when God's character has its
rightful place. God is God. God is holy. God is sovereign. That means He's in complete control
of everybody and everything. There's only one sovereign. There's
not two sovereignties. I heard somebody once say, God
in His sovereignty decided to let man have a free will. That's
foolishness. God is sovereign. He's the first
cause behind everything. He's got a will. He's got the
power to make His will come to pass. He does make His will come
to pass all the time. He said, I'm the Lord. I change not. Therefore ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed. 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's absolutely just. He's immutable. He is what he
is as is revealed in the scriptures. Now, God is not going to compromise
his character. He has no need to negotiate with
sinners. He is who He is, and the gospel
is not being preached unless God's true character, as He's
revealed in the scripture, is acknowledged. Secondly, the gospel
is fully preached when man's true character is acknowledged. Now, the only way you're going
to see who you are is if you see who He is. If you ever see
who He is, you're going to see yourself as a very sinful individual. And if you cannot see yourself
that way, it's because you've never seen Him. What did Isaiah
say when he saw the Lord high and lifted up? He said, woe is
me. I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.
For mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. The gospel
is fully preached when man is exposed as nothing but a completely
depraved, helpless, dead sinner who can do nothing to save himself. He's completely dependent upon
a miracle of God. He's in God's sovereign hands. Salvation must be of the Lord
because man can't do anything to save himself. You know, this
religious generation talks about man having a free will. Man's
dead in sins. Man can't do anything to save
himself, and he's totally helpless. And if you don't believe that
about yourself, it's because you've never seen the Lord. If
you'd ever seen the Lord, you'd see that this is true about yourself,
your own sinfulness and inability and need of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the gospel is not fully
preached unless Christ is acknowledged for who he is and what he did
and him getting the glory in everything. Now the gospel is
not fully preached unless Christ is acknowledged for who he is. You know who the Lord Jesus Christ
is? He's God. He's God. He's the one who created
the universe. He wasn't used by God to create
the universe. He wasn't the instrument of creation.
He's the creator. All things were made by Him and
for Him, and He's before all things, and by Him all things
consist. He created the atom. He created the universe. He is
the Creator. Not only is the Lord Jesus Christ
the Creator, He's the controller of providence. Now, providence
is everything that happens in time. Everything that happened
yesterday was part of God's providence. Everything that will happen tomorrow
is part of God's providence. He controls everything, and He
does so without exertion. It doesn't make Him tired. By
Him, all things consist. He upholds all things, Hebrews
1, 3 says, by the word of His power. Simply by a nod, He controls
everything. The King's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. As the rivers of water, He turneth
it whithersoever He will. He is the Lord and he controls
all things, but most especially, most especially, he's the Savior. You see, for a dead sinner to
be saved, Christ is going to have to save him. And that's
exactly what Christ did on Calvary's tree. He put away the sins of
everybody he represented. He worked out a perfect righteousness
for them. When he said it is finished,
their salvation was accomplished. Accomplished salvation by what
he did listen to this scripture Hebrews 1 3 says when he had
by himself Purged our sins he sat down at the right hand of
God notice It doesn't say he purged our sins though. He did
it says when he had by himself purged our sins. That means he
did it all. That means there was no contribution
from any creature. He did it all. Salvation is of
the Lord. And the gospel is not preached
unless the person and work of Christ as he's revealed in the
scripture is acknowledged. And fourthly, the gospel is not
fully preached unless the Holy Spirit's rightful place is acknowledged. Paul said he did these things
by the Spirit of God. God the Holy Spirit, God Almighty,
the third person of the Blessed Trinity, equal with the Father,
equal with the Son, the author of regeneration. You see, if
you're born again, you're born of the Spirit. That's his work. You see, the work of the Trinity
in salvation, the Father gave the people of Christ. Christ
saved those people and God the Holy Spirit gives them life and
causes them to look to Christ. The Lord said concerning the
Holy Spirit, He shall not speak of Himself. Someone that's always
talking about the Holy Spirit doesn't have the Holy Spirit
because the Holy Spirit doesn't speak of Himself. He will guide
you unto all truth. He brings us to Christ. He gives
us life. He gives us a new nature. Salvation is of the Lord, not
by might, not by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. Now, Paul says, I've gone all
over these regions fully preaching the gospel of Christ. I have
not left anything out. He says in verse 20, yea, so
have I strived to preach the gospel. And that's the only way
to preach the gospel is to strive to preach the gospel. Not where
Christ was named lest I should build upon another man's foundation.
I want other men to hear the gospel that have never heard.
But as it is written, to whom he was spoken of, to whom he
was not spoken of, they shall see. And they that have not heard
shall understand. Now through the full preaching
of the gospel, there are folks that are going to see. John Newton
said, ìIn evil long I took delight, unawed by shame or fear, until
a new object caught my sight and stopped my wild career. I saw one hanging on a tree."
Now, you ever look to Christ, you'll continue looking and you'll
see the very glory of God in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who have not heard shall
see, and they that have not heard shall understand. Those who have
never heard will understand how God can save them. Now, I don't
mean an intellectual grasping. I can't intellectually understand
and grasp the Trinity. I don't know the depths of what
Christ suffered on Calvary's tree, but I do this. I understand
how God can save me through what Christ did. I can understand
how God can love me if I'm in the Lord Jesus Christ and united
to him. I can understand what it is to
be saved by somebody else's righteousness and to trust that righteousness,
his righteousness only. There's some understanding when
the gospel is fully preached. When the gospel is fully preached,
there will be a people who see and there will be a people who
understand. This is Todd Kniper praying that
God will be pleased to make himself known to you. That's our prayer.