Why did you 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.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nyberg. I'm reading from James chapter
1, and I've entitled this morning's message, The Double-Minded Man. In James chapter 1, beginning
in verse 5, James says, If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask
of God that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not,
and it shall be given him. Let him ask in faith nothing
wavering, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven
with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that
he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man
is unstable in all his ways." Now let me say at the outset
of this message You and I are either men and women with two
natures. Every believer has two natures.
Or we're people with one nature who are double-minded. Now, we're given this blessed
promise. If any of you lack wisdom, let
him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally, generously. And he won't bawl you out for
asking. He upbraideth not. And if you ask, it shall be given. What a blessed promise. Then
he says, But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that
wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and
tossed, let not that man think he shall receive anything of
the Lord." Now, when James says that, does that mean you won't
have wisdom if you ask it and there's any element of doubt
as to whether or not God will give it to you? Is that what
he's talking about? Does that mean if you ask for
something and do not have complete confidence that you'll be given
what you asked for, you won't have it? Is that what that means?
Well, if it does mean that, what about that man who prayed, Lord,
I believe, help thou mine unbelief? Did the Lord say, no, as long
as you've got unbelief, I'm not going to answer your prayer.
I'm not going to help you. No. He helped that man, didn't
he? What about when the answer to
your prayer is no? That's a good answer. I mean,
if we pray for something, the Lord may not give it to us. It
may be for our best interest to not have it. When Moses asked
to come into the promised land, God's answer was, no, and asked
me no more of the matter. When Paul asked for the thorn
in the flesh to be removed, the Lord didn't do it. He said, my
grace is sufficient for thee. When David wanted to build the
temple for the Lord, the Lord said, no, you're not going to
do it, you're a bloody man. These men were asking for things and
the Lord said no. So it's not because they didn't
have enough faith. It's because the Lord said no.
When he says let him ask in faith that's talking about faith in
Christ. What that means is you know the
only reason your prayer is answered is for Christ's sake. Let him ask in faith nothing
wavering. not going back and forth between
faith and works. Now, I would like to read a few
verses of scripture regarding faith so we can see just what
James is talking about when he says, let him ask in faith. In Romans chapter 4, this is
Paul writing, and he says, what shall we say then that Abraham,
our father, as pertaining to the flesh, our ancestor, hath
found? For if Abraham were justified
by works, He hath whereof to glory. If he were justified before
God because of something he did, he could glory in that. He could
take credit. He could say, well, at least I did this. I get some
of the glory. But not before God. For what saith the scripture,
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. God said, Abraham, see the stars,
so shall your seed be. Abraham had no children, no evidence
that he could have them except that God said it, and he believed
what God said. Now, that's what faith is. It's
believing what God has said. Now, it's no good to say you
have faith if you don't believe what he actually said in his
Word. Now, let's go on reading. Now,
to him that worketh is the reward, heaven, eternal glory. If you've
got it by your works, now to him that worketh is the reward,
not reckoned of grace, but of debt. God owes it to you. But
to him that worketh not. You see beyond the shadow of
a doubt that you can't be saved by your works because you are
a sinner and anything you do in and of itself is sinful. You
really believe that. You see the utter impossibility
of salvation by works. to him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly." You believe on
Him, God the Father, who justifies the ungodly through the work
of Christ on the cross. This is the great doctrine of
justification. When you believe, when you have
faith, that's faith in what Christ actually accomplished, the great
doctrine of justification. May the Lord enable me to say
this so simply that a child can understand it, but God is holy. He will not accept anything short
of absolute perfection and holiness. He can't have any sin. God is
holy. Man is sinful. Man is evil. God can't accept a man as he
is, but here is the gospel. God made a way to be just. consistent with His justice,
and yet justify a sinful creature through the work of Christ on
the cross. The sins of God's elect became
the sins of the Lord Jesus Christ. He bare our sins in His own body
on the tree. Now, He never sinned in Himself,
but He became guilty of the sins of those He represented. And
His perfect righteousness is given to them so that they're
justified. I stand before God perfectly
righteous, having the very righteousness of Christ. Just as my sin became
His, His righteousness becomes mine. That's how God justifies
the ungodly. Not to him that worketh not,
but believe it. on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness." Now, that's the faith James is
speaking of when he speaks of, let him ask in faith. You don't
ask and think you'll be heard because of your works. You see,
all there is is works or faith. There's no blending of the two.
There's no mixing of the two. You can't mix law and gospel.
You can't mix grace and works. It's either faith alone or all
of works. And if you go back to works,
what you're doing, you're wavering back and forth, you're doubting,
you're like a wave of the sea driven with the wind to toss
and tossed. Now, he says regarding this man
who goes back and forth between faith and works, let not that
man think he'll receive anything of the Lord. If I come trying
to mix faith and works, I will be rejected. I will not get anything
that I'm seeking from the Lord. And then he says, the double-minded
man, the one who wavers between faith and works, is unstable
in all his ways. is faith in Christ, the gift
of God's grace. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 says,
For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that, that faith,
it's not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. Now, where faith is left, all
you're left with is wavering, indecision, and instability,
the double-minded The two-souled, the two-faced man who shall receive
nothing from the Lord. The double-minded man. Now, who
is this double-minded man? I want to know because I don't
want to be this man. I know that if the Lord leads me to myself,
that's who I'll be, but I don't want to be this man. Who is this
double-minded man? The double-minded man is the
man who halts between two opinions. You remember when Elijah said,
how long halt ye between two opinions? If God be God, if Jehovah
be God, serve him. If Baal be God, serve him. But
don't try to do both. Don't try to see there's truth
in both. Don't halt between two opinions. The Lord said, no servant can
serve two masters. And that's what the double man
tries to do. He tries to serve two masters. For either he will
hate the one and love the other, or else he'll hold to the one
and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
That's what the double-minded man attempts to do. He attempts
to have two masters. The Lord said, the light of the
body is the eye. Therefore, if the eye be single,
simple, only about self, one, one opening. If the eye and I
be single, it should be full of light. But if it be evil,
if it be mixed, it will be full of darkness. If therefore the
light that's in me be darkness, how great is that darkness. I think of what James said, Know
ye not that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whosoever shall be the friend
of the world is the enemy of God. The double-minded man tries
to be the friend of the world and the friend of God, and it
cannot be done. We read in 2 Corinthians 6, verses
14 through 18, where Paul asks five questions. What fellowship
hath righteousness with unrighteousness? None. What communion hath light
with darkness? None. What concord has Christ
with the devil? None. What part does he that believes
have with the infidel? None. What agreement is there
between the temple of God and with idols? None. The double-minded
man seeks to bring together these things, and it cannot be done.
Now, I'd like to read a passage of Scripture from 2 Corinthians
chapter 11 that I think will say so much about what we're
trying to avoid in avoid being double-minded. In 2 Corinthians
chapter 11, beginning in verse 1, Paul said, Would to God you
could bear with me a little in my folly, and indeed bear with
me, for I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, for I
have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste
virgin to Christ. Not having other lovers, but
totally committed to being his and his only, looking to him
and him only, Then Paul says in verse 3, but I fear, "...lest
by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety,
through his deceit, so your minds should be corrupted from the
simplicity the simplicity, the singleness, the onlyness, the
oneness of Christ. There's no room for double-mindedness
if we see the simplicity that's in Christ. Now, we can't have
two objects of faith. I can't look to Christ and my
works. I can't look to Christ and my
experience. I can't look to Christ and my baptism, or Christ and
my church membership, or Christ and my doctoral knowledge, or
Christ and the way I felt when I supposedly was saved. The only
ground of faith is Christ only. We can't have two grounds of
salvation. Christ is either all in my salvation,
or he's nothing at all. But there won't be any double-mindedness
there. I'm saved for one reason, for
Christ's sake. Not because I believed, not because
I repented, not because I did anything. I am saved because
of Christ, who He is and what He did in my behalf. When He
said, it is finished, my salvation was finished, and I made no contribution. Hebrews 1.3 says, when He had
by Himself purged our sins. And that by Himself lets me know,
beloved, that it didn't have anything to do with anything
I did. He had no help. I made no contribution when he
had by himself purged our sins. He sat down at the right hand
of the majesty on high. Why did he sit down? The work
was finished. It was completed. That's the simplicity that's
in Christ. He only is my salvation. Now, I think of the Old Testament
laws. For instance, did you know you
couldn't have a garment made of two materials? You couldn't
have it made out of linen and wool. You couldn't blend the
two. Somebody says, well, that seems ridiculous. It's given to show
us that we only have one garment, one covering, Christ. Not Christ
and our works, not Christ and anything else, but Christ only. What was the one thing God was
looking for when he passed through the land of Egypt on the night
of the Passover? He did not say, when I see your
faith, He did not say, when I see your repentance. He did not say,
when I see your good works. He did not say, when I see your
doctrinal understanding. He didn't say, when I see anything
about you. There's one thing God was looking
for. He said, when I see what? The blood. That's all He was
looking for. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. And there's one thing God's looking
for with regard to the salvation of me and you. He said, when
I see the blood. Not when I see anything about
you. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. There's so many
examples of this in the Old Testament. I love the Old Testament. It
reveals the New Testament. There's the story of David and
Mephibosheth. He was the son of Saul and David
had made a promise with Mephibosheth's dad, Jonathan. Jonathan said,
I want you to have mercy on my house even after I'm dead. And
so after Jonathan's dead and David's the King of the world
at that time, he says, is there any that I can show kindness
to the house of Saul's sake for Jonathan's sake? That's the only
reason, and God says there's one reason, I give mercy for
Christ's sake. That's all the reason that's
needed. I love the scripture, Ephesians 4.32, be ye kind, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven
you. Now that's the simplicity that's
in Christ. Christ said himself. I am the
way. There are not two ways. There's
only one way. I am the truth that excludes everything else. I am the life. I'm the only life
that God will accept. He's the way to the Father. He's
the truth of the Father. He is the life. There's one way
of salvation. By grace are you saved. Not by works, Ephesians 2.8,
by grace are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves,
that faith, it's not the product of your will, it's the gift of
God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Now, while the gospel is very
inclusive, it's wide open to any sinner who comes. The gospel
is very inclusive. You can't be too bad to be saved.
You can't be too sinful to be saved. If you come to Christ,
He'll receive you. He said, Him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. The gospel is very inclusive. It's a wide door. But, beloved,
understand this, it excludes, it utterly excludes all ways
of salvation by works. If you come on the footing of
anything you do, you're excluded. If you come on the footing of
only what He did, you're included. You're brought in. Now, the double-minded
man wants to share the glory with Christ. He wants to have
some of the glory, and he wants Christ to have some of the glory.
He said Christ did a lot, but he wants to share in the glory,
and he will not be permitted to do that. The double-minded
man is unstable in all his ways. Now, perhaps you've heard of
the Protestant Reformation that happened back in the 1500s. It's when, well, there were people
before Martin Luther, no doubt, but Martin Luther's the most
well-known proponent of it, and it's when he put the 95 Thesis
on the door of the church in Wittenberg, I started what's
called the Protestant Reformation, a reforming of the abuses of
Catholicism at that time. And I, to be honest with you,
I don't know what I think about the word Reformation in the first
place because God's always had a witness and the truth doesn't
need to be reformed. People talk about the reformed
faith and my thought is reformed from what? If it's true, it doesn't
need to be reformed, and God's always had a witness, and I don't
really care for the term reformed, or the reformed faith, or even
the idea of the Protestant Reformation, because the call of the gospel
is not reform that which is corrupt. It's come out of her and be separate,
and touch not the unclean thing, and I'll receive you. Now, that's
the call of Scripture, but at any rate, I still admire Martin
Luther and John Calvin and John Zwingli and Knox and all those
reformers. And they had what is called the
five solas. And this is against what the
double-minded man will think. The five solas. Scriptures alone. Christ alone. alone, grace alone, and the glory
of God alone. The key word being alone. Not the scriptures and our traditions,
the scriptures alone. Not Christ and our faith, Christ
alone. Not grace and our reception of
it, but grace alone. Not faith and our works, faith
alone. Not God's glory and something
else, God's glory alone is the only acceptable motive. close
by thinking of those five souls. They're so very, very important. The scriptures alone. We don't
go to the Bible to prove our beliefs. You don't go to this
book to find proof for what you already believe. You go to the
Bible to find out what to believe. The scriptures alone. We don't have one of those big
documents or church confessions to show this is what we believe.
We go to the Bible alone. The Bible is our only rule of
faith and practice. This is God's revelation of Himself,
the Bible. Somebody says, well, how can
I be sure that it's inspired and without error? Well, do you
believe that God is able to create the universe? Well, if you believe
anything, you believe that. Of course, He created the universe.
And if He has the power to create the universe, He has the power
to inspire men to write His Word and to preserve it. The Word
of God. Paul said to Timothy, preach
the Word. Whatever the Word declares, preach
the Word. We look to the Scriptures alone,
not to the Scriptures in our traditions, not to the Scriptures
in our denomination, not to the Scriptures in anything else.
We're to look to the Scriptures alone. Somebody says, I believe
the Bible is the Word of God. Good. You pay attention to what
it says. Scriptures alone are only ground of faith and practice. We believe this to be the inspired,
inerrant Word of God, and that's what it claims for itself. All
Scripture, 2 Timothy 3, 16, all Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. And it's possible for doctrine,
for proof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished to all good
works. Now, everything we believe is from the Scriptures. And anything
that is not found in the Scriptures is wrong. Scriptures alone. Secondly, Christ alone. Now, the reason I'm saved is
because of Christ alone. Not me accepting Him as my personal
Savior. but Christ alone. First of all,
this book that I've been talking about is only about Him. That's all it's about. He only
is what we'll see of God. All we're going to know of God
is Jesus Christ, His righteousness. His personal righteousness is
the only righteousness that God will accept. And it's the righteousness
that every believer possesses. Every believer has the very righteousness
of Christ. Christ only. He only is the ground
of our salvation. What does Paul mean when he says
he forgave us for Christ's sake? What he means by that is he didn't
forgive us because we asked. He didn't forgive us because
we were sorry. He didn't forgive us because
of what we promised we would do. He forgives us for Christ's
sake. No other reason is needed for
God to forgive me or for God to forgive you except for Christ's
sake. He himself is the only object
of faith. We don't look to Christ and anything
else. We look to Christ only. Christ alone. Now the double-minded
man introduces Christ and. The double-minded man introduces
the Scriptures and, but it's Scriptures alone and Christ alone. And then there's grace alone. Not grace and. Listen to me. Grace is not God's offer to you.
Grace saves. Grace is not an offer. Grace
is salvation. Grace is not something you accept.
Grace is what accepts you. He hath made us accepted or graced
in the beloved. Now, grace alone, every aspect
of my salvation, it began in electing grace when God chose
me before time began to be saved. And if He chose me, saved I must
be. Oh, how I love this. Justifying grace. He justified me, redeeming grace. He redeemed me. He paid for all
my sins, life-giving grace. By His grace, He gave me spiritual
life, a heart to see the Lord Jesus Christ, faith to believe,
life-giving grace, preserving grace. The only reason I persevere
is because He preserves me. And if He removes His hand from
me, I'll fall away. Glorifying grace. where I'm made
exactly conformed to the image of Christ. Oh, grace alone does
that all, not works. And then there's faith alone.
What is the evidence that I've got grace? What is the evidence
that I've been justified? What is the evidence that I've
been elected? What is the evidence that I've been redeemed? What
is the evidence that I've been regenerated? Only faith is the
evidence of things not seen. I don't look at how holy I am
or how righteous I am and say, yeah, I must be elect. Look how
righteous I am. No, no, because I believe the gospel. I look
to the Lord Jesus Christ only as all in my salvation. I rest
in him, and that's the evidence that God has done something for
me. Now, if you look at your works
and your life and say, well, that's evidence God's done something
for me, that's false evidence. Faith only. Faith only. And the glory of God only. Now here's how I can know if
something is true. Does it give God all the glory? If it gives man any glory at
all, it's not of God. Somebody that believes that God
loves everybody, Christ died for everybody, God wants to save
everybody, it's up to you as to whether or not you'll be saved,
whether you'll accept Him as your personal Savior. Well, that
means your acceptance gets the glory. Not God, but you. So you
know that's false. God must get all the glory or
it is not true. And the double-minded man seeks
to get the glory. And we have this message on DVD
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