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 Niver. I'm reading from Exodus chapter
17, beginning in verse 14. And the Lord said unto Moses,
write this for a memorial in a book and rehearse it in the
ears of Joshua for I will utterly put out the membrance of Amalek
from under heaven. nation, Amalek. And Moses built
an altar and called the name of it Jehovah Nisi, the Lord
our banner, the Lord our ensign. For he said, because the Lord
hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation
to generation. Now you will notice that this
is a battle the Lord will fight. He said the Lord, the Lord has
sworn that he will do, have war with Amalek from generation to
generation. And it's an everlasting perpetual
war because he says this war is going to be waged from generation
to generation. It's non-stop. This is the first
thing Moses was commanded to write down. He said, write this
down. Now what initially attracted
me to this passage of scripture was this promise regarding Amalek
where God says, I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek
from under heaven." Now, Amalek, as we're going to see, represents
the old nature, represents the sinful nature. And the thought
that my sinful nature is going to be blotted out from under
the heavens, and then one of these days, I'm not even going
to remember what it's like to be a sinner. I won't remember what it's like
to be a sinner. I'll be just like Christ, conformed
to his image. I won't sin anymore. And when
I look at his scars, I'll know the only reason I'm there is
because of what he did. But I won't even remember what
it's like to be a sinner. What an attractive thought. Now, did you know that when God
saves a man, Thank God he does do that. He saves men and women
for Christ's sake. But when God saves a man or woman,
that old sinful nature does not change at all. It's just as wicked. It's just as evil. It has the
same sinful appetites that it ever did. Now, God gives a new
nature, a new heart, and that man is in fact different He's
different from what he was, but as far as his old nature goes,
it's just as sinful, just as evil, just as perverted as ever. Now, a lot of times religion
will, I've heard men make testimonies, you know, since the Lord saved
them, they don't have the same appetites that they once had,
they don't have the same sinful desires, they're better, they're
improved, they're different. Now, when someone makes some
kind of claim like that, or they're becoming progressively more holy,
progressively more righteous. I've become more and more holy
and less and less sinful. Number one, they're lying. It's
not true. It's just not true. Number two,
it's a denial of the doctrine of the total depravity of man.
You see, men are completely unable to save themselves. They're completely
unable to do anything toward their salvation. They're totally
depraved. When God saw the wickedness of
man was great on the earth and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Now that old
nature never gets better. It doesn't become less sinful
and more holy. God doesn't take the old and
change it. He gives something new that came
from him. A new heart will I give you. Now, as a matter of fact, As
I'm speaking to you right now, I know I'm a sinner saved by
grace. I know I'm one of God's elect. I know I preach the gospel. But do you know I struggle with
sin more now than I ever have? It's because I see it more clearly
now than I ever have. And I have no doubt that that's
the testimony of every believer. Paul didn't say, oh, wretched
man that I was, but oh, wretched man that I am. deliver me from
this body of death?" He said in 1 Timothy 1.15, Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners of whom not I was the chief,
but of whom I am the chief. If someone has a holy nature,
a new nature, if they have been born again by the Spirit of God
they are very sensitive about this thing of sin, they see it.
Someone who can't see themselves in that light is someone who
has never been born again. You have to be born from above
in order to see what sin is in the first place. Now, the thought
of sinning no more, what a blessed thought. My sin and my sins will
be utterly put out of remembrance under heaven. One of these days,
I won't even remember what it's like to be a sinner. Now, let's
look at what led these words. We're going to begin
in verse 8 of Exodus chapter 17, Then came Amalek, and fought
with Israel in Rephidim. When? Then. There's significance
to that, then. Well, when? It was after the
rock was smitten, and the waters flowed from that rock. Verse 1 of chapter 17, And all
the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the
wilderness of Sin after their journeys, according to the commandment
of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim. And there was no water for the
people to drink. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses. They had seen how God had taken
care of them, but it didn't matter to them. And now, all of a sudden,
they're angry. They did chide with Moses. They didn't patiently
wait on the Lord. They'd seen the manna come down
from heaven. They saw how the Lord would take
care of them. But instead, they chide with Moses and said, give
us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why
chide ye with me? wherefore do you tempt the Lord?
And the people thirsted there for water, and the people murmured
against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought
us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle
with thirst? What a horrible thing for them to say, after
all the Lord hath done for them. And Moses cried unto the Lord,
saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready
to stone me. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Go on before the people, and take with thee of thy elders
of Israel, and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river." You
remember this rod? He used it to execute the ten
plagues. He used it to smite the Red Sea and the waters parted.
This rod is very special. It represents the Gospel. Take
that rod in thine hand and go, behold, I will stand before thee
there upon the rock in Horeb. I'm going to be standing on that
rock. and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water
out of it, and the people may drink. And Moses did so in the
sight of the elders of Israel." Now, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians
10 that rock was Christ. When that rock was smitten, when
Christ was smitten by the wrath of God as the substitute for
His people, oh, the rivers of water of life flowed out. Life
came through what Christ did, and those water represents the
work of God, the Holy Spirit in a man. The waters are, if
any man come to me and drink, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. That's life, life given because
of the smitten rock. Now when they had life, this
is when the battle began. Now before this the Lord had
fought all their battles, they'd never participated in a battle,
but now that they have life here comes Amalek. Now Amalek was
the great-grandson of Esau and he was continually a thorn in
Israel's side. Forty years later when The children
of Israel are getting ready to enter into the Promised Land.
Moses says this in verse 17, remember what Amalek did unto
thee by the way. when you were come forth out
of Egypt, how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost
of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou wast faint
and weary, and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when
the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round
about in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance
to possess it, thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek
from under heaven. Thou shalt not forget." And he's
talking about what happened right here. He says this 40 years later.
Several hundred years later, when Saul is the king, Samuel
said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king
over his people over Israel. Now therefore hearken thou unto
the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus saith the LORD of
hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he
laid wait for him in the way when he came up from Egypt. Now
go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and
spare them not. But slay both man and woman,
infant, suckling ass, camel, and sheep. Destroy everything
about them, everything they have." And as you go on reading, you
know he didn't do this. But at any rate, this represents
the flesh. This represents the flesh. I
think it's interesting the way he spared Agag. Agag was the
king. He killed everybody else, but
he spared the king, the decision maker. And Agag's name actually
means, I will overcome. What does human religion spare
in man? They say, well, he's sinful,
no doubt, but he's still got a free will. He spares the will. Saul failed to destroy all the
Amalekites. So we see the typical significance
of this. Let's go back to our text in
Exodus chapter 17. And Moses said unto Joshua, choose
us out men. This is the introduction of Joshua.
Joshua is the one who does the fighting. He represents the Lord
Jesus Christ, our Savior. You know Moses couldn't bring
him into the Promised Land. Only Joshua could. The law can
never bring anyone into Heaven. Only Christ can. Moses said unto
Joshua, Choose out men, and go out and fight with Amalek tomorrow.
I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my
hand. Just like God told him, you take
that rod that was used to part the Red Sea, that was used to
smite the rock, and you take that rod up on the hill with
you. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him and fought with Amalek.
And Moses and Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And
it came to pass when Moses held up his hand that Israel prevailed. Now he's holding the rod up,
the rod which represents the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And when he could hold it up where all the Israelites could
see it, Israel would prevail. they would be defeating Amalek. And when he let down his hand,
where they couldn't see anymore, Amalek prevailed. Now, this is
such a beautiful picture of faith. When he held up his hand, the
rod of God, the gospel, the smitten rock, the parting of the Red
Sea, God's way of saving, Christ Jesus, Israel prevailed. Looking to Christ, they prevailed. This is the victory that overcometh
the world, even our faith. Listen, my dear friend, you look
to Christ, you rest in him, you believe in him, and you prevail.
Now when Moses grew weary, and Moses is a picture of weakness
here. The law is weak. When Moses grew weary, his hands
became heavy, and he put the rod down. And when you're not
looking to Christ, Amalek prevails. Let's go on reading, verse 12.
But Moses' hands were heavy, and they took a stone and put
it under him, and he sat there on a And Aaron and her stayed
up his hand, the one on the one side and the other on the other
side. And his hands were steady into the going down of the sun
with Aaron and her holding them up. And Joshua discomfited Amalek
and his people with the edge of the sword. Now, this is where
Aaron and her come in. Aaron is who? The great high
priest. He represents the intercession
of Christ, the priesthood of Christ. Now, I'm so weak, I can't
keep my hands up. I can't continue to look. I'm
weak in myself. Just like Moses could not, he
lacked the ability to keep that rod up. I can't do it. Now, your hands lifted up also
represents faith. Remember how Abraham lifted up
his hand to the Lord, the possessor of heaven and earth, and he wouldn't
take a shoestring from a Himalaya. He said, I've made Abraham rich.
He said, I'm looking to Christ alone. Now, Moses lifted up his
hands in faith that people could see the gospel when they saw
the rod, but he couldn't keep it up. But Aaron, the great high
priest, helped Now, I love to think of the intercession of
Christ. Peter, I have prayed for you. Satan has desired to
have you that he may sift you as wheat. And indeed he did,
but I have prayed for you that your faith fail not. And you
know what? His faith didn't fail. He fell,
but his faith never failed. He continued to look to Christ
as all he had. The Lord said in John 17, 9,
I pray for them. Speaking of his people, I pray
not for the world, but for them which you've given me, for they
are thine. Father, forgive them. They know
not what they do. And everybody he prayed for was
forgiven. Wherefore, he is able to save
them to the uttermost that come to God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them. You see, as weak as you
are, Christ prays for you, everything's fine. If he prays for you, if
he represents you. Her, the other man, his name
means light. He represents the illuminating
work of the Holy Spirit, the life-giving work of the Holy
Spirit. He gives you life. You're naturally blind. I'm naturally
blind. He gives us life to see who Christ
is. He gives us life to see who we are. He gives us the ability
to lay hold upon the Lord Jesus Christ. It's through the work
of the Holy Spirit, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and the work
of our great high priest that we're able to continue on in
this perpetual battle. Now look what it says in verse
13, and Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge
of the sword. Now that word discomfited it
doesn't say he slew the people with the edge of the sword the
way it generally does. How many times do we read that
they slew so-and-so with the edge of the sword? But here it
says they discomfited the people with the edge of the sword. And
that word actually means weakened. Amalek was not killed. Amalek
was weakened. Listen to this scripture. How
art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning?
How art thou cut down to the ground which did weaken the nations? That's the same word, and that's
what it means. He weakened them with the edge of the sword, but
they were not killed. Now, we have so many examples
of this in the Bible. I still have this sinful nature. It's been weakened in the sense
that I've got a new nature. There was a time when I could
not believe I can now, but I still have my old sinful, wicked nature.
This is illustrated by Jacob at Esau. Look in Genesis chapter
25 if you've got a Bible. And Isaac entreated the Lord
for his wife because she was barren, and the Lord was entreated
of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. Now she has life.
And the children struggled within her. And she said, if it be so,
why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the
Lord. She had this struggle going on with inside, and she didn't
know why. And hear the Lord's answer. And
the Lord said unto her, two nations are in thy womb, two manner of
people should be separated from thy bowels, and the one people
should be stronger than the other people, and the elder shall serve
the younger. That's the promise. Now, in Romans
chapter 7, we're given the reality of this struggle that every believer
has. He still has this old nature.
He's got a new nature now. He's got a nature that loves
God. He's got a nature that believes the gospel. He's got a nature
that repents. You know, the new man actually
owns the sins of the old man. It's the new man who sees them.
But listen to Paul's language in Romans chapter 7. I can still
remember the first time I read this how thankful I was that
this was in the Bible because I saw this as me. He says in
Romans chapter 7 beginning in verse 14, "'For we know that
the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not,
for what I would that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it's good. Now then it's no more
I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me
That is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not."
These are the words of an honest man, not a man pretending to
be something that he's not. These are the words of an honest
man. He says, for the good that I would, I do not, but the evil
which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that which I would
not, it's no more I that do it, but the sin that dwelleth in
me. It's the old man. It's the old nature. I find in a law that
when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight
in the law of God after the inward man, and I do, O how I love God's
holy law, which is a reflection of His holy character. But I
see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in
my members. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, With the mind, I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. Now,
this flesh is a monster to every believer. Oh, we hate it. But thank God, the scripture
says the elder, that flesh, he's older than the new man. He's
going to serve the younger. Now, God could have made it if
he wanted to. He could have made it to where
the believer never sins again from the very time they're saved.
He could have done that. And He didn't do it for wise
and holy purposes only known to Him. But I know one way the
old nature serves the new nature. The old nature makes it to where
I'm not allowed to look anywhere but Christ alone. I can't look
for a thing out of myself. I have to look to Him only. And
that sinful nature is a continual reminder of that. I'm to look
to Christ alone. So Joshua discomfited. He weakened
Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And the Lord
said unto Moses, write this for a memorial in a book. This is
the first thing God told Moses to write down. And rehearse it
in the ears of Joshua, for I will utterly put out the remembrance
of Amalek from under heaven. Now, it's not going to happen
until we die. If we're believers, you're still
going to be dealing with Amalek. But one of these days, he's going
to be utterly blotted out, put out to where there won't be any
remembrance. of him. Now this word, I'll put
it out, it means I'll put it away, I'll wipe it out, I'll
obliterate it, I'll blot it out, I'll abolish it, I'll destroy
it, I'll exterminate the very remembrance of Amalek from under
the heavens. Now this same word, put out,
is the same word that Isaiah uses, blot out. I am he that
blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not
remember thy sins. I have blotted out as a thick
cloud thy transgressions and thy sins." Blotted out. They're not there anymore. Now, I remember them, but they're
not there anymore. Now, how could that be? Well,
here's what the blood of Christ does. when he had by himself
purged our sins. He sat down at the right hand
of the majesty on high from henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made his footstool. What did he do by himself with
no help from me, with no help from you, with no help from any
created being? What did he do when he had by
himself purged, made purification, washed away our sins. You've seen a stain on an item
of clothing and you put it in the washing machine and it's
washed away. It's gone. It is there no more. Now that's what the Lord Jesus
accomplished by His work on Calvary's tree. He put away sin. by the sacrifice of himself.
With no help from anyone else, he purged that iniquity away
to where it is gone. There's nothing there even to
remember. That's how thoroughly, that's
how thoroughly the Lord put away sin. Hebrews 8, quotation from
Jeremiah 31, I will be propitious, I will be propitiated, I will
be through the work of Christ on the cross to where I have
nothing to be angry about. I will be propitious to their
unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities. I will
remember no more." Now the only way God cannot remember something
is for it to not be there. I don't have any sins for Him
to remember because Christ put them away. I'd like to read a
few verses from the book of Revelation, Revelation chapter 21, and what
glorious words these are. John said in verse 1, And I saw
a new heaven and a new earth, the first heaven and the first
earth were passed away, and there was no more sea, no more separation.
And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from
God out of heaven. prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them, and will be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall
be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there
be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And he
that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. Beloved, if you're a believer,
you have a new history. It's all good. It's all perfect. It's all just like Christ. That is your history. If you're
a believer, when the story is told on you, all God will have
to say is, Thou good and faithful servant." You may think, well,
I know I haven't done well. Well, you haven't in yourself,
but your Redeemer did. And you have a new history. Your
history is His story. It's Him. That is what every
believer possesses, this brand new history. And so God doesn't
remember sins because there's nothing there to remember. It's
all good. It's all perfect. And believer,
one day you won't even remember what it's like to be a sinner. Now we have this message on DVD
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