I did choose thee. 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. In Luke chapter 20, verse 4,
the Lord said, the baptism of John, was it from heaven or of
men? I've entitled this message, From
Heaven or of Men? And I ask you to examine what
I'm going to say to you this morning. Is it from heaven? Is it from God? Or is it of men? Is it simply some man speaking
his opinion? It's one of those two things.
I'm either speaking with the authority that comes from God
himself, or I'm nothing but a man speaking. Now, what precipitated
our Lord making this statement? Now, this was right after our
Lord had gone into the temple and overthrown the tables and
drove people out. Now, if somebody came into the
place where I preached and started overthrowing tables, turning
over pews and driving people out, They better have some kind
of special authority to be able to do something like this. And
our Lord has special authority. He has the authority of God. When he went in to the temple,
it was his temple, and they were making it a den of thieves, and
he drove them out. And the scribes and the Pharisees
were upset with this. They didn't like what he was
doing. They thought, who does he think
he is? Where does he get this authority? So we read in chapter
20 of verse 1, and it came to pass when on one of those days,
as he taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel,
That's what our Lord always did, that was His subject matter,
the preaching of the Gospel. Now this was one of their carefully
crafted questions. thought through this question
they could get the Lord Jesus in trouble. And that's why they
asked Him this question, who gave you this authority? By what
authority do you do these things? Now, the Lord Jesus has all authority. What does authority mean? Authority
is the liberty to do as one pleases. The right to do as one pleases. The right to exercise power. It was who he was and who he
is that gives authority to what he says. This is the one time
who is speaking important than what is said. It's because of
His authority. Now when He says something because
of who He is, it's settled. It's settled. You can argue against
it if you want, but it's settled. Forever, O Lord, Thy Word is
settled in the heavens. Now I would like to look at a
few verses of Scripture out of Matthew chapter 7 before we get
back to our text that speak of His authority. And I love the
preached, perhaps the greatest sermon ever preached, the Sermon
on the Mount, we end with these words in Matthew chapter 7, "'And
it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people
were astonished at His doctrine, for He taught them as one having
authority.'" and not as the scribes. I love that slam on the scribes. What he said recommended itself
as the very Word of God. Now, the people looked at this
young, uneducated carpenter, and they were stunned by the
authority with which he spoke. He begins this message, the Sermon
on the Mount, And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. What authority! He declares things
as they are. He declares who is blessed, who
is blessed of God. And it went clean contrary to
anything they'd ever heard. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn.
should be comforted." This is contrary to anything we have
ever heard. And He spake words like this
in Matthew 5, verse 17, "'Think not that I am come.' He was before
He came, and He came. Think not that I am come to destroy
the law or the prophets. I'm not come to destroy but to
fulfill. I've come to fulfill the law.
Who can say something like that but Him? We read in verse 21,
you've heard that it was said of them of old time, and this
is talking about the Old Testament Scripture. Thou shalt not kill,
and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of judgment, but
I say unto you. I know the Old Testament Scripture
said this, but I say unto you. What authority He speaks with,
that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall
be in danger of the judgment, I say unto you. This is absolute
authority. In verse 27, you've heard that
it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery.
Now that's one of the Ten Commandments. But I say unto you, whosoever
looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with
her already in his heart. The Lord is saying I am the only
one who can interpret the Law. What I say goes. the only one who truly knows. Look at verse 31, "'It hath been
said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a
writing of divorcement.' Once again that's Old Testament Scriptures.
But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving
for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery,
and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced, committeth
adultery. I say unto you, I'm the one who interprets the law,
no one else. What I say goes, I say unto you."
Now, there's no authority like that, the authority of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He said that several other times. Now, when He says, I say unto
you, There's no room for questioning. There's no room for objection.
When he says, I say unto you, it is settled. There's nothing
else to be said. I think of where in Romans chapter
9, Paul is quoting what took place in Exodus, for he saith
to Pharaoh, I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and whom
he will, he hardened. He says to Pharaoh, even for
this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my
power, my authority in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardens. Thou wilt
say unto me, why does he yet find fault? for who has resisted
His will. If He hardens my heart so that
I can't do anything, how can He hold me responsible?" Now
listen to Paul's words, "'Nay, but, O man, who art thou to reply
against God?' You're wrong in trying to reply against God because
whatever He says is absolute because He is God. Oh, the authority of the Lord
Jesus Christ. In verse 21 of chapter 7, He
gives the authority of being the judge. Not every one that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven,
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, that day of judgment, Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in your name? And in your name have we
not cast out devils? And in your name have we not
done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto
them, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. He's got the authority of judgment. In Matthew 7, 24, therefore,
whosoever saith, heareth these sayings of mine, and whosoever
hears not these sayings of mine, the authority is that they're
His sayings. Oh, the authority of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And what authority He demonstrated. He said all power. authority
is given to me." You know, we think of powerful men and women. There's no such thing. All power
belongs to Him, and all power that He gives is simply delegated
for His will to be done. He's in control of everybody
and everything. He has all power and all control. And you and I have no power and
no control. And you know, if you're a believer,
you like it that way. Now, if you're an unbeliever, you might
kick against this. But if you're a believer, you love the fact
that He has all power and all authority. He's got the authority
of purpose. He's got the authority of creation.
He's got the authority of providence. authority of salvation. Now what
do I mean by that? Well first of all He's got the
authority of purpose. His purpose always comes to pass. He said, I have purposed it,
I also will do it. Now everything that happens in
time was purposed in eternity. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. He has a purpose and his purpose
is to glorify his father and to glorify himself and everything
that happens in time, he purposed in eternity. If you're saved,
you were saved on purpose, his purpose, he saved you, he purposed
to save you. If you're not saved, He purposed
to pass you by. He's in absolute control, and
that's the only way it should be. He's got the authority of
purpose. He's got the authority of creation.
Merely as an act of His will, He spake the universe into existence. He created something from nothing.
Now, what authority there is there? Oh, the supremacy of His
will. All He had to do is will it,
and the universe came into existence. He has the authority of salvation. You know what that means? That
means your salvation and my salvation is in His hands. It's up to Him as to whether
or not you will be saved. When I hear preachers say, won't
you accept Jesus as your personal Savior? That's foolishness. It's
not up to, he's not running for office to see if you'll accept
him. You're in his hands. The question is not, will you
accept him? The question is, will he accept you? Salvation
is of the Lord. The Son quickeneth whom he will,
the scripture says. Thou has given him power over
all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
has given him. Salvation is of the Lord. That's
all that means. Like Jonah said, salvation is
of the Lord. David said the salvation of the
righteous is of the Lord. He has absolute authority in
salvation, and he has absolute authority in all things. Providence,
whatever happens, he's in control of. Whatever happens today, it
was his will being done. Now, somebody says, you're making
puppets out of me. Well, you can call it what you
want, but it's so. He's in control of everybody and everything.
He's even in control of the thoughts that are going through your mind
right now. The Lord has made all things
for Himself, yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. Somebody
says, I don't like that. Well, that doesn't change the
fact. This is who He is. He's God. We're men. He's in
control. He has absolute authority, and
every believer likes it that way. Jesus Christ has all authority. I love when the leper said to
him, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. I know you can,
and I know it's up to you. If you will, you can make me
clean. He said, I will be thou clean. Now he has authority over life
and death. He said, no man takes my life
from me. I have power to lay it down. I have power to raise
it again. This commandment have I received of my father. When
the Lord was on the cross, he was in control of everything.
He was no victim. When they came to arrest him, he said, whom
seek ye? They said, Jesus of Nazareth.
He said, I am. And they fell backward. Pilate
said, don't you know that I have power to crucify you, and I have
power to release you? And the Lord said, you have no
power at all over me, except it be given thee from above.
He's got absolute control. He has power over all flesh.
Thou has given Him power over all flesh. You know everybody
is in His hands, everybody. The President, the pauper, doesn't
matter who it is, everybody He's in control of. Thou has given
Him power over all flesh. He has power over life itself. As the Father hath life in himself,
so hath he given the Son to have life in self, and the authority
to execute judgment." What that means is he's able to say this
to that man who beat on his breast, God be merciful to me the sinner. He can say, I say unto you that
man went down to his house justified rather than the other. Now that's
authority. He can speak concerning who's
justified and who's left to himself. That other man, that Pharisee
praying in the temple, God I thank thee that I'm not as other men
are, he was passed over and he'll spend eternity in hell. Christ
has all authority. He could say to that woman taking
an adultery, neither do I condemn thee. no man condemn thee, neither
do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. He could
say to that thief on the cross, today thou shalt be with me in
paradise because of the authority that this one possesses. He has
the authority that only God has. The Son of Man hath authority,
hath power on earth to forgive sins. Only God has the power
and the right to forgive sins. Amen? You know that's so. Now,
Jesus Christ is God, and he has the authority. He has the power
to forgive all of your sins if he's pleased to do it. Now, that demonstrates the authority
of Jesus Christ. When he went into that temple
with a whip in his hand and drove those people out, it was his
temple. So they come to him asking, who
gave you this authority? What makes you think you have
the right to do what you have done? Now our Lord answers them
like this, beginning in verse 3 of Luke chapter 20, and he
answered and said unto them, I will ask you one thing, answer
me. The baptism of John Was it from
Heaven or of men? Was it something God sent or
is it purely a man-made institution? The baptism of John, was it from
Heaven or of men? Now what was the baptism of John
that is being spoken of here? You know, John is a very unique
figure. Bible. He is the only, other
than the Lord Jesus Christ, he is the only man who was foretold
of and prophesied in the Old Testament. He was spoken of in
the book of Isaiah and the book of Malachi as the one who would
precede the Lord and announce His coming and prepare the way
of the Lord. He was a very unique individual. He was filled with
the Spirit from his womb, from his mother's womb. Who else can
that be said of? According to Christ he was the greatest man
to ever live. Now What was the baptism of John? Well, it's called this. John
came preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission
of sins. That's the baptism of John, the
baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Now, John's
baptism was really no different than Christian baptism, except
he was baptizing before the death of Christ. That's the only difference,
but it taught the same thing. You see, baptism tells how righteousness
is fulfilled. When he came to John the Baptist
to be baptized himself, he said, John said, I have need to be
baptized in thee, and comest thou to me? He said, suffer to
be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Now, everything our Lord did,
he did as an us. When He fulfilled all righteousness,
every believer fulfilled all righteousness. And baptism teaches
how a sinner is saved. Here's how a sinner is saved.
When Christ lived, I lived because I was in Him. When Christ died,
I died because I was in Him. When Christ paid for sins, my
sins were paid for. When Christ was raised, I was
raised. This is all my hope that I was
in Christ and that everything that God requires of me, He looks
to Christ for. And all my salvation is simply
being found in Him. That's why Paul said, Oh, that
I may win Christ and be found in Him. Now the baptism of John,
the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Now does
that mean if I repent, then my sins are remitted? The remission
of sins comes through my repentance. No, it doesn't mean that. The
reason my sins are remitted or forgiven is because Christ died
for me. Be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as
God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. He didn't forgive you because
you repented. He didn't forgive you because you believed. He forgave you for Christ's sake
because of what Christ did on your behalf. Now, repentance
means a change of mind, a change of mind. You believe one thing
and you don't believe it anymore. Your mind's been changed. You
see something completely differently, the opposite of how you had seen
it. Repentance, a change of mind, concerning, that word for is
quite often translated concerning the remission of sins. A change
of mind concerning the remission of sins. Baptism, what baptism
teaches, how sins are remitted through being united to Christ
and Him being my substitute and satisfying for me. Through that
there is a complete change of mind regarding the remission
or the remittance of sins. Now, Everybody is born believing
religion is a process that ends with the forgiveness of sins.
If I believe, if I repent, if I turn my life around, if I'm
baptized, if I straighten out, I will receive the forgiveness
of sins. Now, my dear friend, that way of thinking is nothing
more than salvation by works. It's just works in another form.
You can call it gospel if you want, but it's not gospel. That's
salvation by works. Salvation doesn't end with the
forgiveness of sins. If you do this, this, this, and
this, you'll be forgiven. Salvation begins with the full,
frank, free forgiveness of sins. And there isn't anything you
did to obtain this. When God saves you, you find
out you've been forgiven. You find out you've been forgiven. And what a blessed revelation
that is. Now, we learn the gospel when
we find out that salvation begins with the remission of sins. And
when we have the remission or forgiveness of sins, not only
do we avoid the punishment due to them, but the reason for the
punishment has been removed. Now, that's what the remission
of sins is. God in Christ takes away our sins to where they're
no more. Christ paid for them, and God has no reason to punish
us. He justifies this and then He says, I'll forgive you. I'll
forgive you. Oh, a change of mind, a complete
turnaround, a complete change of mind regarding the remission
of sins. God said in Hebrews 8, 12, there
are sins and iniquities. He said, I will be merciful or
I'll be propitious. to their unrighteousness, I'll
be propitiated, I'll have my reason for anger removed by removing
those sins by the blood of Christ, and their sins and their iniquities
I will remember no more." Now I want you to think about that.
If you're forgiven, God doesn't even remember your sins. And
it's not because He's forgetful, it's because there's nothing
there to remember. You're justified before God,
you're perfect in God's sight. what the blood of Christ actually
accomplished in behalf of His people, and that's so glorious.
The Baptism of John. Now, the Lord said this Baptism
of John, was it of man, simply man-made, or did it come from
God? The message I'm preaching to
you, I'm asking you, you judge. Ask God to show you. See if I'm
speaking according to the Is this message speaking with the
authority of God? Is this from heaven? Or is it
simply my opinion, some man-made religious dogma? Which is it? Which is it? And the Lord knew
these men, and He knew how they would respond. I love this question,
the baptism of John. Is it from heaven, or is it of
men? Now let's look what these cowardly
men have to say about this. And they reasoned with themselves,
saying, If we shall say from heaven, he'll say, Why then believe
ye him not? Because they didn't believe John.
And if we say from heaven, he'll say, Why didn't you believe?
But if we say of men, all the people will stone us, for they
be persuaded that John was a prophet. So how did they answer? And they
answered that they could not tell whence it was. We're not
sure. We can't say it's not from heaven. We can't say it's not
from men. They saw trouble in any answer they gave. They tried
to entrap the Lord. They couldn't do it. How can
you entrap omniscience? But He certainly silenced them.
They couldn't answer. Jesus said unto them, Neither
tell I you by what authority I do these things. Now the Lord's
authority is such that He doesn't have to give an answer to Miriam.
He has authority whether we agree with it or not. He's undisturbed
by opposition. He has absolute control. And
He said, I'm not going to tell you by what authority I do these
things. Now how should you and I respond
to this, this thing of the Lord having absolute, complete authority? Well, number one, I'm going to
say the same thing the publican did in the temple. God be merciful
to me, the sinner. You have all authority. I'm in
your hands. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. I know whose hands I'm in, and
I know it's up to Him to give or to withhold mercy because
of His authority. And then the next thing that
I would think because of His authority, I love this in Matthew
chapter 28, and Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, authority is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things. Whatsoever
I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to
the end of the world." Hence our encouragement to preach the
gospel to every creature because all authority is His. Thank God for the authority of
Jesus Christ. Now we have this message on DVD
and CD. If you call the church, write
or email us and you'll call. This is Todd Knopper praying
that God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's
our prayer.