Is not that 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. I've entitled this morning's
message, When Do I Understand? Our text is found in Luke chapter
18, beginning in verse 31. Then He took unto Him the twelve,
and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things
that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall
be accomplished. everything written shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto
the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and
spit it on, and they shall scourge him, and put him to death, and
the third day he shall rise again. And they understood None of these
things, speaking of the disciples, they had no idea concerning what
he was talking about. And this saying was hid from
them. It was covered up so they couldn't
see. Neither knew they the things
which were spoken. Now this is one of three times,
at least three times, that the Lord told the disciples of his
death before it took place. And in Matthew's account of this
same story, he actually told them that he would be crucified
in Jerusalem. He told them exactly how he would
die. And on at least three different
occasions, he told his disciples this. I'm going to be mistreated,
beat, crucified, put to death, and the third day I will rise
from the dead." Now, evidently, the disciples either didn't hear
it when he said this, or they didn't believe it. Because if
they had, they would have been waiting at his tombstone for
him to walk out on that third day. But Luke tells us, with
regard to what the Lord had said, that they understood none of
these things. And this saying was hid from
them, neither knew they the things that were spoken." Now, our Lord
was giving the very basics of the gospel, the foundational
truths of the gospel in these previous verses. He was going
to Jerusalem to die. Mark's account tells us that
the disciples were amazed and afraid. They feared what his
reception in Jerusalem would be. They knew that he would probably
be put to death because so many people hated him and they were
afraid to go with him. They were sore amazed and afraid
as they went to Jerusalem. And the Lord says in verse 31,
all things, I love this, all things that are written by the
prophets Concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. I love the prominence and the
preeminence of the scriptures in the gospel. Everything that
was written shall be accomplished. Now, the Bible is the very Word
of God. without error, God-breathed,
God-inspired. Somebody says, how can you believe
that? Well, I believe God's all-powerful. God has said in His Word that
all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. And God, being all-powerful,
is able to preserve His Word. Somebody says, well, how do you
know it's just not men's opinions? Because it's the Word of God.
And if you believe in an all-powerful God, you believe that He can
leave a record where He tells us who He is and how He saves
sinners and what He's going to do, I'm so thankful for the Scriptures. The gospel You don't have any
gospel without the Bible to tell us exactly what God says in His
Word. And our Lord tells us that all
things which were written concerning the Son of Man, they shall be
accomplished. This is the ABCs of gospel. The
Bible is the Word of God. We don't go to the Bible to prove
what we believe. We go to the Bible to find out
what to believe. This is God's revelation of Himself. Now, He goes on to say, concerning
himself, for he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and he shall
be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on." He's going to
be delivered to the Gentiles to be crucified. Now, who is
the one who delivered him? Listen to this scripture, Acts
chapter 2 verse 23, Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. you have taken and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain." Who delivered him? God
did. You know, even when our Lord
was arrested, the people that came to arrest him were at first
made to fall backwards. The Lord was letting them know
at that time, you're not in control of this, I am. When Pilate said
to him, Speakest thou not to me? Don't you know that I have
power to crucify you and I have power to release you? And the
Lord said, Thou couldst have no power at all over me, except
it be given thee from above. You see, this was not men's doing,
although men were responsible. This all happened according to
God's purpose. You see, Christ came to die. That was the will of God. That
was the purpose of God, for His Son to suffer and bleed and die
in the great work of substitution. I think of that scripture, He
that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.
How shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? It was His Father that delivered
Him. And look what it says. As a result
of his father delivering him, he shall be delivered unto the
Gentiles, and he shall be mocked, spitefully entreated, and spitted
on. They shall scourge him and put
him to death. Now, why did the father deliver
him up to the Gentiles? Romans 4 verse 25 says he was
delivered for our offenses. He was delivered because of sin. Now, he didn't have any sin of
his own, but the sins of the elect, the sins of those who
believe, the sins of his people became his sins. He was guilty of them. No, he
never committed any sin in his own self. He knew no sin. But
God the Father took the sins of His people and put them in
Christ. And Christ bore our sins in His
own body on the tree. He was delivered for our offenses. And look at how they treated
Him. He was spit on. He was mocked. He was scourged. He was crucified. He was hated. He was hated. This is what men really think
of Him. God, at this time, left men to
themselves to do what they wanted to do, and they nailed Jesus
Christ, His Son, the God-man, to a cross. This shows the actual
hatred of men toward Christ. Now, somebody says, I don't hate
Christ. you do. You may not hate the
Christ that you feel comfortable with, but as soon as you hear
the gospel preached, as soon as you hear the truth, that's
when we find out when a man hates Christ, how he responds to the
truth. Men demonstrated what they thought of Christ, but I
also see in this God's amazing love for sinners that he would
give his son to die and to be treated like this for sinners.
I see what God thinks about sin in all this. Sin, even when it's
found in his son, God must punish. He must forsake his son because
of sin. Now, it says, he shall be delivered
in the Gentiles. They shall be mocked and spitefully
treated and spit it on. They shall scourge him and put
him to death. And the third day he shall rise again. You see Romans chapter 4 verse
25 says he was delivered for our offenses, but he was raised
again for our justification. Now listen real carefully. If
you're somebody who believes the gospel, that means God has
justified you. That means you have no guilt. That means you've always done
that which is right, and you've never done that which is wrong.
Now that's why Christ was raised from the dead. All sin was punished,
paid for. God was satisfied with what Christ
did. He could ask for nothing more.
And he could accept nothing less in order to save a sinner. And
you know, God is satisfied. That's why I raised him from
the dead. You know, I think of myself. I've never been satisfied
with anything I've ever done, but I'm satisfied with what he's
done. And God is too. We're satisfied in the same thing,
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the stuff of faith. Even
the thief understood this. Remember when he said, Lord?
He knew he was the Lord. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. You're not going to stay on this
cross. You're going to die, but you're going to be raised from
the dead, and you're going to come back as a mighty, conquering king.
I know who you are. Remember me. Remember me. Now, our Lord gave these men
the very basics of the gospel. And Luke tells us that they understood
none of these things. And this saying was hid from
them. Neither knew they the things
which were spoken." Mark's account tells us they were afraid to
ask him about it. After he said that, they were afraid to ask
him about it. I could almost see Peter saying, John, John,
did you know what he, what was he talking about? John said,
I had no idea. They did not understand what was being said. Now here's
my question. When does a man understand? When does a man understand? Now, I know a man won't understand
unless God makes himself known, but when is it that a man actually
understands what has just been said? Like what I've just said,
there are some people listening who understand. God's revealed
the gospel to them. And there are some people who
have no idea what I'm talking about. And you can't understand
unless God is pleased to make Himself known. You see, you and
I are shut up to revelation. We can't figure this out. We
can't, through diligent study, figure this out. We're totally
dependent upon God to uncover these things so that we can understand.
But I want to read a verse of Scripture in John 12, verse 16. These things understood not His
disciples at first, but when Jesus was glorified, when Jesus
was Then remembered they that these things were written of
him, and that they had done these things unto him. Now, when was
it they understood? When Jesus was glorified. Now, he hadn't been glorified
yet. Now, he had his essential glory. That never left him. his
essential glory of who he is, the Son of God, but there was
an achieved glory that he accomplished. And when they understood that
achieved glory which he accomplished, then they understood. Now a man
understands when he has some understanding of the achieved
glory of Jesus Christ. The glory of Christ is the end
of all things. It's the reason for all things. If I'm saved, I'm saved to the
praise of the glory of His grace. If my sins are forgiven, it's
to glorify Him. If God has mercy on me, it's
to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, the glory of Christ
is God's end in everything. I think it's interesting. Physicists
are trying to figure out a simple formula that they think will
explain the origin of the universe and explain everything, kind
of like E equals MC squared or some other formula, and they
think there's some formula that will explain everything. Well,
I've got that formula. the glory of Christ. Everything
God does is for the glory of His Son. That's God's reason
for everything. Now, what is glory? Is it simply
a religious term? Well, the word is also translated
dignity, honor, praise. The glory of Christ is
the dignity of Christ. It's the honor of Christ. It's
the worship of Christ. It's the praise of Christ. Christ is called the brightness
of God's glory and the express image of his person. When Peter
recounts the transfiguration, When the glory of Christ's divinity
bursts through his humanity, Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1,
he received from the Father honor and glory. When there came such
a voice to him from that excellent glory, this is my beloved Son
in whom I am well pleased. John said we beheld his glory. The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. I think of Moses'
request after he was interceding for the children of Israel, after
they had made that golden calf and bowed down to it and worshipped
and said, these be thy gods, O Israel. And they forgot Jehovah,
who had just delivered them. And Moses is praying for them
at this time, praying that God would have mercy on them. And
during the midst of this prayer, he said in Exodus 33, verse 18,
I beseech thee, show me your glory. What a request! Now Moses had seen the ten plagues. He'd seen the parting of the
Red Sea. He'd seen manna fall from heaven. He'd seen the smiting
of the rock and water coming from the rock. He'd seen the
giving of the law. He'd seen all these things. And
he said, yet I've not seen your glory. I beseech you, show me
your glory. And God answered that request.
He said, I'll make all my goodness pass before thee. God's goodness
is His capacity to save such a wicked bunch of people. He
said, I'll proclaim the name of the Lord before thee. The
name of the Lord is who He is. It's all of His attributes. They're
all manifested in His salvation. And He said, I'll be gracious
to whom I will be gracious, and I'll show mercy to whom I will
show mercy. And God says, that is my glory. Now, like I said, The glory spoken
of in our text is not his essential glory, but it's his achieved
glory. You see, there's some glory that
he achieved that he would not have achieved had he not completed
this work the Father gave him to do. We read in the very first
chapter of the New Testament, thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. Now that's the
work he came to do. He came to save the people the
father gave him from their sins. And he said in his great high
priestly prayer, in John chapter 17, verse four, I have glorified
thee on the earth, I have finished the work that thou gavest me
to do." There's another passage in John chapter 7 verse 39 where
it says he was not yet glorified. You see, he wasn't glorified
until he actually finished the work. And when he bowed his mighty
head and said, it is finished, he achieved glory because He
completed the work the Father gave Him to do. Now you don't
understand anything about the glory of Christ until you see
His finished, completed work. Now listen to me. When He said
it is finished, the salvation of everybody that He died for
was accomplished. They're saved. They're saved. By the witch will, we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. By one offering, he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Now you understand something
about the glory of Christ when you see that he actually finished
the work, that salvation doesn't have anything to do with you
and your works. It has wholly to do with him. He finished the
work. Bless His holy name and you understand
His death. You understand why He was mistreated. You understand the scriptures
when you understand His glory in this finished, completed work. When He said it is finished,
the Father was glorified and all of the elect were completely
saved with a salvation that doesn't have anything to do with me adding
anything to it. It's what He did for me. Now that is the glory of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Hence, the gospel is called in
II Corinthians 4, the glorious gospel of Christ or the gospel
of the glory of Christ. We read in 2 Corinthians 4, verse
6, For God, who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness,
has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The scriptures,
the wicked treatment of and crucifixion of Christ and His resurrection
cannot be understood unless we see His glory, His honor, His
worship. His praise in this completed
work that He achieved. Truly, we are saved to the praise
of the glory of His grace. When I am in heaven, and I know
I'll be there, and it's not because I'm a preacher It's not because
of any work I performed. It's because Christ is all in
my salvation, and I am relying completely on Him. I'm not looking
anywhere else, and I know that what He did is enough. I need
nothing else. I need no other argument. I need
no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died. and that he died for me. That's
where assurance comes from. Not because of my works, but
because of his works. Really believing who he is and
what he did is all that's needed to make me perfect before God.
Now, when I'm in heaven, I will know that I am the biggest example
of just how much Christ did it all. I'll be the biggest example
of just how much salvation is by grace. I'll be the biggest
example of him getting all the glory, because I am sure no glory
will go to me. I will be a trophy of his grace. And I believe I would get some
arguments from some people. There are some people listening
who would say, no, that's me. Well, that's the way every believer
feels. I'm the most sinful man to ever
live, and I am the biggest example of grace could be. Now, His glory is great in my
salvation. He gets all the glory. Now actually, faith and repentance
and love are vitally connected with His glory. Listen to this
scripture regarding Abraham. It says, Abraham staggered not,
at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that what God had promised,
he was able also to perform. Now, Abraham's faith gave glory
to God. What was Abraham's faith? He
believed that what God had promised He was able also to perform. Now, do you believe that who
Jesus Christ is and what He did is all that's needed to make
you perfect before God? Your works don't enter in. Your
faith doesn't enter in. Your repentance doesn't enter
in. You really believe You say, I thought your faith doesn't
enter in. It doesn't. It's not what saves you. You
believe that. You really believe that Jesus Christ, who He is
and what He did, is all that's needed to make you perfect before
God. You know what that does? That
glorifies God. That glorifies Jesus Christ. Repentance. Listen to this scripture.
Revelation chapter 16 verse 9 says, They repented not to give Him
glory, even after they were scorched with mighty heat. This scorching
came down and scorched them, and they gnawed their tongues
in pain, but they refused to repent. You see, a natural man
will not give Him all the glory. They want to save some glory
for man, some for my work, some for my free will. All you've
got to do is believe in free will. That God loves everybody,
Christ died for everybody, God wants to save everybody, but
the ones who are saved are the ones who of their free will accepted
him, and the ones who are lost are the ones who decided not
to accept him. That's giving the flesh the glory.
That's giving the flesh the glory. And a man can be scorched with
heat from God and still he won't repent to give God the glory
unless God is pleased to do something for him. And then we read in
Psalm 29 verse 11, how I love this scripture, in his temple,
in his temple, doth everyone speak of his glory. His temple
is his church, his body, his bride, his people, made up of
everybody he died for. The church, the elect of God,
the church which he purchased with his own blood. Husbands,
love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for
it. The church in his body, in his
temple. Does everyone speak of His glory? That's all they speak of. They
love Him getting all the glory. If you love Christ, you will
love for Him to get all the glory, and you will love for none to
go to you. And you know, you understand
His glory when you learn what it is to glory in Him. Of Him
are you in Christ Jesus. who of God is made unto us, wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Christ is my
wisdom. Christ is my righteousness. Christ
is my sanctification. Christ is my redemption. According
as it's written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Now, there's going to be a final
manifestation of His glory when the Son of Man shall come in
His glory with all the holy angels, then shall he sit upon the throne
of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations,
and he shall separate them one from the other, as a shepherd
divides his sheep from the goats." And my friends, you know that
heaven will be beholding his glory. He said in John chapter
17, verse 24, Father, I will that they whom you have given
me Be with me where I am that they may behold my glory. Now, if the glory of Christ is
not important to you now, you wouldn't even enjoy being in
heaven because that's all heaven is about, the glory, the excellency
and the glory of Jesus Christ. When by his grace I shall look
on his face, that will be glory. be glory for me. And because He is glorified,
every believer is glorified as well. We read in I John 4 verse
17, As He is, so are we in the world. Is He glorified? Yes, so are we, every believer,
because as He is, so are we in the world. I realize we can only
know this by faith, not by sight, but in salvation by faith and
not by sight. Now we have this message on DVD,
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