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 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 Nyberg. I've entitled this message, Things
That Cannot Be Shaken. We read in Hebrews chapter 12,
beginning in verse 25, see that you refuse not him that speaketh.
For if they escape not who refused him that spake on earth, and
that's talking about the giving of the law, much more shall not
we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven.
whose voice then shook the earth, but now he hath promised, saying,
Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
And this word yet once more signifieth the removing of those things
that can be shaken as of things that are made, things that are
created, things that have a beginning, things of time. The removing
of those things that are shaken as of things that are made, that
those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Anything that can be shaken will
be shaken. Everything that is made can and
will be shaken. There is nothing stable under
the sun. Vanity of vanities, saith the
preacher, all is vanity, were the words of Solomon. Only those
things that cannot be shaken will remain. And the only things
that cannot be shaken are the things that are eternal, things
that never had a beginning and that will never have an end.
The Apostle Paul made this statement in 2 Corinthians 4, verses 17
and 18. He said, we look not at things
which are seen, but at things which are not seen. For the things
that are seen are temporal. They're only temporary and they're
all going to pass away, but the things which are not seen are
eternal. Now, I realize that this is a
subject that we can't really grasp because we're creatures
of time and we live in time and sequence of events. But God is
eternal. He never had a beginning, and
he'll never have an ending. All we see is temporary, and
all we see is vanity. Vanity of vanity, saith the preacher,
all is vanity. Now, on September 9th, 1959,
I entered this world, a world of time, Sequence of events. This would
take place, then this would take place, then this would take place.
Minutes, days, months, weeks, years, decades, centuries. Time. And in my time here on
this planet, I've had what I would call good times and I've had
bad times. I've had happy times, and I've
had sad times. But you know how I would summarize
my life? Same way Jacob did. When Pharaoh asked him of his
life and his times, he said, few and evil have been the days
of my pilgrimage here on earth. a life of vanity, a life, really,
that doesn't have a lot of impact. People like to think, well, we'll
leave a legacy. Well, in a couple of generations,
no one will remember you. No one will know what you did.
You won't be remembered. I won't be remembered. In the
grand scheme of things, we have about as much influence as putting
your thumb in water and pulling it out, that little indention
that took place, and it's gone, never to be again. And my time
to die is coming. As a matter of fact, the day
has already been set. We'll all stand before the judgment
seat of God. It's appointed to me and wants
to die. And after this, the judgment. Now, when I stand before God,
what will be of value to me? When I'm made to stand before
the thrice holy God and I have some idea of the vanity
of myself, man at his best state is altogether vanity, what will
be of value to me? Will it be what kind of spouse
or parent I've been? Will it be because, will my career
or my material possessions be of any value to me? Will my works? I'm a preacher. I preach the
gospel of God's grace. I have no doubt that God has
taught me the gospel and enabled me to preach His gospel. Will I want that to appear on
judgment day? No. No, not at all. Those things
will be of no value to me on Judgment Day at all. Now, some
hope their good works will outweigh their bad, but they will find
out when it's too late that they didn't have any good works. Some
think their religious experience will hold up on Judgment Day.
We read of those who say on that day, that Judgment Day, Lord,
Lord, Have we not preached in your name? In your name have
we not cast out demons? And in your name have we not
done many wonderful works? Notice the quantity of their
works, many, and notice the quality of their works, wonderful. And
you know what the Lord will say to them? Depart from me, ye that
work iniquity. I never knew you. Some believe
that God will be merciful, and they're going to find out He
will not be merciful to them. Now, with regard to everything
that you and I have ever done, it can be shaken. It can be shaken. I don't care what work it is,
it can be shaken. It can be proved to be rotten.
It can be shaken up and torn apart. The only things that will
remain are those things that cannot be shaken, and the only
things that cannot be shaken are those things that are eternal. Now listen to me. All that will
be valuable to me on that great day is what Christ has done for
me. That's it. And what Christ has
done is eternal. That's the only thing that will
stand up. On that day, all I will value
is that which God has given to me. Not the things that I've
done, not the things that I've not done. All that I will value
is that which God has given me, that which He gave me before
the foundation of the world. II Timothy 1.9 says He saved
us. And He called us, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. You see, all I have for the next
life, if I have it, it was given me in Christ Jesus before the
world began. All that I will value on Judgment
Day is that which Christ has done for me, that which is eternal. Nothing that I did here in time,
only that which is eternal. Now, God is called the eternal
God. He never began to be, and He
will never end. He is said to inhabit eternity. There is no time, no space, none
of those limitations that we have. There's no sequence of
events with Him, no past, no present, no future. All is in
the eternal now. He doesn't have to wait to find
out what's going to happen, because everything that happens in time,
He already sees it, because He ordained it all, and He's in
control of it all, and He dwells outside of time. You and I are
limited by space and time. We can't be two places at once,
and we can't be in tomorrow. We just have these limitations
that God does not have, because He is God. known unto God are all His works
from the beginning. As a matter of fact, Hebrews
4, verse 3 says the works were finished, all of God's works,
works of creation, works of providence, that's everything that happens
in time, and works of salvation. All the works were finished from
the foundation of the world. Everything that happens in time
has already been done in eternity, and it's already accomplished.
Now, I know we can't much intellectually grasp that, but we believe it
because it's what the Word of God teaches. Christ is called
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. We read in Ephesians
1.4, according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him. Everything God does, He has already
done in eternity, and the only things that will stand up are
the things that are eternal. Anything else, if my thumbprint
on it is no good, anything else can be shaken. Now, I'm going
to have to have, on that great day, I'm going to have to have
eternal life. Eternal life. Now that doesn't
mean life that began at this point and goes on forever. I'm
going to have to have a life that is more than endless existence. I'm going to have to have a life
that God is pleased with. a life that is as good as God,
the life of Christ, which is eternal, and all that's associated
with eternal life. That's what's gonna be valuable
to me on that great day, eternal life. The life of Christ is my
personal life before God. 1 John 5, 11 says, this then
is the record that God hath given us. eternal life. When was this
gift given? Well, according to 2 Timothy
1.9, it was given before the foundation of the world. God
hath given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that
hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. And all that will be valuable
on judgment day will be to have Christ's life Eternal life as
my personal life before God so that all God sees when He sees
me is Jesus Christ. And that's all He's ever seen
and all He ever will see. That is eternal life. And that's what is known in the
Bible as justification. You see, if Christ died for you,
that means you've been justified. Justified. That means you have
no guilt. That means you have no sin. That
means God's pleased with you. That means when God looks at
you, He sees nothing but that which is holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in His sight. And that is because of an eternal
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's all that will be of value
on Judgment Day. That which is eternal, not something
you've done. something that He has eternally
done. You know, the gospel is called
in Revelation 14, 6, the eternal gospel. Being the gospel of God,
how could it be anything else but the eternal gospel, that
which has no beginning and that which has no end? We read in
Hebrews 13, verse 20, of the blood of the eternal or the everlasting
covenant. Now think of the language, the
blood of the everlasting, the eternal covenants, the same word
in the original. This is speaking of the covenant
that God made with Christ before the foundation of the world.
Now the scripture teaches this, the blood of the everlasting
covenant. In Hebrews chapter 7, verse 22,
the Lord Jesus Christ is called the surety, the guarantor of
a better covenant. Better than what? It's better
than the covenant of works. It's better because it saves.
You see, a covenant of works, a covenant where salvation is
conditioned upon me or you doing something. Now, the preaching
I hear in this day is God loves everybody. Christ died for everybody.
God wants to save everybody. He offers everybody salvation.
But your salvation is dependent upon whether or not you accept
or reject Jesus Christ. Now, that's nothing more than
a salvation that is conditioned upon something you do. And if
that is the case, what's not the case for one thing, as far
as that goes, the very notion of, I hate him, but won't you
accept Jesus Christ? That's not the issue. Will he
accept you? Not will you accept him, but will he accept you?
He's the Lord. Don't forget who he is. He's the Lord. But any
salvation that's conditioned upon mere you doing anything
is doomed for failure because we're in it. It won't work. But the Lord Jesus Christ is
the surety, the guarantor of a better covenant. Now, what
does that mean when it says He's the surety of a better covenant?
Well, it's illustrated when Judah said He would be the surety for
Benjamin. Judah said to Jacob regarding
his favorite son, Benjamin, I will be surety for him. I'll guarantee
his safety and his salvation. Of my hand shalt thou require
him. If I bring him not unto thee
and set him before thee, let me bear the blame forever. Now in the covenant of grace,
Christ said that regarding every one of his people, all who believe,
all the elect, everybody who looks to him only. Before time
began, before they had any physical existence, he said, I will be
surety for them. I will guarantee their salvation. And it was His blood that guaranteed
it. That's why it's called the blood
of the everlasting covenant. It was His blood that put away
my sins, and that's why I'm brought in safety. Oh, what a glorious
covenant this is. A better covenant. David put
it this way in 2 Samuel 23, verse 5. He said, Although my house
be not so with God, And he meant a couple of things by that. His
house was a mess. The house of King David was a
mess. And I think he's talking about
this personal house, too. He's talking about his own sinful
self. Although my house be not so with
God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things, and sure, And this is all my salvation and
all my desire. Now, God looking to Christ for
everything that he requires of me. Christ agreeing to save me
in the covenant of grace as my surety, and everything God requiring
of me, He looks to His Son for, and it's an order in all things,
and sure, truly, this is all my salvation. All my salvation's
in this covenant, and it's all my desire. I do not want anything
else. That's how every believer feels
about the covenant of grace, a complete salvation. Here's
how complete it is. Here's how eternal it is. Whom
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he
also called. Whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. That's how complete this salvation
is in Christ. I'm already glorified. I'm not
as sure for heaven as if I'm already there. I'm already there
in the person of my Redeemer. Now that's a complete salvation. We read in Hebrews chapter 5
verse 9, of an eternal salvation, a salvation that had no beginning
and no ending. And when the Lord said, it is
finished from Calvary's tree in time, it's merely bringing
to pass that which was in eternity the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, and because of that every believer is completely
saved. Do you see what I want on Judgment
Day? Nothing to do with my works, not my preaching, not my prayers,
not my giving, not my efforts to fight sin, not my victory
over sin. No, all I want is that which
is eternal, that which Christ did, eternally, that which was
given me in Christ Jesus before the world began. I don't want
to have anything to do with Judgment Day with anything that has my
fingerprints on it. Know only what He did. Let me read a passage from Hebrews
9, beginning in verse 11. It says, being come an high priest
of good things to come. By a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood,
he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption." for us. Now this redemption was accomplished
before time began, but he had to come in time to obtain what
was purpose before time began, and yet it was already done before
time began because the language is literally, having been slain
from the foundation of the earth. Now in light of this eternal
redemption, The writer to the Hebrews says, for if the blood
of bulls and of goats and the ashes of the heifer sprinkling
the unclean sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, how much
more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself without spot to God, that's all I want to
come up on Judgment Day, his offering himself to God for my
sins. Then he says, purge your conscience
from dead works. to serve the living God. Purge
your conscience from thinking your works have anything to do
with your salvation. They're all nothing but dead
works. And look to Him who presented Himself without spot to God with
this eternal redemption. Now, I wonder if anybody's thinking,
this is high doctrine. Well, I agree it's high in the
sense that it highly glorifies God. And it is above our intellectual
comprehension. I realize that. We're creatures
of time. But it's still what the Bible
teaches. And if somebody says, well, you shouldn't teach this
because it's so high, I say, yeah, you should. It's part of
the ABCs of the gospel. In Hebrews 6, verse 2, it's included
in what's called the foundational truths. He speaks of eternal
judgment, judgment that had no beginning and judgment that has
no ending. I repeat, the only things that
cannot be shaken are the things that are eternal, that have no
beginning and no ending. Now, we read even in Hebrews
9, verse 15 of receiving an eternal inheritance. Now this is glorious
to think about. I mean, it's to be believed. Not so much understood, but believed.
But I've got an internal inheritance. You know what that means? The
inheritance I have, I've always had it. And when I get to heaven,
I'll find out when I get there, I've always been there in the
person of Christ. I've always been united to Christ. I've always
been there. What an internal inheritance. And as far as an inheritance
goes, remember, if you have an inheritance, there's nothing
you did to get it. It was given to you because of the will of
somebody else. And this eternal inheritance
I have was given to me because of the will of somebody else
before the foundation of the world. Paul said to the Thessalonians
in 2 Thessalonians 2, 16, but we're bound. Or verse 14, rather. were bound to thank God always
for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. And in 2 Thessalonians 2 verse
16, Paul spoke of us having an everlasting consolation. or comfort. Now, if what comforts you is
something you've done here in time, it won't stand on judgment
day. It won't work for you. The only
thing that comforts this sinner and the only thing that comforts
every believer is that which is eternal, that which Christ
did, not what I've done, but what Christ has done eternally. The only thing that comforts
me is to know that all that I have was given me in Christ Jesus
before the foundation of the world. That lets me know that
salvation is completely outside of my doings, outside of my personal
subjective experience. It's what Christ did for me. That is all I want brought up
on Judgment Day. Anything else can be shaken.
If my fingerprint's on it, oh, it can be shaken and be found
to be rotten. The only hope anybody has is
what Christ has eternally done for them. And Paul even speaks
of an eternal weight of glory that every believer possesses,
even the glory that Christ had before the foundation of the
world that he gives to every one of his people. Now in light
of all that, let me read from Hebrews 12 once again. And this
word yet once more signifieth the removing of those things
that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things
which cannot be shaken may remain. That which Christ has done eternally
is the only thing that cannot be shaken. Wherefore, we receiving
a kingdom which cannot be moved, Christ and His kingdom. Let us
have grace. let us hold to grace, whereby
we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for
our God is a consuming fire." Now, before we enter eternity,
Here is all we're holding on to, grace. God's free, unmerited
favor to us for Christ's sake, that grace which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. We're to hold to grace
that we might serve God acceptably in a way that's well pleasing
to him. Now how can you do that? Let's
hold to grace that we may serve God Acceptably with reverence. That same word is translated
shamefacedness. You know, if you think of who
the Lord is, you can't help but being humble before Him. I mean,
you see that you're nothing but sin. You see salvation is all
by His grace. And you can't be anything but
shamefacedness. That's what reverence is. You
can't be proud and cocky and haughty before God. I see someone
proud like that, I know they've never seen the Lord. because
those who have seen Him are shame-faced. They're ashamed of themselves.
They're like the seraphims who covered their feet, ashamed of
their walk, covered their eyes, couldn't look upon the Lord with
reverence and godly fear, that fear of God that makes us fear
to look anywhere but Christ. May God give you and I the grace
to rely only on that which cannot be shaken. To request a copy of the sermon
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