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 Niner. I'm going to be reading from
Luke chapter 17, and if you can follow along in a Bible it would
be helpful. But I'd also like to make an announcement. Beginning
Friday, November 20th through Sunday, November 22nd, we will
be having a Sovereign Grace Bible Conference at the Todd Rowe Grace
Church. We'll have eight men bringing
messages concerning the sovereign grace of God in Christ Jesus. The services begin Friday night
at 7, Saturday morning at 10, Saturday evening at 6, and Sunday
morning at 10. There will be two speakers each
service, and we invite you to come out and hear the gospel
of God's grace. I hope to see you there. Now,
I'm going to read a passage from Luke chapter 17, beginning in
verse 11, and I've entitled this message, Religious or Saved? Religious or Saved? Beginning in verse 11, And it
came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, and he was on his way to go there
to be crucified, he knew that, that he passed through the midst
of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain
village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood
afar off. And they lifted up their voices
and said, Jesus, Master, Have mercy on us. And when he saw
them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass that as they
went, they were cleansed. Now, it was only as they went
in obedience to Christ's command that they were cleansed. But
as they went, they were cleansed. They didn't just look at themselves
and all of a sudden they were cleansed and then go. As they went, they
were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw
that he was healed, turned back and with a loud voice glorified
God and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks. and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus
answering said, were there not ten cleansed? But where are the
nine? They are not found that return
to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him,
Arise, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. Now ten
men all of which were lepers. And all of these men had a kind
of respect for the law. This is seen in how they stood
afar off as the law commanded them to. And all of these lepers
believed that Christ could heal them, all 10 of them. And all
10 asked for mercy. That's a good thing to ask for,
mercy. and all did what Christ told them to do. They all went
toward the priest, and all of them had a life-changing experience. They were all healed, yet only
one of these men returned to give God glory. Now, a religious
man can have a respect for the law, and a religious man can
believe that Christ can heal him. A religious man may even
cry for mercy. And a religious man may think
they do what Christ tells them to do. And a religious man may
indeed have a life-changing experience. He may go from being a drunkard
to sober. He may change. He may have a life-altering experience. All ten of these men had this,
but only one returned to give glory to God. Now, as I said,
I've entitled this message, Religious or Saved? Am I a religious man
or woman, or am I somebody that God has saved? Now of these 10 lepers, we only
know that one of them was saved because Christ said to the one
who returned, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. And
that word made whole is usually the word translated, thy faith
hath saved thee. That's how it's usually translated.
It's the same save that's in for by grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. Same word,
thy faith hath saved thee. Now, this man had saving faith. The others were religious, no
doubt, and they believed certain things about Christ, but this
man was saved. Now, what was the difference
between these men? Now, we read beginning in verse
11, and it came to pass as he went to Jerusalem that he passed
through the midst of Samaria unto Galilee. Now, at this time,
he was on his way to the cross, and he knew it, and he took a
detour. This was not the quickest way
to Jerusalem. He kind of went to the side to
go through the country of Samaria. And he did this because one of
his people were there. This reminds me of John chapter
four, where it says he must needs go through Samaria. Why? Because
one of his elect is there. One of his sheep is there, and
he's always going to go after his sheep. The Savior is on the
trail of his sheep, and one of his sheep were in this place.
Now, as he went in there, there's 10 men, we read, verse 12. And
as he entered into a certain village, there met him 10 men,
which were lepers, which stood far off. Now in the scripture,
leprosy represents sin. There's so much time devoted
to it in the Old Testament. If you have leprosy today, antibiotics
will take care of it. But back then, it was a horrible
disease where your extremities would rot off, and you couldn't
feel anything, and these men were miserable. And I have no
doubt that all of these men had heard how that the Lord Jesus
Christ had cured lepers. And I bet they thought if He
ever comes our way, we'll be crying to Him. Well, this man,
or these ten men, we read in verse 13 when they stood afar
off, And they lifted up their voices
and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. Now, this was a
title of respect, Master. It's not the word that's generally
translated teacher, but it means commander. They believed he was
in command. They said, Jesus, master, the
same master Peter used when he said, master, we've toiled all
night and taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word, we'll
let down the net. It was a title of respect. Jesus,
master, have mercy on us. And then we read that the Lord
said in verse 14, and when he saw them, he said unto them,
go show yourselves unto the priests. Now, under Old Testament law,
if a leper thought he was cured, he was to go show himself to
the priest. And if he met the criteria, the
priest would pronounce him to be clean, and he could go back
to living his normal life. The Lord says to these lepers,
go show yourselves to the priest. Now this is before they were
cleansed. He said, go show yourself to the priest. Now you only showed
yourself to the priest if you were cleansed. And they still
had the leprosy. Yet the Lord says, go show yourself
to the priest. Now we learn something about
saving faith in that we are called upon to trust Christ. and believe that what he did
is enough to save us with no evidence of anything in us. I'm
not to think I'm saved because I see I've been cleansed or I'm
clean or because I think I've been helped. No, I'm told to
trust Christ alone and to believe that who he is and what he has
done is enough for me to be completely saved. just by simply believing
the gospel. What must we do to work the works
of God? This is the work of God, that
you believe on Him whom He hath sent. Now, go show yourselves
to the priest. Now, these lepers could have
said, well, I need to be cleansed first, but no, with absolutely
no evidence that they had been healed, they went toward the
priest. And as they went, the fingers
came back, the toes came back, the nose came back, the ulcers
are gone. They were healed. You trust Christ. You are healed, not by looking
at yourself and saying, well, I must be saved. But look how
holy I am. I've quit this sin. I've stopped
doing this. I've started doing that. No. You're called upon
to trust Christ as you are. And in trusting Him, you will
be clean. Just as I am in all my sinfulness,
I'm called upon to trust Him to save me. You know, a lot of
folks think they need evidences. I can't believe I'm really saved
unless I have a deeper experience or a deeper repentance or unless
I stop committing this sin and start doing this certain good
thing. Surely I couldn't be saved until I do that. No, you're to
trust Christ right now to save you. Like the song says, just
as I am and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot to thee
whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come. Just as I am, though tossed about
with many a conflict, many a doubt, fighting's within and fear's
without, O Lamb of God, I come. Just as I am poor, wretched,
and blind, sight, riches, healing of the mind, yea, all I need
in thee I find, O Lamb of God, I come. As they went, they were
cleansed. You believe on Christ just as
you are, not waiting to get better. You look to Him and you are completely
cleansed. Your sin's blotted out, it's
canceled, it is no more. I love that scripture, whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely. Are you whosoever? Do you want to be saved by the
grace of God? Do you want Christ to save you?
Is this your desire? Whosoever will, let him take.
All objections have been removed. You can come freely. Whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely with no cause
in you at all. What a blessed gospel. As they
went, they were cleansed. Now, this is amazing. Verse 15, and one of them. You think all 10 would have done
this. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned
back, and with a loud voice glorified God and fell down on his face
at his feet, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. Now, one of them, when he saw
that he was healed, didn't the other see that they were Of course
they did. But this word, that he saw that
he was healed, is quite often translated how that. And I think
that would be the better translation because this man saw how that
he was healed. He saw that Christ did it all. I don't know if this was even
an issue to these other men, but he saw how that he was healed. Now, if you're healed, if you're
saved, if God ever does something for you, you're going to know
this, He did it all. You didn't do any of it. It's
not because of anything you did, it's because of what He did for
you. This leper saw how that he was
healed. Now I know this, anyone that
Christ saves, They see clearly that He is all in salvation. Now, I know this. All that I
have to recommend me to God is Christ Himself. I don't have
anything else to recommend me. I know that He did it all. If I'm saved, it's because He
saved me. He did it all. He stood as my
surety before time began and said, I'll represent Him. And
everything that God requires to me, He looks to Christ for. Christ is all in salvation. He
paid all my debt. All the righteousness that I
have is His. The only reason I'm preserved
is because He preserves me. And when I'm brought into glory
and I'm brought into heaven, I'm going to be saying, He did
it all. Now unto Him that loved us and
washed us from our sins in His own blood and made us kings and
priests of God. This man understood how that
he was healed. He saw, he clearly perceived
how that he was healed. Christ did it all. He wouldn't
give his works any of the credit. Now, notice the language. Verse
15, And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned
back and with a loud voice glorified God and fell down on his face
at his feet, giving him thanks." Whose feet? God's feet. That's the language. He knew
that Jesus Christ was God. Now this is the difference between
being religious and being saved. He knew that Jesus Christ was
God. Now, somebody says, well, I know
He's God. I believe He's God. Well, if
you do believe He's God, that means you believe that He's the
absolute sovereign of the universe, the creator of the universe.
That means you believe that you are in His hand. He's not in
your hand. You're in His hand, and your
eternal destiny is entirely up to Him. He can save you, or He
can pass you by, and you have absolutely no control, and He
has all control. Now, that's what someone believes
when they believe Jesus Christ is God. The thief believed He
was God. When he said to his buddy on the other cross, don't
you fear God, seeing you're in the same condemnation, he understood
that Jesus Christ was God. Look in, I'm gonna read a passage
from Luke chapter eight. Verse 39, this is when the Lord
was speaking to the Gadarene demonic. He said, return to thine
own house and show how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way and published
throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto
him. You see, he knew Jesus was God,
and he was doing exactly what the Lord commanded him to do.
He said, you go tell them what great things God has done. And
when he told them the great things Jesus had done, he was telling
them the great things God had done. Anybody who's really, truly
saved believes in their heart that Jesus Christ is God Almighty,
the absolute sovereign of the universe. I think of Philip preaching
to the Ethiopian eunuch, and he heard the message. And he
said, what hinders me from being baptized? I want to know. And
Philip answered, if you believe with all your heart, you may.
Now listen to his reply. He said, I believe, first I want
to consider what he didn't say. He didn't say, I believe I'm
saved. He didn't say, I believe I'm one of the elect. He didn't
say, I believe that Jesus Christ died for me. He didn't say, I
believe that I've been born again. He said, I believe, here's what
he said. He said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Now, the Son of God is God, God
the Son. God is God the Father, God the
Son, God the Holy Spirit, one God in three distinct persons,
all of which are fully God. He believed that Jesus Christ
is God. Now, if you believe Jesus Christ
is God, You don't believe He can fail. You believe that if
He died for your sins, you must be saved because of who died.
Who is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died. That's
the only answer. Christ is God. Now, if I died
for you, it wouldn't be any good. I'm just a sinful man. But this
is the Son of God. I think of when that Roman centurion
heard the Lord cry, it is finished, and then say, Father, into thy
hands, I commend my spirit. And he let death take him. And
he had seen all the events of the cross and all the things
he said. He said, surely this man was the son of God. He knew. And if the Lord ever does anything
for me or you, we're going to know exactly who he is. You see,
what you believe is determined by who you believe. If you believe
he's God, you believe that he is all that's needed to bring
you into glory. Nothing else is needed. You believe
he must be successful at whatever he does. This man believed Jesus
Christ was God. He fell at his feet and he worshiped
him. Now what does it say next? Verse
15, and one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned
back and with a loud voice glorified God. He glorified God. Now, here's the difference between
someone who is saved and someone who is merely religious. Someone
who is truly saved gives God all the glory. It's an issue
with them. You see, If I love Christ, I
want Him to have all the glory. Now, to somebody who doesn't
really love Christ, and they're religious and nothing more, this
isn't an issue with them. They're not going to be that
concerned about it one way or the other. But not with this
man. He returned to give God the glory. He knew who Jesus
Christ was, and He gave Him all the glory. When you're saved,
you don't give your free will the glory. You don't give your
works the glory. You don't give the preacher the
glory. You don't give the church the glory. You don't give a soul
winner the glory. You give Him the glory. You give Him, Jesus Christ, who
is God, all the glory. Jesus paid it all, all the debt
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. Now,
when someone is truly saved, they give Him all the glory. Not unto us, not unto us, but
unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Now, this is a critical issue. If you're really saved, you cannot
stomach anything that gives man any glory, if you're saved. Now,
if you're religious, it's okay. But if I'm saved, I cannot stomach
any doctrine that gives man any of the glory in salvation. Now,
let me tell you why I'm saved. 1 Corinthians 4, 7, Paul said,
who made you to differ from another? And what do you have that you
didn't receive? Now, if I'm saved, I realize
he made me to differ. He made me to differ in eternal
election when he chose me. He made me to differ on the cross
when He put away my sin. He made me to differ in regeneration
when he gave me a new heart, and he gave me faith, and he
gave me repentance. I can't give myself any credit
at all in this thing. He did it all. And anyone who's
saved is careful to give him all the glory. And if that's
not an issue, a critical issue with a man, he's not really saved. He's just religious. He's like
one of these lepers who was healed, but he didn't return to give
God the glory. And look what it says about him
in verse 16. He fell down on his face at his
feet, giving him thanks, giving him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. Now, religious people fret over
what they don't have, but when the Lord saves somebody, they
thank Him for what they do have. I'm not just talking about material
things, although we're thankful for any material things He gives
us. I'm not even talking about health. I may have health, but
I may have sickness as well, and I'm to thank Him for that.
I'm to thank Him for that. In everything give thanks, for
this is the will of God and Christ Jesus concerning you. Whatever
you're going through, if you're a believer, you're to give Him
thanks for it. He's in control, and whatever He sends my way
is for my good and His glory. But what do I have that I, truly
give thanks for. I think of that passage of scripture,
Hebrews 13, where the writer said, let your conversation be
without covetousness and be content with such things as you have.
What do I have? I have Christ. I have His righteousness. I have the forgiveness of sins. I've got the promise of free
grace. I've got Him preserving me. I've
got my great high priest in heaven representing me even now, a man
in glory representing me. I have the promise of eternal
security for his sake. Oh, what promises! What do I
have? I give thanks. That's something
that really only a believer does. He gives thanks. Now, I know
an unbeliever can feel grateful for things, and well, we should.
I mean, whether we're saved or not saved, everything we have
comes from God, and we ought to give thanks for it. But a believer
is truly thankful for what he does have. He has Christ. He
has His grace. He has the forgiveness of sins.
This man fell at His feet, giving Him thanks. this is the difference between
a religious person and a person who is saved. Verse 19, And Jesus answered and said,
Were there not cleansed, but where are the nine? They are
not found that return to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise,
go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole, thy faith hath saved
thee. Now what was his faith? Well, he believed that Jesus
Christ was God. And he believed that Christ was
the dispenser of mercy. And he believed in the sense that he did what
Christ told him to do. He had the obedience of faith.
Christ said, go show yourself to the priest. This man went,
and as he went, he was cleansed. And he saw how that he was healed. He saw that Christ did it all. and he gave Christ all the glory. That's what a saved person does,
without exception. There's no exceptions to this
rule. A saved person gives Christ all the glory. A religious person
may not, but a saved person does. And he returned to give thanks
to God. Now, I would want to remind you
once again that Friday, November 20th, week after next, We're
going to be having a Sovereign Grace Bible Conference at the
Dodge Road Grace Church, and we will have four services, Friday
night, Saturday morning, Saturday night, Sunday morning, Friday
night, 7, Saturday morning, 10, Saturday evening, 6, and Sunday
morning, 10 once again. And we'll have two speakers at
each service bringing a message regarding the sovereign grace
of God in Christ Jesus. And we'd like to invite you to
come and hear the gospel preached. I'd love to have you and hope
to see you. Now we have this message on DVD
and CD. If you call the church or write,
we'll send you a copy. Come to services this morning.
We begin at 1030. This is Todd Kniper praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.