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 Nybert. I'm going to read one of the
shortest verses in the Bible. These are the words of our Lord
to his disciples. Three words. Remember Lot's wife. Do you know the story of Lot's
wife? We can read about it in Genesis
chapter 19. If you have access to a Bible,
I think you would do well to follow along. We know very little
about Lot's wife. He may have met her in Sodom,
because she's not mentioned in the earlier accounts of Abraham
and Lot. It could be that she met him
in Sodom, and we don't know that she was ever around Abraham,
but she was a very privileged woman to be married to Lot. Lot
was a believer. Peter tells us he was a righteous
man with a righteous soul. He'd been saved by the grace
of God. Now, Lot was in Sodom, and God was coming to destroy
Sodom. Let me read this passage of Scripture
to you, beginning in verse 15 of Genesis chapter 19. As I said,
I think it would be helpful if you have access to a Bible to
follow along with me. And when the morning arose, then
the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife and thy
two daughters, which are here, lest thou be consumed in the
iniquity of the city. You see, they were coming to
destroy it. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand,
and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two
daughters, the Lord being merciful unto him. I love that passage
of scripture. Lot was lingering. where he should have been fleeing.
And God didn't say, okay, stay there. He had those angels grab
him and his family by the hand and pull them out of Sodom, God
being merciful to them. And they brought him forth and
set him without the city, and it came to pass, when they had
brought him forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life,
look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain, escape
to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. Now he said, Don't
look behind you. Don't look behind you. is the issue, don't look behind
you to see this great destruction. I mean, I don't think that that
has anything to do with why he said, don't look behind you. It wasn't just the want to turn
around and see what happened. But remember those very clear
instructions. And then we read in verse 23,
the sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then
the Lord reigned upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire
from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities
and all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities, and
that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from
behind him, and she became a pillar of salt." And the Lord Jesus
says, remember Lot's wife. Now this woman disobeyed a clear
command, and she was turned into a pillar of salt in the very
act. And the Lord says to his disciples,
remember Lot's wife. Now, what did she do? She looked
back to Sodom. And that word, look back, when
she looked back from behind him, is also translated to have respect,
to have regard, to regard with favor, care, or pleasure. This is how she viewed Sodom,
with favor, care, and pleasure, with respect and with regard. Now what does Sodom represent?
Now the first thing that comes to our minds is homosexuality. That's what was taking place
in Sodom. Do you remember when they said of the angels, bring
them out that we may know them? All the people of Sodom, old
and young, said bring them out that we may know them. So what
we think about when we think about Sodom Is homosexuality
or moral perversion? Genesis 13, 13 says the men of
Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.
And these men were. And there's typical significance
to this. I want you to listen to me real
carefully. I know that this is a political hot potato. or football that people make
out of homosexuality and so on, but there's a typical significance
to Sodom in the Scriptures. In Revelation 11, verse 8, speaking
of the two witnesses, it says, "...their dead bodies shall lie
in the street of that great city which spiritually is called Sodom."
Jerusalem. Jerusalem, the place where they
killed Christ. the place where the religious
demanded His death, crucifying. This is spiritually called Sodom
by God. Now, we also read where false
prophets are called Sodom. Homosexuality, now listen real
carefully. Homosexuality is It's sin. And it's not the worst sin. As
a matter of fact, the Lord says to those people who heard Him
preach that in Sodom they'll have a better on Judgment Day
than those people who reject the Gospel. It's sin, just like
adultery is sin and fornication is sin. It's sin. And if you hear this message, and
reject the gospel that's preached, you're going to have it worse
on judgment day than the men of Sodom who acted in this morally
perverted way. So we know that it's not the
greatest sin. Unbelief is the sin that hearing
the gospel and rejecting it, that's a whole lot worse than
these the sin of homosexuality, but
it's a sin like all sexual sin is sin, but as a sin, I don't
know that it's worse than any other sexual sin. All sexual
sin is wrong, and the only way sex is, God invented sex, and
it's a blessing from God, and it's only to be known in the
intimate bond and covenant of marriage. All sex outside of
marriage is wrong. It's sin against God. And when
I'm talking about this, I feel I can't look down my nose at
anybody. I don't want a homosexual to
feel judged and threatened by me, and I feel like I'm morally
superior to them, don't believe anything like that at all. I
know I'm the chief of sinners. I can't look down my nose at
anybody. And if any of us have the right attitude, we ought
to always feel that way. All I would want a homosexual
or any other kind of sinner is to feel loved. I want them to
know I love them. I want them to know the Lord.
I want them to be saved by the grace of God. But stay with me. What homosexuality cannot do
is produce life. Under no circumstance can that
act produce life. And what that represents is works
religion. It cannot produce life. If you believe in salvation by
works in any form, if any aspect of salvation is dependent upon
what you do, you have a religion that cannot produce life. And Sodom represents that religion,
the world, that cannot produce life. In Jeremiah 23, verse 14,
God calls the false prophets men of Sodom. And in Ezekiel
16, verse 44, we read the sin of Sodom was pride, fullness
of bread, and abundance of idleness. Now, Sodom represents the worldview. Sodom represents the world. I
think of that passage of Scripture in 1 John 2, beginning in verse
15. John said, Beloved, love not
the world, nor the things that are in the world. For all that's
of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the
world. If any man loves the world, the
love of the Father is not any. Now what is this thing of the
world? Now when he's talking about love
not the world, he's not talking about some form of asceticism
where you don't want to touch not, taste not, handle not, you
don't enjoy any of the pleasures of the world, you don't enjoy
the food, you beat yourself, you try to be keep your eyes closed so you're
not—that's not what he's talking about. I love God's world. I love God's planet. I love to
eat. I love to look at the beautiful creation. He's not talking about
no love for that, but he's talking about what he terms as the lust
of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
the lust of the flesh, the desires of sinful fallen nature, the
lust of the eyes, being more concerned about what men think
than what God sees, the pride of life, the self-righteousness,
thinking you have power, thinking you have ability, the pride of
life. Now, that is Sodom. That is Sodom, the world. And
the religion of this world, can never produce life. No one is
ever saved in a salvation-by-work system. Just like a homosexuality
can never produce life, false religion, works religion can
never produce life. You're not saved in it. Now,
what was this woman doing? She was greatly privileged. God
grabbed her or the angels grabbed her by the hand just like they
did Lot and brought her out of the city. And Lot continued running
and she was to look straight ahead. She was to look straight
ahead. Now what that represents is looking to Christ. When you
look to Christ, you look straight ahead. You don't look somewhere
else. You look to Christ only. And she was not looking to Christ
because her heart was still in Sodom. That's what she really
loved. And she never really looked to
Christ. That's why she looked behind
her. Now, this is a warning that you
and I need to hear. remember Lot's wife. If we're like Lot's wife, we'll
have her end and we will not be saved. Now, the angel said,
look straight ahead, don't look behind. I think it's interesting
that faith is seen to be in both Testaments, old and new, that
of looking. That's the way faith is described. Let me give you some scriptures. But first, let me say this. The only way you won't look behind
is if you have something in front of you that's better. Let me repeat that. The only
way you and I will not Be like Lot's wife and look behind and
be turned to a pillar of salt is because we have something
ahead of us that is better. Now, Paul, the apostle, said
in Galatians 6, verse 14, God forbid that I should glory save
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm going to repeat the
rest of the verse in just a minute, but I want to think about what
is being said here. Now, this is the Apostle Paul.
This man has written scriptures. He's the man that God used more
than anybody else to expound the gospel. He was taken up into
the third heavens, and he was taught the gospel directly by
the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He was used by God to establish
so many different churches. Oh, God's blessing was on this
man. But what does he say? The only
thing I glory in is Christ and what He accomplished on Calvary
Street. I don't glory in how God has used me. I don't glory
in how God has, I'm thankful He has, but all I really have
confidence in, all I have confidence in is the cross of Christ, who
He is and what He did. I look to Him only as everything
God requires of me. Christ really is all to me, Paul
is saying. that God requires, I look to Him the same way God
looks to Christ for everything He requires of me. I look to
Christ for everything God requires of me. All I want is to be found
in Christ. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, he goes on
to say, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto
the world. In light of the cross of Christ,
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life have lost their glamour. Paul put it this way in Philippians
chapter 3, I count all things but loss. for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." It's all lost. I'm
not looking back. I'm forgetting those things that
are behind and reaching forth into those things that are before.
Now, don't look back because you've got something ahead of
you that you're looking to that makes you not even want to look
back. Now, I think it's very significant that faith throughout
the scriptures is described by looking, looking. You remember
the story of the children of Israel when they started murmuring
and complaining? God sent fiery snakes into the
camp and they started biting the children of Israel. And they
come back to Moses and they say, pray for us that the Lord will
do something for us. And Moses went to the Lord and the Lord
said, you take a snake, a likeness of that snake, a brazen snake,
and you put it up on a pole and anybody who's bitten, who looks,
Only looks. You didn't look where you were
bitten. You didn't look for ways to keep
the snakes away. You looked at that snake on a
pole. And anybody who looked lived. And the Lord said, that's the
gospel. You remember in John chapter three when he said, as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth on him. should have everlasting life.
Salvation simply through a look. In Isaiah 45, verse 22, look
unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For I
am God, and beside me there is none else. Look unto me. Look
unto me. That's looking unto Jesus, the
author and the finisher of our faith. We're to look to Him. If I say, look at me, you look
at me. That doesn't mean you're looking to this side or that side. You're
looking at me. I'm to look to Christ only. In Zechariah 12,
verse 10, when God pours His Spirit out of grace and supplication
upon a people, it says, they will look upon me whom they've
pierced, and they'll mourn. Psalm 34, 5, they looked unto
Him and were lightened. If you look to Him, you'll have
light as to who God is, you'll have light as to who you are,
you'll have light regarding this thing of salvation being in Christ.
They looked unto Him and were lightened. You know the only
way you'll ever know anything about yourself is by looking
to Him? If you look to Him, you'll see your sinfulness and you'll
see your need of Him. If you look to yourself, it won't
work. Now, in Luke chapter 9, verse 62, the Lord said, No man
putting his hand to the plow and looking back, same thing
Lot's wife did. No man putting his hand to the
plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of heaven. I
think it's beautiful the way the Lord likens faith to a man
plowing. Now how is it that you plow a
straight furrow? By putting your eyes on an object
and moving straight toward that object without taking your eyes
off of it. As soon as you take your eyes
off of that object, you will no longer have a straight furrow.
If you look behind you, And what does it mean to look behind?
Well, you look to your experience. I know I'm saved because I remember
when I went up and accepted Jesus as my personal Savior and the
preacher told me I was saved. I remember when I had this experience
and when it straightened out my life. I'm looking to, I remember
when I was saved. I know I'm saved now because
I can remember when I was saved. That's not faith. That's looking
to an experience. Faith is always in the present.
I'm not looking back. I'm looking to Christ right now.
He's the one I'm looking to. Nowhere else. I don't look down
at my feet. If you're a plow, a furrow. If
you start just looking at your feet, you'll be crooked all over
the place, going in circles. I don't look at my walk. Now,
I want to walk in a way that honors God, but I don't look
to my walk. I look to Christ. I look to Him only. I don't look
to the side. I don't look at others. You know,
when you start looking at others, what you're having is a religion
of personal comparison. Well, I might not be as good
as that person, but I'm better than that person. That's not
going to get you anywhere. That's unwise. You're to look
to Christ only. And what a beautiful picture
that is. When you put your hand to the plow, to plow a furrow,
you look straight ahead at that object going toward that, and
you don't take your eyes off. The moment you take your eyes
off, you'll go in the wrong direction. Now, faith is looking to Christ. Now, anything else will not produce
life. It won't do it. Salvation by
works in any form, looking to yourself, salvation depended
upon you for anything. You won't get life from that.
It won't happen. This is what this woman did.
She looked back, and no life comes out of that. Now, what
is this thing of looking to Christ? I'd like to learn what it is
to look to Christ. wouldn't you? Well, what is it
to look to Christ? Well, it's not a physical look. Christ is seated at the right
hand of the Father, and no one has seen Him. When I hear people
say they've talked to Jesus or He appeared to them and said
His name and so on, I don't believe them for a second. He's seated
at the right hand of the Father. Now, He's here by His Spirit.
He's in His people. He's in His church. Wherever
two or three are gathered together in His name, there He is in the
midst of them. He's promised His presence in public worship.
But as far as seeing him physically, we can't look to him. What's
it mean to look to him then? First of all, I look to who he
is. I look to his ability to save
me. Paul put it this way in 2 Timothy 1.12, I know whom I have believed
and I am persuaded that he is April. to keep that which I've
committed to Him against that day. Looking to Him, first of
all, is looking to who He is and His ability. It's not looking
to yourself, it's looking to His ability to save you. Do you believe that Jesus Christ
the Lord is the Son of God all-powerful and able to save you with no
help or contribution from you at all. Do you believe that?
And that's what it is to look to Christ. You believe His ability. When those blind men came to
Him, He said, Do you believe that I'm able to do this? And
they said, Yeah, Lord, that's what faith is. It begins with
believing in His ability. It's not looking to yourself
for anything. It's looking to His ability.
Abraham staggered not at the promise of God, but was strong
in faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded that what
he had promised, he was able. also to perform. Do you believe
that there's such power in His person that His precious blood
actually puts away sin? Do you believe He is able to
save you? Now, I look to who He is as being
able to save me. He does it. He does it. I look to His life,
His law-keeping, His perfect life as my righteousness before
God. And somebody says, how can you
do that? How can you actually look at His life as your personal
righteousness before God? Well, let me tell you what happened
on the cross. On the cross, my sin was transferred
to him, and it became his, and he became guilty of my sin. That's why he didn't open his
mouth. He was guilty. And the wrath of his father against
sin came down upon him, and he put that sin away. But just as
truly as my sin, he took in his own body on the tree, His righteousness,
His law keeping, His perfect obedience is mine. So on judgment
day when my name is called and the books are out, there'll be
no sin. Nothing but His perfect righteousness. And I look to
His righteousness as my personal righteousness before God. I look to His death as my sin
payment. You see, something is gonna have
to be done about my sins because God said, I by no means clear
the guilty. Well, on Calvary's tree, when
he said, it is finished, my sins were paid in full, paid in full. Jesus paid it all, all the debt
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain
and he washed it white as snow. So I'm looking to his death.
I'm not trying to bring anything to God. I'm not trying to bring
anything to make up for what I've done. I'm not trying to
bring an offering. He is my offering for sin. He's
my sin payment. I look to his death as the reason
my sins are put away. And I look to his resurrection
as my justification. Paul put it this way in Romans
chapter 4, he says, he was delivered for our offenses and raised again
for our justification. Now, when he was raised from
the dead, everybody that he died for was justified. And if I'm
justified, oh, this is the most glorious thing, that means I'm
not guilty. That means I'm perfectly righteous
before God. When he was raised from the dead,
that meant God accepted what he did, and all the sins of all
the people he died for were put away, and righteousness was established
for them. I look to His intercession right
now as the only reason I'm persevering. There's a man in glory right
now representing me before the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. These things write I unto you
that you sin not. If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. And
the reason I'm kept is because He keeps me. He represents me
at the right hand of the Father. And my hope of glorification
is His return. The scripture says it does not
yet appear what we shall be. John, under the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit, says, I don't know what it's going to be like
to be like Christ. It doesn't appear what we shall
be. But we know that when He shall appear, will be like him,
for we shall see him as he is. And that sight of him as he is
will perfectly conform us to his very image. Now, why would I want to look
back? Lot's wife never saw any beauty
in Christ. She never looked to him. And
that is what salvation is. It's looking to Him. It's looking
straight ahead. Not looking down at your walk
or towards the side at other people or toward the back, your
former experience and your religion. It's looking to Christ only. Looking unto Jesus. Oh, I don't
want to look anywhere else but look to Him only. I don't want
to be like Lot's wife. Look to Lot's Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. To request a copy of the sermon
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