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 Nibert. I'm reading from the last chapter
of the last book of the Bible, Revelation chapter 22, verse
17. And the spirit and the bride
say, come. And let him that heareth say,
come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. I've entitled this message, Whosoever
Will. And this is the only time these
two words stand together like this in the Bible. Whosoever
will. letting take the water of life
freely. Now, I have had people respond
to me after they've heard a message regarding election or Christ's
effectual atonement for the elect or salvation being all of grace. And I've had people say, well,
I believe whosoever will. as if that would negate the truth
of the gospel. Well, I believe in whosoever
will, too. I surely do. That doesn't take away from the
truth of salvation by grace, but God's absolute sovereignty
and salvation takes nothing away from this blessed verse. The
Spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth say,
come. and let him that's athirst come. And whosoever will, let
him take the water of life freely. Now some believe that this is
the spirit, the bride, and the individual hearer's response
to verse 12 when the Lord says, Behold, I come quickly, and my
reward is with me, to give every man according to his work shall
be. I come quickly, and the spirit says, Come. And the bride says,
come, oh, come, just like you said. And the individual believer
who hears, he that's of God, heareth God's words, when he
hears this, he says, come, oh, I want the Lord to come. I anxiously
await his return. The Lord's coming again, and
my response, and the response of every believer is, come on. Even so, come Lord Jesus, we'll
be so thankful upon his return. But this is also the message
of the Spirit and the church and the bride and the individual
believer to those they preach to. They say, come. The Spirit
says, come. The bride, the church of the
living God, their message is, come, come to Christ. The one
who hears, the individual believer, hears his message to all he preaches
to, all he's been, come, come and welcome to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now the law says go and do. It doesn't say come. It says
go and do. Make yourself better. First,
get your life straightened out. And stop committing those sins
you're committing. And until that's taken care of,
you can't come. You need to get your life straightened
out and stop sinning before you can come. You see in this, idea
of things, forgiveness of sins at the end of salvation. If you
do this, and if you do that, and if you stop doing this and
stop doing that, and if you start doing this and give up that,
you'll have the forgiveness of sins. Now what that is, my friend,
is salvation by works. If forgiveness is dependent upon
you doing something, all that is is salvation by works. You
see, salvation does not end with the forgiveness of sins. Salvation
begins with the full free, complete forgiveness of sins, all your
sins being blotted out. And you don't do anything to
make that happen. It's something that God freely
gives you for Christ's sake. He doesn't give you the forgiveness
of sins because you straightened things out or because you stopped
sinning. Ephesians 4.32 says, Be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God for Christ's sake. That's the only
reason he had to have. Even as God for Christ's sake
hath forgiven you. Oh, I'm so thankful that that's
not the message of Scripture, go and do, but the message is
come. Come now, just as you are to the Lord Jesus Christ, the
spirit and the bride say, come, come, for all things are now
ready. Compel them to come in. Come
unto me, all ye that weary and are heavy laden, and I'll give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you'll find rest
for your souls. He that cometh to me I will in
no wise cast out. If any man thirst, let him come
to me and drink. That's the message of Scripture.
Beloved, coming to Christ is not a long journey. It's not
a process. you get there as soon as you
come. Now, what does it mean to come to Christ? John 6, verse
35, we read these words, and I think this is as clear a description
as we're going to find in the Bible of what it means to come
to Christ. Because, after all, how do I come to Christ? He's
seated at the right hand of the Father. How do I get there? It's
not a physical journey. What does it mean to come to
Christ? How does one come to Christ? The Lord said, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. Well, what's that mean? Well,
we read in John chapter six, verse 35, the Lord said, and
Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh
to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. Coming to Christ, and believing
on Christ are the precise same thing. When Philip had preached
to the Ethiopian eunuch, the Ethiopian eunuch, in response
to Philip's preaching, said, See, here's water. What doth
hinder me from being baptized? Now, there may be a reason why
I shouldn't, and I'd like to know what it is. What would hinder
me from being baptized? And Philip answered him, If thou
believest, with all thine heart thou mayest." And the eunuch's
reply was not, I believe that I'm saved. It was not, I believe
I'm one of the elect. It was not, I believe I've been
born again. It was this, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. Now, that's what faith is. It's
not believing you're saved. It's believing that He is the
Son of God, the uncreated God, the Son. Oh, salvation, believing,
is what we believe concerning Him. He's the Son of God. He's not like God. He is God. He's God the Son, and whoever
Whatever he does must be successful because of who he is. I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Now, that's what faith is. It's believing that he is who
he is. And what you believe will be
determined by who you believe. So what is faith? It's believing
that He is the Son of God. What is it to come to Christ?
It's to believe He is who He says He is in His Word. Is it
that simple? Yes, it is. Yes, it is. You can't
do it unless God enables you. I realize that. Faith is the
gift of God, but it is this simple. It's believing that He is the
Son of God. Now, back in Revelation chapter
22, we read, in verse 1, and He showed me
a pure river of water of life, clear as a crystal, proceeding
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, the water of life
that gives dead sinners life. Life before God, life before
His law, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life. And it comes from the throne
of God. It comes from the sovereign decree
of God. It comes from the Lamb. It comes
from Christ and Him crucified. This water of life that God gives
freely, it comes from God's purpose, it comes from the Lamb, the Lamb
as He had been slain and put away the sins of all of His people,
and now the water of life flows freely from Him. Verse 2, it
says, In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of
the river, was there the tree of life, which bared twelve manner
of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month. And the leaves of
the tree were for the healing of the nations. Now, this is
for healing. Sin to a believer is disease
and how they need to be healed. I love that scripture. He healed
them that had need of healing. This is for healing, this water
of life. Then we read in verse 3, and
there shall be no more curse, This is because of justification.
If Christ died for you, you know what that means? That means you
have no sin. You have nothing to be cursed for. You're justified
before God. You stand without guilt, without
sin, perfect before God. That's the benefits of his death.
Justification. No more curse. But the throne
of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall
serve him. That's heaven. Verse 4, And they
shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads.
I have no doubt that that name is Jehovah Sidkenu. In Jeremiah
23, 6, we read, this is the name wherewith he shall be called,
Jehovah Zedkinu, the Lord our righteousness. Then we read in
Jeremiah 33, this is the name wherewith she shall be called,
the Lord our righteousness, the same name. Every believer has
the same name as Christ. Verse 5, and there shall be no
night there, and they need no candle, neither the light of
the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign
forever and ever." Now, what a blessed gospel for that one
who comes to Christ. Now, I'd like to read a passage
from John chapter 4. I love this passage of Scripture,
beginning in verse 3, and he must needs go through, verse
4 rather, and he must needs go through Samaria. You see, one
of his people, one of his elect, one of his children were in Samaria,
and he was going after him. I'm so thankful he went after
me. He must needs go through Samaria. Now, the only reason
he must needs do anything is because it's the will of his
father. He must needs go through Samaria. Then cometh he to a
city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of
ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now, Jacob's well
was there, Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey, sat
thus on the well. There we see the humanity of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He was tired, weary from his
journey. And it was about the six hour,
about twelve Then cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Now,
people have speculated as to why she came at noon, because
the time you come to draw water is in the morning when it's not
hot. But I have no doubt that this woman didn't want to be
around people when she came, because they'd be talking about
her. There's the woman that's done this and done that, and
they would be speaking negatively and whispering about her, and
she just wanted to stay away from that. So she came at the
time when she knew nobody would be there. Then cometh a woman
of Samaria to draw water, and Jesus saith unto her, Give me
to drink. And this is the woman who we
find out later she'd been married five times, and the man she was
living with was not her husband. She was a sinful woman, and that's
why she was coming in them. But the Lord speaks to her. Jesus
saith unto her, Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone away
into the city to buy meat. Then said the woman of Samaria
unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of
me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings
with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto
her, If you knew the gift of God, the free gift, the gift
of grace, the gift that you don't have to have anything to pay
for it. If you knew the gift of God and who it is that saith
to thee, give me to drink, you would have asked and he would
have given thee living water. If you knew, you'd ask and he'd
give. Now this woman didn't know what
he was talking about. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast
nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From whence then
hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father
Jacob, which gave us this well, and drank thereof himself, and
his children, and his cattle? She didn't have any idea who
she was talking to. Are you greater than Jacob? Yes, infinitely so. Jesus answered and said unto
her, Whosoever drinketh of this water, shall thirst again." Now
regarding everything of this world, you can drink of it, but
you shall thirst again. You may find a little bit of
satisfaction, but it won't last. You shall thirst again. Verse
14, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him,
shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be
in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life." To believe on Christ is to have
complete satisfaction with Him. and to not be looking or thirsting
for anything else. Now, I'm not satisfied with myself. I wish I could say that as I
feel it. I'm not satisfied with myself.
As a matter of fact, I'm not satisfied with anything about
myself. But I am completely satisfied to be saved by him. I'm completely
satisfied to be saved by His grace. I'm not looking for anything
else. I'm completely satisfied to have
His righteousness as the only righteousness I possess before
God. I'm completely satisfied to be
brought into heaven on the coattails of King Jesus. I'm completely
satisfied to be saved by Him, and I'm not looking for anything
else. I'm satisfied. I've had people say to me after
they hear the message of preaching, they say, well, there's got to
be something else. No, there's not. And if you think that, it's
because you haven't really heard what's being said. Because if
you ever believe on Christ, you'll be completely satisfied to be
saved by Him. You won't be looking for anything
else. If you drink this water, you
will never thirst again. Back to our text in Revelation
chapter 22, it says, The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. Let
him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come,
thirsting for this water of life. Let him that's athirst come.
Are you thirsty? Come. This water is for you. Do you hunger and thirst for
righteousness? This is a conscious absence of righteousness being
in you. but you're hungering and thirsting for it. Well, you're
called upon to come. Somebody says, well, how thirsty
do you need to be? Well, look what he says next. Whosoever
will. Whosoever will. Let him take
the water of life freely. Whosoever, I love that word.
Whosoever, I'm a whosoever. whosoever will. He said to the
impotent man in John 5, verse 9, wilt thou be made whole? Wilt
thou be made whole? Are you willing? Can you say
with Paul, for to will is present with me? Now how to perform that,
which is good, I find not, but to will is present with me. Now
I have no doubt that if you're willing, you know he made you
willing. Psalm 110.3 says, thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. It's God that worketh
in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. Somebody may
think, but I'm afraid I don't understand enough. It doesn't
say whosoever understands, but whosoever will. Let him take
the water of life freely. But I'm afraid my experience
of Christ isn't enough. Well, it doesn't say whosoever
has had a proper experience, but whosoever will. Let him take
the water of life freely. Somebody says, but I don't feel
anything. Well, it doesn't say, whosoever feels, let him take
the water of life freely. It says, whosoever will, let
him take the water of life freely. But I'm afraid I'm too evil.
Well, it doesn't say, whosoever is not all that evil can take
the water of life freely. But it says, whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely. But I haven't stopped
committing these sins. Well, it doesn't say, whosoever
stopped committing sins. Let him take the water of life
freely. It says, whosoever will. Let him take the water of life
freely. But I can't, I'm unable. It doesn't
say whosoever is able. Let him take the water of life
freely. It says, whosoever will. Let him take the water of life
freely. I'm not worthy. It doesn't say
whosoever is worthy. It says, whosoever will. Let
him take the water of life freely. Are you willing? to be saved
by Christ. That's all I'm asking you. Are
you willing to be saved on God's terms? Are you willing to be
saved in a way where Christ gets all the glory and none goes to
you? Are you willing to be saved?
You see, you save your life, you'll lose it. You lose your
life for His sake. You'll find it. Whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely. To let is the answer
to every objection. Let him come is the answer to
every hindrance. Now think about this. Satan,
the accuser of the brethren, He's got a lot to say. He brings
every accusation imaginable against me. He's the biggest hypocrite
to ever live. He gives in to temptation so
easily. Why he did this, he did that. He didn't do this and he didn't
do that. He could name an infinite amount of things, all of which
would be true. He's called the accuser of the
brethren. He accuses them night and day before God. That's what
he's called. That's what devil means is the slanderer, the accuser
of the brethren. Well, Satan brings all these
accusations and you know what Christ says? Let him come. Even
with Satan's accusations, let him come and take the water of
life freely. And here's how come, because
the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. They overcame him, the accuser
of the brethren, through the blood of the Lamb. Now the law
of God says, wait a minute, all he has ever done is break me.
He has broken every one of my commandments, He's never kept
one of my commandments. Now, how can somebody like this
come? And you know, when I hear that, I look down, I know it's
true. Yet the Lord says, let him come. and take the water
of life freely. For who shall lay anything to
the charge against God's elect? It's God that justifieth. Who
is he to condemn? It's Christ that died. That's
the only answer I need. God justified me. Christ died
for my sins. All of the law's accusations
against me have been answered. Well, Satan has been answered,
the law has been answered, but my conscience whispers, you can't
come, you can't take. You're the most sinful man to
ever live. You're the biggest hypocrite to ever live. And you
know what Christ says? Let him come and take the water
of life freely. If we believe not, he abideth
faithful. He cannot deny himself. If our
heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all
things. You see, as sinful as I am, I'm still united to him
by faith. I'm part of himself. And for
him to deny me would be for him to deny himself. That's how close
the union between Christ and the believer is. I'm so thankful.
Let him take the water of life. And don't miss this. Let him
come and take the water of life freely. This is so important. Let him come and take the water
of life freely. And the word freely is the same
word the Lord used when he said they hated me without a cause. Let him come and take the water
of life without a cause. Now, if I have a cause or a reason
in myself why I should be able to take the water of life, I
exclude myself. I have no right to take it. The
only way I can take this water of life is if I don't have a
cause in myself as to why I should take it. Somebody says, well,
I should take it because I believed or because I've repented or because
I've done this or I've done that. No, my friend, you exclude yourself
when you do that. The only way you can have this
water of life is if you take it without a cause, freely. If you can find a reason yourself
as to why God should save you, you will not be saved. If you
can find no reason, no cause in you as to why God would look
down in mercy on you, you're called upon to take the water
of life freely. Now, somebody says, I'll stop
committing the sins I've been committing and start practicing
righteousness. I'll be more loving. I'll be
more forgiving. I'll be more faithful. I'll be
less sinful. Have at it, but you won't be
saved. You won't be saved. You're not taking the water of
life freely. You're thinking the water of life comes to you
because of something you do. I think this is amazing. If I
said you could have salvation for $10, everybody would be saved. We'd find a way for everybody
to be saved if it cost $10 a soul. But when I say salvation is utterly
free, come buy wine and milk without money and without cost,
without price. Utterly and completely free.
People walk away unsaved because they don't want something that's
free. They want to have their fingerprints
on it. They want to have their hand in it. But my beloved friend,
salvation is absolutely free. Here's a way to illustrate this.
In John chapter 9, verse 39, for Jesus said, for judgment
I'm coming to this world, that they would see not might see
and that they would see might be made blind. And some of the
Pharisees which were with him heard these words and said unto
him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If you
are blind, you have no sin. But now you say, We see, therefore
your sin remained. Now, Christ said, I came into
this world for judgment, that they which see not might see.
If you can't see any reason as to why God would ever save you,
here's a reason. He does it for Christ's sake.
But if you say, well, I can see why he saved me. I did this.
You've been blinded. You've been given over to yourself. Now, if you can take this water
of life freely with no cause whatsoever in you, it's for you. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. would to God that He would enable
you and I to do just that. Now we have this message on DVD
and CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. 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.