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. Romans chapter 10, verse 13,
Paul says, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. What a blessed promise. That
means if you call on his name, you will be saved. That's the word of God. But then
Paul says in verse 14, how then shall they call on Him in whom
they've not believed? You'll never call on one who
you don't believe. And how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? You can't believe on an unheard
of Christ. You can't believe on an unheard
of God. And I'm talking about the God
of the Bible. You know, there are many people who've never really heard
the God of the Bible. They've heard a small g God,
one that's not real, but not the God of the Bible. And how
should they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? And he quotes Isaiah chapter
52 verse 7. How beautiful are the feet of
them which preach the gospel peace and bring glad tidings
of good things. Now I want to go back over into
Isaiah chapter 52 and see what it is someone hears that will
cause them to call. Here's the point. This is the
message that you'll hear that will cause you, if you hear with
hearing ears, to call out upon the Lord and He'll save you. So would you listen real carefully
as we consider what it is someone hears that causes them to call
on His name. The prophet says how beautiful
on the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings. Now why the feet? The feet makes
the emphasis the message that's brought and not the messenger.
There's nothing very spectacular about feet, but there's something
spectacular about the message these feet bring. It's the message
of the gospel. Oh, how beautiful are the feet
of them that bring this good news. Now first, the gospel in
its very nature is good news. That's what the gospel means,
good news, glad tidings. Now, first it always comes as
news, not old news, but comes fresh. When you hear the gospel,
you hear it as news. And if you've heard it for 50
years, it still comes as news if you're hearing with hearing
ears. Not old, you don't say, well, I've got that down pat,
what's next? I get that, what's next? No,
the gospel always comes as news. And if I hear the gospel and
it doesn't come as news to me, it's either because I'm not hearing
it as a sinner, no need, or I'm not hearing the gospel in the
first place. When I hear as a sinner, oh, it comes as good news. Now, good news is relative. To
some, what is good news, to others is bad news. If you're hoping
in your works to hear the gospel, it's going to come as bad news
to you. It's not going to rejoice your heart. It's going to take
away what you're hoping in because you're hoping in something you've
done or something you are. That's not good news to hear
of the freeness of God's grace, to hear that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners. If you're not a sinner, that's
not good news. But if you're a sinner, it's good news. I think
the clearest illustration of this would be the year of Jubilee.
It happened, or was supposed to happen, every 50 years in
the land of Israel. On the year of Jubilee, if you
were a slave, a Hebrew slave, you were set free. What you lost
was restored. Your debts were canceled. and the land was given a year's
rest. You had a year off. Can you imagine
what that silver trumpet would have sounded like to someone
who is in debt and someone who is a slave and someone who had
lost everything? Oh, How good did it sound? But you know what? If you thought
you lost by it, if you were a landowner and you lost your land because
of the year of jubilee and had to return it, if people owed
you money and they no longer owed it because it was the year
of jubilee, oh, you'd be upset. As a matter of fact, there's
not a record of the year of jubilee ever being kept in the Bible.
They would always find reasons not to do it. But you see, good
news is relative, isn't it? What's good news to some is bad
news to others. The gospel of grace comes as
good news. When you hear with hearing ears,
you hear the gospel as gospel. Not just something you agree
with, but something that you rejoice in. Now, he says in verse
7, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth
good tidings, that publisheth peace. The gospel is a message
of peace. And when you hear the gospel
of peace, that's when you're going to call upon the name of
the Lord. What did the angels say after
giving the shepherds the message of this good news? And suddenly
there was with the angels a multitude of the heavenly host praising
God and saying glory to God in the highest and on earth peace,
goodwill toward men. When Peter brought the gospel
to Cornelius, he came preaching peace by Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all. The Lord Jesus
said in John 14, verse 27, peace I leave with you, my peace, my
peace I give unto you. He has the peace of having never
sinned. He has the peace of having a
perfect relationship with His Father. What peace there is to
have His peace. He said, I give to you not as
the world gives, give I unto you. The world's got a peace,
but it's a false peace. It's a temporary peace, but this
is an eternal peace. In Colossians chapter one, we
read this regarding the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, beginning
in verse 20. and having made peace through the blood of His
cross. And this is what he did. He made
peace. God's reason for anger with me
has been removed because he put away my sins and accomplished
a complete reconciliation. Let's go on reading. in the body of his flesh through
death this is what he accomplished by his death on the cross all
that horrible death he experienced accomplished glorious things
and because of his death he's going to present you this is
speaking of every believer this is not the heritage of every
man because there is a place called hell where men will be
punished with their sins this is talking about the blessing
that every believer possesses to present you holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in His sight." And note that phrase, His sight. How God sees things are the way
they really are. If I'm holy and unblameable and
unreprovable in His sight, it's because I really am indeed holy,
unblameable, and unreprovable. And that is what the Lord accomplished
on Calvary's tree. That's the peace that He made.
Therefore being justified, having been justified, by faith we have
peace with God. through our Lord Jesus Christ.
God's at peace with me. He has nothing to be mad at.
I'm perfect in Christ Jesus. I'm at peace with God. I'm resting
in my Redeemer. I have peace with my brethren. We're not competing. We're brethren
and sisters in Christ Jesus. Oh, the peace. Ephesians 2.14
says he is our peace. Now, the gospel message is a
publication of peace. Peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. I love that passage regarding
Simeon in Luke chapter two, when he says, Lord, now let us now
thy servant depart in peace. He was ready to die. Why? Because
mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Oh, what peace there is in knowing
that all that God requires of me, he looks to his son for,
and he is my peace with God. Oh, the gospel is a publication
of peace. And then we read in Isaiah chapter
52, that publisheth salvation. The gospel is the publication
of salvation that this messenger brings across the mountains.
Salvation. Being saved. Not a potential
salvation, not a possible salvation, but salvation. He saved us. He didn't make us savable. He
didn't offer to us salvation. He saved us. And he called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. He saved us. Now, I need to be
saved. You always dislike it when people
say, I got saved. No, that's not the way to speak. If the Lord saved you, you say,
the Lord saved me. Not I got saved, but the Lord
saved me. Now, what do I need to be saved
from? Oh, so many things. I need to be saved from the devil.
I'm no match for him. I need to be saved from myself.
I need God to save me from myself. I'm my own worst enemy, and I
need to be delivered from myself. I need the Lord to have mercy
and grace toward me and intervene and cause me to do his will.
I need to be saved from myself. I need to be saved from my sins.
I need to be saved from the penalty of sin, from the power of sin,
from the very presence of sin. Most especially, I need to be
saved from God. He's the one who has power to
cast me into hell, and I've got to have Him find a way for Him
to be just and yet be able to justify me. I need saved, and
we publish this salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. There
is such a thing as being saved by the grace of God. By grace,
ye are saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. So
these beautiful feet that come bringing this message, it's good
news, it's a message of peace, it's a message of salvation.
Now, look what else he says in verse 7 of Isaiah 52. that saith unto Zion," this messenger,
here's the message he brings, that says unto Zion, Thy God is in absolute control. Now what this is talking about
is the absolute sovereignty of God. What does the sovereignty
of God mean? It means God reigneth. It means
He's in complete control, that everything that happens is His
will. He doeth according to His will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, what doest thou?
God reigns. That's God being God. This is
seen in creation. He simply spake the world into
existence, and there it was. He reigns in providence. Everything
that takes place, He's in control of. There's not a sparrow that
falls to the ground without your Heavenly Father. Why, the very
hairs of your head are numbered. He's in control of everything
and everybody and every event. His will is being done. He reigns
in salvation. That means if you're saved, He
saved you. You didn't save yourself. He willed your salvation. He
caused your salvation. He saved you. Salvation is of
the Lord. He hath mercy on whom He will
have mercy. And whom He will, He hardens. God reigns. We say in the Zion, thy God reigneth. If I believe in free will, All
I prove by that is I don't really believe God reigns. If I believe
man has a free will that God has to wait and see what he's
going to do, no, God's will is sovereign over man's will. God
reigns. And what good news that is to
the believer. I'm so happy it's that way. I'm
so glad it's that way. I'd be scared to go out the door
if it wasn't really believing this, God reigns. Everything
that happens is His will being done. Thy God reigneth. This is good news. And this is
what the unbeliever needs to hear. The Scripture says, Say
ye to the heathen, the Lord reigneth. Everybody needs to hear this
message that God reigns and what good news that is to a believer
because if God be for us, who can be against us? This these
beautiful feet bring this message, say to Zion, the Lord reigneth. Look in verse 8. It says, Thy
watchmen shall lift up the voice, with the voice together shall
they sing, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall
bring again Zion. Now, what is the gospel? It's
the message that's universally agreed on by all of God's people. They all believe the same thing. They all believe that Christ
is all. They all believe that salvation
is in Christ. They all believe that salvation
is by grace. They believe the same thing.
They all see eye to eye. You know something that's not
in the Bible's denominations? It's just not there. Baptist,
Presbyterian, Catholic, Methodist, whatever you want, you can't
find that in the Bible. All God's people are in agreement. They see eye to eye as to how
God saves sinners in Christ Jesus. There's no jarring discord here. No, we all believe the same thing. There's one Lord, there's one
faith, there's one baptism. Somebody that doesn't believe
the one Lord, one faith, one baptism, it's because they don't
believe, period. All of God's people are in complete agreement
with regarding who God is, who they are, and how God saves sinners.
They see eye to eye. So this is a message that's always
the same because it's what all God's people believe. Now let's
go on reading, verse 9. It says, Break forth into joy,
seeing together ye wastes places of Jerusalem. The message of
the gospel is a message of joy. It's a message of joy. Now, regarding
this thing of joy, again the angel said, I bring you glad
tidings of great joy. Paul said the kingdom of God
is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. God is a God of joy, and He rejoices
in Himself. He rejoices in His people. He
rejoices in His salvation, and He sings over His people with
joy. There's such joy in the gospel
to God, looking unto Jesus, who for the joy that was set before
Him endured the cross, the joy of saving sinners like me and
you, the joy of pleasing His Father and doing His Father's
will. The joy of finishing His work. Oh, the joy of knowing
that all God requires of me I have in Christ Jesus. The joy of knowing
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are called according to His purpose. The gospel is
a message of joy. Now, it's not a message of joy
if I'm believing in works. It's a message of condemnation.
But if I hear the gospel as a sinner hearing of the grace of God,
what joy there is in the gospel. Rejoice in the Lord always, Paul
said. And again, I say rejoice as long
as God reigns, as long as salvation is by grace, as long as he is,
so are we in this world. As long as all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to his purpose, we have reason to rejoice. Paul said to the
Thessalonians, in everything, give thanks, for this is the
will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Whatever you're going through
right now, it's God's will for you. If you're a believer, it's
for your good and his glory. So give thanks. The message of
the gospel that these beautiful feet bring is a message of joy. And then we read in verse nine,
break forth into joy, seeing together ye ways and places of
the Lord. For the Lord hath comforted His people." The message of the
gospel is a message of comfort to His people. In Isaiah chapter 40, verse 1,
we read these words. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. Now here's what's comforting. I hear that my warfare is accomplished. It's already over and the victory
has already been won. When the Lord Jesus bowed his
mighty head and said, it is finished, beloved salvation was finished. And all the stuff that I feel
so anxious over, I have no need to, because the battle has already
been fought, and the battle has already been won, and Christ
accomplished my salvation." He says, you tell, you comfort her
by telling her that her warfare is accomplished, and you tell
her that her iniquity is pardoned. Now, he didn't say, tell her
that her iniquity will be pardoned if she does this or does that
and stops doing this and stops doing that. No, it's an announcement
of pardoned iniquity. You see, the gospel doesn't end
with the forgiveness of sins. If you do this and experience
that, you'll be forgiven. No, no, no. The gospel begins
with the full, free, frank forgiveness of sins. Tell her that her iniquity
is pardoned. There's pardon for the sins of
past. It matters not how black they're cast. And oh my soul,
with wonder of you, for sins to come. Here's pardon too. All
of my sins, even the sins that I've not yet committed, have
been pardoned, put away. Why? Christ put them away. And so that's why all my sins,
they're pardoned. Oh, how comforting that is. What
if one sin was left unpardoned? I've even heard people say, well,
Christ has died for every sin but the sin of unbelief. Well,
that would be, that'd be over for me then. No, her iniquity
is forgiven. And then next he says, tell her
that she's received of the Lord's hand, double for all her sins. Now on the cross, not only was
my sin punished, but full satisfaction was made so that God is satisfied
and pleased with me. On the cross, because of what
my Lord did for me, not only do I not get what I deserve,
he took what I deserve, but I get what I do not deserve. I'm given
his mercy and his grace. I'm given all that he deserves.
He took what I deserve. and I'm given all that he deserves.
Because of what Christ did on the cross, not only is my sins
forgiven, but I am justified. Not only am I saved from hell,
but I'm saved to be made just like the Lord Jesus Christ. Not
only am I delivered from having nothing, but I'm given all things
in Christ. Now you tell her, her warfare's over. Her iniquity's
pardoned. She's received of the Lord's
hand double for all her sins." What a message of comfort. Oh,
the gospel is not a message that causes anxiety, but comfort and
rest. Now, next he says in verse 9,
for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. Now, the gospel message is a
message of redemption. Now, generally, when people think
of redemption, they think, well, what can I do to redeem myself?
How can I be redeemed? What can I do to atone for my
sin? What can I do to make up for
my wrongdoing? Now, there's nothing you can
do. There's nothing you can do. Understand that. Whenever you
start thinking that way, you're thinking wrong. There's nothing
you can do to redeem yourself. There's nothing you can do to
atone for your sins. There's nothing you can do. The
prophet says, you tell Jerusalem, I have redeemed Jerusalem. And redemption is not potential.
Redemption is not conditional. You can't buy redemption. You
can't do something to get it. It's something that he has done. He hath redeemed Jerusalem. Now,
he didn't redeem everybody. When Christ died on Calvary's
tree, he was not dying for all men without exception. He was
not redeeming everybody. Somebody says, well, that's not
good news. Yeah, it is. Yeah, it is, because what that
means is, is his redemption successful? And don't, when I say that Christ
didn't die for everybody, don't anybody think, when I say that
Christ did not die for everybody, don't anybody think, well, that
means he probably didn't die for me. I mean, what's the use
in seeking? Don't think that. If you come
to Christ, you'll be saved. You hear me? If you call on his
name, he'll save you. This doesn't exclude anybody
from the kingdom of heaven. It brings people in who were
already excluded. That's the good news of this.
He hath redeemed Jerusalem. When he said it is finished,
all of God's elect were redeemed. Their sins were put away. Full,
complete redemption. Not, I will redeem if, but I
have redeemed Jerusalem. That's the message of the gospel.
A message of full and complete redemption. And then he says
in verse 10, the Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes
of all nations. Now, you know what's involved
in the gospel? The very power of God. He's made
bare his holy arm in the eyes of all nations. The power of
Christ, you know, he's called the power of God. Now to be all
powerful, first of all, you have to be able to create something
from nothing. And to be all powerful, you need
to be able to do whatever you want to do. I mean, you have
the power to do whatever it is you will to do. And his power
is such that he made my sin to not be. It's gone. And He made me to be what I was
not. Perfect in Christ Jesus. Only
the power of God could accomplish something like that. Oh, the
gospel is the power of God into salvation. He's made bare His
holy arm. Listen, the Lord's got the power
to save you. I don't care what condition you're
in, the Lord's got the power to save you. You call on his
name, he'll save you. And this message, I love who
this message is to. It says, and all the ends of
the earth shall see the salvation of our God. The ends of the earth. You know what that means? The
nothings. That's what the word means. The
nothings. If I have nothing to bring to
the table, the gospels for me. It's only the ends of the earth
that you'll see the salvation of God. Now when someone hears
this message, they hear a message of good news, they hear a message
of peace, peace with God, they hear a message of God's salvation,
they hear a message of the Lord who reigns, thy God reigneth,
they hear a message that is what all of God's people see eye to
eye on. You know, if God's people don't see eye to eye on it, it's
wrong, what we're hearing. No, it's what all God's people
see eye to eye on. It's a message of joy. It's a
message of comfort. It's a message of redemption.
It's a message of the very power of God in salvation. When someone
hears that message, you know what they're going to do? Lord,
save me. they're going to call upon the
name of the Lord. After hearing that message, if you hear it
in the power of the Holy Spirit, what you're going to do right
now, you're going to say, Lord, save me. Give me this salvation. And we have this blessed promise,
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And we have this message on DVD
and CD. If you call the church, write
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