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 Nimer. I'm reading from Luke chapter
14. I'd like to read the first four
verses. And what I'm going to do with
this passage of Scripture, as the Lord enables me, is I'm going
to give my personal testimony. Now there's not going to be much
biographic information because that's not my point. I want you
to see that my testimony is the testimony of every believer. Every believer has the same testimony. In Luke chapter 14, beginning
in verse 1, And it came to pass, as he went into the house of
one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day,
that they watched him. And, behold, there was a certain
man before him which had the dropsy. Now, that's the only
time this word is mentioned in the scriptures, and it's edema.
This man obviously had some kind of renal failure or heart disease
or liver disease, and he was very swollen. You would look
at him and you could see something was wrong. He was very swollen. And Jesus answering, spake unto
the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath
day? And they held their peace, and
he took him and healed him and let him go. And there's my testimony. There's my personal testimony.
He took him, literally laid hold upon him. He healed him and he
let him go. He set him free. And then we read in verse five,
and he answered them saying, which of you shall have an ass
or an ox fallen into a pit and will not straightway pull him
out on the Sabbath day? And they could not answer him
again to these things. Now, my personal testimony. I've heard a lot of testimonies
over the years, and there are things probably I would have
been better off not having to listen to. Religious people like
to give their testimony, and it usually sounds like this.
They talk about how bad they used to be, and all the sins
they committed, and almost glorying in that past life, trying to
let us know how cool they used to be, and all the stuff they
did. Then somehow God got their attention. He saved them, and
now they're totally different. They're not what they used to
be, and that is the average testimony. And it's always enhanced, and
it is always filled with the flesh when people give their
testimony like that. And in that sense, I don't like
hearing testimonies. But I do like to hear the testimony
of someone God has really saved. I'd like to hear what their experience
of grace is, because I know this, all of God's people have the
same testimony. Now, we read about this man who
had the dropsy. He was very swollen. And I think
one of the reasons that I thought about this as being my testimony
is because I can remember a time when I was very swollen. I had
edema. I had what's called nephrotic
syndrome, a kidney problem that made me spill protein out of
my urine, and I became very swollen. Matter of fact, in one weekend,
I gained 20 pounds. And I said to my wife, I said,
how could I gain so much weight? Did I eat that much? And she
said, you need to go to the doctor. I was swollen, I had edema. This man had edema. Now I know this, the disease
of sin certainly causes swelling, an over-inflated view of ourselves. And what did the Lord do for
this man that had the dropsy? The scripture says He took him.
And that word is literally, He apprehended him. He seized him. He arrested him. He laid hold
upon him. That's what the word means. It's
not anything less than being stopped, grabbed, laid hold of. He laid hold of him. I love that
hymn, enwrapped in thick Egyptian night and fond of darkness more
than light. Madly I ran the sinful race.
secure without a hiding place. But thus the eternal counsel
ran. Almighty love arrest that man. I felt the arrows of distress
and found I had no hiding place. I was arrested. I wasn't seeking
God. I was satisfied without him.
And he arrested me. I didn't even know I was sick.
And he let me know I was sick. And he arrested me. When I had
that edema, I didn't know what was wrong with me. Underneath
it all was Hodgkin's disease. I didn't know that. That's what
had caused it. I was, just thought I had some swelling. Looked funny.
But I didn't understand what my real problem was until he
arrested me. He took me. He healed me. By whose stripes you were healed. This is my testimony. My testimony
is I was healed by His stripes. Not by me taking some kind of
medicine. Not by me doing all kinds of healthy things that
made me better. I was healed by His stripes. By whose stripes you were healed. And then he let me go. He set
me free. He released me. And that's what
happens when God saves somebody. They're set free. He set me free. Now, this is the personal testimony
of every believer. We're all saved the same way.
Saved by the same Savior. Believe the same things. Saved
by the same grace. We all have the same experience.
Now, I might not have been knocked off of a horse like Paul was,
but I saw a great light like he did. And I found out who God
is and who I am. And I was made to go down just
like Paul did. And just like Paul had a preacher
sent to him, Ananias, I had a preacher sent to me who told me the gospel.
We all have the same experience if we're saved. God apprehended
us. It wasn't like we were looking
for God. He was looking for us. Somebody once said, religion
is man's search for God. The gospel is God searching and
finding man. And that's so true. And He healed
us. He didn't make healing available.
He healed us. When He died on Calvary's tree,
I was healed. When He said it is finished,
what was finished? My healing. He healed me. And He set me free. He liberated me. Stand fast in
the liberty which is in Christ Jesus and don't be entangled
with that yoke of bondage. I think of what Paul said about
his own experience. He said, God saved me to make
me a pattern. To them which should hereafter believe on him to life
everlasting. If you're saved, if I'm saved,
we'll follow the pattern of the Apostle Paul. We'll experience
the same thing. Now he said in the previous verse,
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am
the chief. Albeit, for this cause, I obtain
mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering
for a pattern to them that should hereafter believe on him to life
everlasting. And you'll be like Paul, if you're
saved. Christ saved you, he died for
you, he died for sinners of whom I am the chief. Now let's go
back up to verse 1 of this story. And it came to pass as he went
into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread
on the Sabbath day that they watched him. Now this man obviously
had no good motive in having our Lord over to dinner on the
Sabbath day, but he just wanted to watch him. He wanted to find
something that he could criticize or something that would discredit
the Lord. He was looking for something
that he could find, hold something against our Lord. So they watched
him. And that's what Pharisees do.
They always watch the lives of other people. You know, if you
want to watch me to find some fault, you'll find it. You'll
find it. You know, same thing's true of you. If I watch you to
find fault, I'll find it. But the Lord, they couldn't find
anything. He could say, which of you convinces
me of sin? He never sinned. Oh, they found
fault, but it wasn't because he had any. It's because they
didn't know him. But Pharisee means a separated
one. The Pharisees in the New Testament
represent the religion of the natural man. There's something
that I do that separates me from other people. And this man was
the chief of the Pharisees. And Pharisees are always watching
people to see if they keep the law. You see, if you and I are
people who are Pharisees, that means we think our salvation
has something to do with what we do and that separates us from
other people, we're going to want to look at other people
and see them in a bad light because that makes us appear in a better
light. At least I'm not as bad as so-and-so. At least I don't
do this or I don't do that. That's the religion of a Pharisee.
It's the religion of personal righteousness, comparing yourself
to somebody else to make yourself look good. And that's what they
were doing. They were watching the Lord. And while this was
going on, verse 2, and behold, there was a certain man before
him which had the dropsy. He had edema. He was very swollen,
very ill. I don't know what caused that
illness. There's a lot of things that could cause swelling, but
he was very ill, and it was apparent to the eye. And Jesus answering,
spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal
on the Sabbath day? Now, they didn't ask. They were
They were going to see if he would do this so they could accuse
him of it. And then he said, is it lawful? He knew what they
were thinking. Lord knows what you're thinking right now. Lord
knows what I'm thinking right now. He's God. He knew what they were
thinking. And he said, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath
day? Now, these lawyers had no understanding. These Pharisees had no understanding
of the Sabbath. They had no understanding of
the law of God. What is the Sabbath day? which
the command to not work. And these fellows were making
a work out of that. The command of the Sabbath is to not work,
but to rest. It's first mentioned after the
creation, after God created the heavens and the earth, and He
saw what He did was very good, He rested the seventh day from
all of His works. Now, that's not because He was
tired and needed to take a nap. That's because He finished the
work, and it was very good, and He rested. The Scripture says,
"...they which believe do enter into a rest. For he that has
entered into his rest hath ceased from his own labors, as God did
from His." Have you ever ceased from your own works and looked
to Christ only? Have you ever just thrown away all your works
and looked only to Christ? That's what the Sabbath is given
to teach us. It's not to make a work They made a work out of
not working. So they demonstrated that by
that they had no understanding of the law, no understanding
of the Sabbath, no understanding of God as far as that goes. Well,
when the Lord asked them this question, they held their peace.
They weren't going to say anything. And so with these men looking
on, the Lord took that man. He laid hold of him. He healed
him. and he set him free. Now let's consider those three
things and like I said this is my personal testimony. First of all, he seized him,
he laid hold upon him. We don't read where this man
came to be healed Matter of fact, I don't think he did come to
be healed. I didn't think he had any suspicion that any of this
was gonna take place. Because the scripture says the
Lord laid hold on him. He seized him. He took him. The man didn't
come up and say, will you heal me? And the Lord said, okay,
I'll heal you. No, nothing like that. The Lord seized this man. Now,
I know this. I would never have come to Christ
had he not seized me. No man can come to me, except
the Father which has sent me draw him." Now, what's the point? The Lord seized him. Here's the
point. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. It doesn't begin with man. It
begins, is carried on, and is finished by God. Salvation is
of the Lord. Now, would I want to argue that
point? If I do, it says two things about
me. Number one, I don't really believe
grace. And number two, I'm not concerned about Christ getting
all the glory and salvation. You see, the point here says
that salvation really is by grace. He came and took this man. This
man wasn't seeking him. This man was sick. He needed
him, but he didn't know it. But he took him. He seized him. Salvation is of the Lord. And
who gets the glory and salvation? If it begins with me, I get the
glory. If it's because I did anything,
I would get the glory. But no, the scripture says the
Lord apprehended this man. Now, he apprehended me before
time began when he became my surety and guaranteed the Father
my salvation. He said to his Father, what Judah
said to Jacob with regard to Benjamin. I will be surety for
him. Of my hand shalt thou require
of him. If I bring him not unto thee
and set him before thee, let me bear the blame forever. The
Lord apprehended me before time began. He put his hand on me
before time began and said, you're mine, I'm gonna save you. Oh,
he took me with him. When he kept the law, I was in
him, I was with him. When he said to John the Baptist,
thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness, he was saying
that of all of God's people. He took me with him when he kept
the law. I was with him when he died.
Paul said, I'm crucified with Christ. He apprehended me even
then. He took me with him to the cross
and all my sins were put away. took me with Him when He rose
back to the Father, and I'm seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.
And when my time came to be saved by Him, and that's what salvation
is. Somebody says, I got saved. I didn't get saved, the Lord
saved me. When it came my time to be saved, the Lord apprehended
me. He arrested me, and He gave me
life. He arrested me. Salvation is
of the Lord. I was dead in sins, with no desire
for Him, And He apprehended me. Now here's my testimony. He apprehended
me. I can't say that I was seeking
the Lord or I was desirous of knowing Him and something happened
to me that all of a sudden all... No. My testimony is this. He
apprehended me. And then it says in our text
that He healed him. He healed him. He didn't make
healing available. He didn't say, do you have enough
faith to be healed? He healed him. Now 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 24
says, by whose stripes you were healed. Notice he didn't say
by whose stripes you will be healed if, or by whose stripes
you are healed He said, by whose stripes you were healed. And this is very, very important. Please listen to me carefully. How do I know I'm healed? says
by whose stripes you were healed. Can I look at myself and say,
well, I'm healed. I don't see the symptoms anymore.
I'm not as sinful as I used to be. And I seem to be a better
person than I used to be. And I don't have the same sinful
desires and passions I used to. And I'm just a better person.
I see sin weakening and weakening. And I've become more and more
holy and more and better and good. And surely I'm healed because
of looking at my life, I seem to be one who's healed. Beloved, if that is what being
healed is, I've never been healed. Now I know religious people talk
like that, but you don't find that kind of language in the
scripture. Read Romans chapter seven where Paul talks, when
I would do good, evil is present with me. Read that and think
of that in light of that. I don't know I'm healed because
of how good I am and how gracious I am and how firm my faith is
or anything like that. Here's my only hope of healing,
by whose stripes you were healed. My healing, took place outside
of my personal subjective experience. Did you hear that? My healing
took place outside of my personal subjective experience. My healing
took place when he died, by whose stripes you were healed. In that same verse it says, who
his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree that
you being dead to sin. You see, if Christ bore my sin,
then I'm dead to them. They have nothing to say to me.
Sin can't be two places at once. If they were placed in Him, they're
not in me anymore. Somebody says, how do you know?
By faith. I'm not looking at myself and
saying I must be healed because of how good I am. That would
be sight. That's by something I see. I
don't believe that at all. I'm trusting that my healing
took place by what He did for me on Calvary's tree. I repeat,
by whose stripes you were healed. Healing took place completely
by what Christ did on the cross. Now, that's my personal testimony.
He took me, and here's my personal testimony. He healed me. What
can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
This is all my righteousness, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is that flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. This is my testimony. The scripture
says they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the
word of their testimony. What was the word of their testimony?
We overcame by the blood of the Lamb. That is my healing, what
He did for me. When He said it is finished,
my salvation was completed. And then the third word that
is used with reference to my personal testimony, He took him,
He healed him, and he set him free. He let him go. He released him. This word is
used with reference to Barabbas laying in the prison cell. He
was scared to death when he heard the soldiers coming and he didn't
have any idea that he was going to be set free. But they released
Barabbas. They let him out of jail because
somebody took his place and he was now set free. Now that's what happens when
God saves you. You're set free. Most people's
religion is very unhappy. They're doing what they really
don't want to do, and they don't get to do what they really want
to do. But when God saves somebody,
they're given a new want to. So their desire is to follow
the Lord Jesus Christ. They're set free. They're liberated. Now there's two things involved
in being liberated. One, you don't have any debts. Number two, you get to do what
you want to. That's what I love about vacation.
You get to do what you want to do. You're doing things you really
enjoy doing. Now, I love work, or what I do, so don't misunderstand
me, but don't you love vacation where you're not required to
do anything? You just do what you want to do. And to be debt-free? Well, that is what the Lord does
for all of His children. He liberates them. I don't know
anything. I don't think Jesus paid a half
the other half I owe. No, Jesus paid it all, all the
debt I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. He did it all. I'm debt free. And you know what else? I get
to do what I want to do. You know what I'm doing right
now? What I want to do? I want to follow Christ. I want
to deny myself, take up my cross, and follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let me give you a passage of scripture that I think will explain
this. In Mark chapter 10, beginning in verse 46. We read of a man
by the name of Blind Bartimaeus. Verse 46, And they came to Jericho.
And as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great
number of people, Blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the
highway side, begging. This man was blind and he was
a beggar. Now, let me give some thought
on this. no doubt he was taken into the
synagogue. Somebody laid him by the hand
in the synagogue. He'd hear the scripture read. He heard in the
book of Isaiah, where when the Messiah would come, he would
give sight to the blind. Now, that might not have meant
that much to somebody else, but it meant something to him. He
thought, oh, when the Messiah comes, he'll give sight to the
blind. Well, he's sitting there on the roadside. He'd hear all
the news by people passing by, and he heard about Jesus of Nazareth,
who gave sight to one who was born blind. And I guarantee you,
at that time, he became a secret disciple of Christ. He said,
oh, if he ever comes by this way, I'll cry out to him to do
something for me. Now one day, as he was sitting
by the wayside begging, he heard a commotion. Verse 47, when he
heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say,
Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. He knew who he was,
the Son of David, the promised Messiah. He knew only the Son
of David could give sight to one who was born blind, and he
knew exactly who Jesus was. He was the Christ, the Son of
David, the Messiah. And many charged him that he
should hold his peace, but he cried the more, a great deal,
thou son of David, have mercy on me. If you need mercy, nothing
can shut you up. If you become convinced that
your one need is mercy, for God to not give you what you deserve,
you will not stop crying. Scripture says, when they told
him to hold his peace, he cried the more. a great deal. Have mercy on me. And Jesus stood
still. I love that. You know, he's all
kinds of people are saying all kinds of things and he's marching
on toward Jerusalem. Nothing could stop him. But here
is one cry that stopped him this cry for mercy. Jesus stood still
and commanded him to be called And they called the blind man,
saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. And he
casting away his garment. That represents casting away
his covering, his righteousness. Oh, he cast it away. He rose
and came to Jesus, and Jesus answered and said unto him, What
wilt thou that I should do unto thee? What wilt thou that I should
do? That's the emphasis. What wilt
thou that I should do? Salvation is what he does. What
wilt thou that I should do unto thee? And the blind man said
unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said
unto him, go thy way. Did you catch that? Go thy way.
Thy faith hath made thee whole, and immediately he received his
sight and followed Jesus in the way. When the Lord said, Go thy
way, what was his way? To follow Jesus in the way. You see, when the Lord sets you
free, you're given a new want to. Your great desire is to be
a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what you want
to do, not what you have to do, not what you're afraid not to
do, but it's what you want to do. Now that is my personal testimony. That's the testimony of every
believer. He took me. He healed me. And He set me free. To request a copy of the sermon
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