Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neidert. 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've entitled the message for
this morning, the practice of grace, the practice of grace. Now there are two things that
I need to understand. I need to understand law and
I need to understand grace and I need to understand the difference
between the law and grace. Law makes salvation in some way
to be dependent upon me. I will not be saved unless I
do this or unless I stop doing that. Law makes salvation dependent
upon me. Now in the message that's preached
in our day, and this is what is preached from most pulpits,
and I say unto you that it's law, it's law. For most pulpits,
the message is God loves everybody, Christ died for everybody, God
wants to save everybody, Christ died for your sins, but it's
up to you to accept what he did or what he did won't work for
you. Salvation is ultimately dependent
upon you. And my dear friends, that's law
and that's all that is. You might as well say you have
to keep the Ten Commandments perfectly to be saved. That is
salvation by law. Grace is salvation dependent
upon what God does. Grace is salvation dependent
upon what Christ does. Grace is salvation not being
dependent upon me. but depended upon what the Lord
has done for me. By grace you are saved, the scripture
says, through faith. And that not of yourselves, even
the faith is not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. Law and grace. Now where there
is grace, where God has saved someone by His grace, there will
be the practice of grace. And I hope you'll understand
what that means by the time this sermon is over. Now, beginning
in Matthew 5, verse 38, we read, You've heard
that it hath been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth. Three times in the law we read
an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Now that is law,
absolute impartial justice. And we see the Lord's mercy in
giving us this law because we would overcompensate in our punishment. We would say death for a tooth,
death for an eye, but the Lord in His mercy makes it to where
we cannot. over-retaliate or over-punish. The punishment always fits the
crime. An eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth. And you know, this law is necessary
for us because we would over-punish and be over-severe. You see,
the law was not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and
disobedient. A perfect man, a righteous man, doesn't need any laws. It
is the evil who need laws. Now, If we have a desire to be
under law, all we've proved by that is that we are evil. That's all that says about us
if we want to be under law. But on a personal level, do you
want God to deal with you that way? An eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth? Is that the way you want the
Lord to deal with you? I certainly don't. I want grace. I want mercy." Now, he says,
you've heard that it's been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth. There's law, but here's grace. But I say unto
you that you resist not evil. But whosoever shall smite thee
on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." Now there is
the practice of grace. Now remember who he's speaking
to at this time. He's speaking to those who are
his disciples. They're described by the Beatitudes. Those who are poor in spirit. Those who mourn over sin. Those
who are meek before God. Those who hunger and thirst after
righteousness. Those that are pure in heart
and merciful. Those that are persecuted for
Christ's sake, and yet they're peacemakers. That's who he's
describing. Believers. Those who he calls
the light of the world. Those who he calls the salt of
the earth. And he says to these people, he says to every one
of his disciples, everyone who's been given grace, he says, turn
the other cheek. Now, what he's saying is impossible
for the natural man, but natural for the spiritual man. Let me
repeat that. What he says is impossible for
the natural man, but it's natural for the spiritual man. to turn
the other cheek. Now, this is not talking about
foreign policy. This is not saying if a country
would attack the United States, we ought to just turn the other
cheek. It's not what that's talking about at all. I can remember
after 9-11, someone in my study said, well, we ought to turn
the other cheek. Well, if you did that, they would smite another
city and another city and another city, and you can't do that.
This is not talking about foreign policy, nor is this talking about
not punishing people for their crimes. If someone, if there's
no punishment for crimes, what's going to happen? We have to have
that. We have to have that in our legal system and in judicial
system. So this is not talking about foreign policy or the punishment
of criminals. What this is talking about is
retaliation. What this is talking about is
paying somebody back. Now, how is it that if somebody
smites me on the right cheek, I can turn to him the other also,
and not seek to retaliate, and not seek to pay him back? Now,
the only way that can be understood is in light of the fact that
God is in control of everything, and he's in control of that one
who smote me on the cheek. Let me show you a passage of
scripture I think that would shed a lot of light of this from
2 Samuel 15. Now, this is David. man after God's own heart, and
when King David, verse 5, 2 Samuel 16, verse 5, and when King David
came to Behurim, behold, there came out a man of the family
of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gerab.
And he came forth and cursed still as he came. He started
hurling insults and cursing David. And he cast stones at David,
and at all the servants of King David, and all the people, and
all the mighty men were on the right hand and on his left. He
was throwing rocks at him. And thus said Shemai when he
cursed, come out, come out, thou bloody man, thou son of Belial.
You're a wicked man, he said to David. You're an evil man.
The Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of
Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned. You've been an imposter
and you've took somebody's place. And the Lord hath delivered the
kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son, and behold, thou art
taken in thy mischief. This is all your fault. You're
a bloody man. You're a murdering man. You're
an evil man. Then said Abshi the son of Zariah
unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king?
Let me go, I pray thee, and take off his head. And the king said,
What have I to do with you, you sons of Zariah? So let him curse,
because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore
hast thou done so? David knew that the Lord is the
first cause behind everything, and He was the first cause behind
that man cursing him, and he bowed to God's will. If somebody smites me, oh, may
God give me the grace to realize God is the first cause behind
all things, and I turn the other cheek. Now that is the practice
of grace. He says in verse 40, and if any
man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him
have thy cloak also. That is the practice of grace. And whosoever shall compel thee
to go a mile, go with him twain." Now, at that time, a Roman soldier,
whatever you were doing, he could stop you and say, you need to
carry my armor for a full mile. And by law, you were required
to do it. You had to quit whatever you were doing and carry that
armor, no matter how heavy it was, a mile for that soldier.
Now, our Lord says, that one who compels you and forces you
to go a mile, go with him too. Now that's grace, isn't it? That
is unmerited favor. That is grace. That's the practice
of grace. Give to him that asks of thee,
and from him that would borrow thee, turn thou not away. Now
that's grace. You've heard that it's been said,
thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. That's
law. That's law. But I say unto you, love your
enemies. Bless them that curse you and
do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully
use you. Peter translates that same word
falsely accuses you and persecute you. You love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Do
good to them that hate you. Pray for them which despitefully
use you and persecute you. Now that's grace, isn't it? That's
grace, that you may be the children of your father which is in heaven.
You see, his children demonstrate his likeness. You don't do these
things in order to become children, but you do these things because
you are children. Because here's what he does,
for he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good,
and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. That's the way
he does, you be the same. For if you love them which love
you, What reward have you? Even the publicans do that. And
that was the most despised persons of those days. The publicans,
the Roman tax collectors, they were unjust. But they did good
to those who did good unto them. And if you slew your brethren,
what do you more than others? You see, grace makes a man do
more. And if you don't do more than
others, you haven't really understood grace. Do not even the publicans
so? Then the Lord makes this statement
in verse 48. He says, Be ye therefore perfect,
even as your heavenly Father is perfect. Now the word perfect
quite often means be mature, be grown up. And maturity is
greatly to be desired, to be a mature believer, one who demonstrates
the family likeness, one who is gracious, one who is merciful,
one who is, by the grace of God, Christ-like. maturity. But when the Lord uses the word
here, be ye perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect, He's
not saying being mature because the heavenly Father never matures.
If He matured, that would mean He would be mutable. That would
mean He had been subject to change or He had improved. And that's
not cannot be said of the Lord God. Your Heavenly Father is
absolutely perfect, absolutely holy, absolutely just, absolutely
merciful. All He is, it's not a level of
maturity that He's reached. He said, I am that I am. Not
I want to be, would be, could be, should be, but I am that
I am. And the Lord says, you be perfect. even as your heavenly Father
is perfect. Now, you can only be perfect
if you are perfect. Let me repeat that. You can only
be perfect if you are perfect. And quite often when people have
fallen short in some way, they'll say, I'm not perfect. Oh, I wouldn't
have known that unless you told me, but it's interesting when
we say something like that. I'm not perfect. Of course we're
not perfect, but a believer is perfect in Christ Jesus. He is perfect. Paul said his
reason in preaching was to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Now, Hebrews 7, verse 19 says,
the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better
hope did. And what is that better hope?
It's the hope of the gospel. In Hebrews 7.22, it says that
Christ Jesus was made a surety of a better hope, a better covenant. By the witch, by his suretyship,
we draw nigh unto God. We can actually come into God's
presence with boldness through his suretyship. Now what is a
surety? A surety is someone who takes
the responsibility for somebody else. Christ Jesus became my
surety, and that's illustrated. by Judah, in Judah chapter 43,
when he said to Jacob, send the lad with me, I will be surety
for him. I'll make sure that Benjamin
gets back to you. Send the lad with me, I'll be
surety for him. Of my hand shalt thou require
of him, and if I don't bring him back and set him before thee,
let me bear the blame forever. Judah said, I take full responsibility
for Benjamin. And the Lord Jesus Christ, here's
the better hope that makes us perfect. The Lord Jesus Christ
says, I take full responsibility for making him perfect. It's
all on me. All you require of him, you look
to me for. Now that is a better hope, isn't
it? That is a better hope. Now here's, here is the better
hope. when the Lord said in John chapter
19 verse 30 from the cross, it is finished. It is the same word
perfected. I was perfected when Christ said
it is finished. Everybody he died for was perfected. Matthew 1.21 says, Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. And when He said, It is finished,
they were all saved from their sins. It is perfected. Hebrews 10.14 says, By one offering
He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. He didn't
by that offering perfect everybody without exception, but He perfected
them that are sanctified, set apart by God. Now the believer
was sanctified by the Father in eternal election when He set
him apart and gave him to His Son. The believer was sanctified
when Christ said, it is finished. I was perfected. My sin was put
away. By that one offering, he hath perfected forever them that
are sanctified. I was sanctified when God the
Holy Spirit gave me a holy nature. He made me different. He made
me a new creature in Christ Jesus. Sanctification. He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Now, what does that say? You
know, this can only be understood by faith, but if Christ died
for me, I am perfect. I am without sin. My sin has been put away. The scripture says he was manifested
to take away our sins and in him is no sin. Every believer has been perfected
in Christ Jesus. So when he is saying to his children,
be perfect, even as your heavenly father is perfect, he's speaking
to those who are perfect. You are perfect. Be perfect. You are perfect. Be perfect just
like your Heavenly Father. Practice grace. Turn the other
cheek. Love your enemies. Do good to
those who do not do good to you. Practice grace. Be like your
father because you are perfect. Leviticus 22 21 says it should
be perfect to be accepted. God will accept nothing short
of perfection. And every believer is perfect
in Christ Jesus. You know, this is how we can
come boldly into his presence because we're in his son. perfect
in Christ Jesus. Now, somebody says that sounds
mighty good, but you don't look perfect, and neither do I. I'm still conscious of my sin.
Well, I am too. I am too. Well, that sounds contradictory
to what you just said. Well, it may sound that way,
but I am too. I'm conscious of being nothing
but sin in and of myself, and I'm conscious of being perfect
in Christ Jesus. I'm conscious of both of those
things. You see, we still have, if I'm a believer, if I am perfect
in Christ Jesus, that doesn't take away the reality of the
fact that I still have the old man. I still have the sins of
the old man. And Paul the Apostle said in
Philippians 3, it's not as though I'd already attained or are already
perfect. He understood that. But let me
show you something in 2 Corinthians 12 that I found to be helpful
to understand this thing of perfection. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul said
in verse 6, for though I would desire to glory, I shall not
be a fool. For I'll say the truth, but now
I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which
he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me, and lest I should
be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations."
Now, Paul was selected by God to go into the third heaven and
have Christ himself teach him. He was the chief apostle. God
used him to expound his gospel. God used him like he used no
other man. What a special man. What special
privileges. What special grace was given
to the apostle Paul. He said, and to me is this grace
given that I should preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ. Now Paul was given this special
grace. And I try to put myself in Paul's
place. What if the Lord used me the same way he used Paul? Well, I would have a hard time
to keep my pride down. I know I would. I'd think, I
must be special. Look at the way the Lord's using
me. And Paul understood that about himself. He understood
the sinfulness of the flesh. So look what he says. He says
in verse seven, and lest I should be exalted above measure through
the abundance of the revelations there was given to me. a thorn
in the flesh. Who gave it to him? God did. It was a thorn in the flesh.
A thorn in the flesh won't kill you, will it? But oh, how it
hurts. How painful it is. Now, many
people have speculated on what this thorn in the flesh was,
and all such speculation is useless. I know it had something to do
with His flesh. I know it had something to do with the trials
and temptations of being in the flesh. Now, I don't know what
it was. I don't know if it was a weakness, a sin. I don't know
what it was, but it was painful. And he said, God gave me this
thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, to buffet me, to strike
me in the face, to knock me black and blue and just hurt me, lest
I should be exalted above measure. Now for this thing, he says,
I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from me. That
doesn't mean he only did it three times. It means he besought him
all the time. Lord, let this depart. Deliver
me from this. Deliver me from this terrible
thorn. I can't bear it. And he said unto me, verse nine,
my grace is sufficient for thee. You're going to have to be satisfied.
and be content to be saved by pure, free, sheer grace. My grace is sufficient for thee. My saving grace, my sovereign
grace, my free grace is sufficient for thee." Then he says, is made
perfect in weakness, in powerlessness. My strength is made perfect in
powerlessness. That's why we still have this
sinful flesh. If we're believers, we're still
sinners. We're perfect in Christ Jesus, and yet we're still sinners.
The Lord makes it to where we can't look anywhere but Him alone
for everything in our salvation. We can't look to ourselves for
a thing. My strength is made perfect in weakness. Now I'd
like to close by looking at a passage of scripture in Psalm 138 regarding
this thing of perfection that was a great blessing to me. In
Psalm 138 we read, beginning in verse 6, this is a Psalm of
David, he says, Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect
unto the lowly. But the proud he knoweth afar
off Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive
me. Thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath
of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me." And notice
the confidence in which he speaks. The Lord will perfect. that which concerneth me." He
doesn't say, I hope the Lord will perfect that which concerneth
me, or maybe He will, or He will if. He simply says, the Lord
will perfect that which concerns me. Now, I know what concerns
me. It concerns me to have my sins put away. It concerns me
to have His righteousness given to me so that I have the very
righteousness of God. It concerns me that He saves
me by His grace. It concerns me that I'm going
to be perfect in Christ Jesus, that I'm going to stand before
Him in judgment, perfect. That's what concerns me. And
David says, the Lord will perfect that which concerns me. Now,
David, how can you speak with such confidence? Let's go on
reading. He says, the Lord will perfect
that which concerns me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endures forever. Now this is why I know He'll
perfect that which concerns me, because His mercy endures forever. I was saved by the mercy of God,
and that mercy can never run dry. Therefore, I know that He'll
perfect that which concerns me." Now, if I was saved by my works,
I wouldn't have this confidence, but because of the sheer mercy
and grace of God, I know He will perfect that which concerns me.
He says, Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. Forsake not the works
of thine own hands. Now, David understood that his
salvation was the work of God's hands. It wasn't the work of
his hands. He knew salvation was not by
his works, but by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he
knew that he was the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He could
say with Paul, being confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in you shall perform it, perfect it
into the day of Jesus Christ. Now my salvation is the work
of His hands. I just know that. If I'm saved,
it's because He saved me. He gets all the glory because
He did it all. Therefore, I can be confident
that the Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. I can be
confident that I'm going to stand before God in judgment, perfect
in Christ Jesus. God's holy law will look me over
and say there's nothing there to condemn him for. He's perfect. He's kept me perfectly. Now that
is what every believer has, perfection in Christ Jesus. And when the
Lord says, be ye perfect, Even as your Heavenly Father is perfect,
He says that to perfect people, people who are perfect in Christ
Jesus. And by His grace, those who are
perfect are to practice grace. To request a copy of the sermon
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