It is not that I did choose thee,
Lord, O Lord, thou couldst not be. 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 Mattawar 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 Nyberg. In Luke chapter 4, beginning
in verse 28, we read, And all day in the synagogue, this was
a religious gathering, some people who had come together to worship,
so to speak, and to hear the word of God. This was a religious
gathering. And all they in the synagogue,
no exceptions, everyone was unanimous in this sentiment. All they in
the synagogue, when they heard these things, these things which
were spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ, they were filled with
wrath and rose up and thrust him out of the city, this was
his hometown, Nazareth, and led him under the brow of the hill
whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down
headlong, execute him, murder him for saying such things, But
he, passing through the midst of them, went his way. He didn't
escape. He supernaturally passed through
the midst of them because his hour was not yet come. I have
entitled this message, Temple Goers Turned Lynch Mob. Now, what did the Lord say that
incited such rage that this religious crowd in a synagogue brings him
out of the city in order to kill him. They were so angry with
what he said, filled with wrath. What did he say to provoke this? Well, this is the message that
our Lord brought when he first went back to his hometown of
Nazareth. He'd been in Capernaum and other
places preaching, and now he's come back to his hometown. And
these are people that have seen the Lord Jesus Christ grow up.
But they didn't know him as the Lord Jesus Christ. They just
knew him as Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth. We knew his mom and dad. We know
his brothers and sisters. And they heard him. And he's
come into town and he's become famous with all these things
he's been doing. And he begins, verse 16, and
he came to Nazareth where he'd been brought up. And as his custom
was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood
up for it to read. And there was delivered unto him the book
of the prophet Isaiah. And when he opened the book,
he found a place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me. This is a prophecy concerning
the Messiah from Isaiah chapter 61. And I would have loved to
have heard the way he emphasized this passage of Scripture, because
this is really the announcement of his public ministry to them
in his hometown. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book and he
gave it to the minister and sat down. And the eyes of all them
that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began
to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your
ears. I am the fulfillment of this
scripture. And all bearing witness and wondered
at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said,
Is not this Joseph's son? And he said unto them, You'll
surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself. Whatsoever
we've heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
And he said, Verily I say unto you, that no prophet is accepted
in his own country, but I tell you the truth. Now here's what
made them so mad. They were angry with him saying,
I'm the fulfillment of this scripture. They were already mad, but this
is what made them filled with wrath. He said, But I tell you
the truth, many widows were in Israel. In the days of Elijah,
when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, many needy
widows, and unto none of them was Elijah sent, save unto Sarepti,
a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. There were
a lot of widows in Israel. during this time of famine. And
God did not send His prophet to even one of them. He wasn't
sent for them. He was sent for a Gentile woman. And many lepers were in Israel
in the time of Elisha the prophet. And none of them were cleansed
save Naaman the Syrian, another Gentile. None of the Israelites
were cleansed. only this Gentile leper. And all they in the synagogue,
when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose
up and thrust him out of the city, and led him under the brow
of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast
him down headlong." Now, what our Lord was telling this group
of people is of the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation. He said, you're listening to
me and you don't believe me. You reject me. God's in control. And you've
been passed by. And God will say somebody else.
That's what He's saying to these people. You reject me. You've
been passed by. God is absolutely sovereign in
salvation. He saves whom he will, and he
passes by whom he will. It works like this. In Romans
chapter 9, beginning in verse 11, Paul says to the children,
being not yet born, talking about Jacob and Esau, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said
unto her, the elder shall serve the younger, as it's written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." Now that's God
speaking. Well, what should we say then? Is there unrighteousness
with God? Is God unfair in loving Jacob
and hating Esau? Now remember, when we talk about
God's hatred, it's not like human hatred. It's hatred with regard
to righteousness, anything that's contrary to righteousness and
holiness. He hates. Thou hatest all workers
of iniquity, the Scripture says. Jacob have I loved, but these
all have I hated. Now what shall we say then? Is
there unrighteousness with God? Is God unfair? God forbid. For He says to Moses, I'll have
mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth. Now did you hear that? Do not men have a free will?
No. Their will is chained to sin. And no one wills themselves
into the Kingdom of Heaven. It's not of Him that willeth,
nor of Him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the Scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee. This is God speaking. And that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore, have
He mercy, on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will, He hardens."
Now, that is the Word of God. Have you ever dealt with that?
He has mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will,
He hardens. God's absolute sovereignty in
salvation. Now, when He tells these temple
goers, you don't believe me? Well, back in Elijah's day, God
had sent a mighty famine in the land. And there were many widows
in great need. And God didn't send His prophet
to any of them. He sent His prophet to a poor
widow that was a Gentile. And He passed the others by.
And during Elisha's day, there were many suffering the disease
of leprosy. As far as they felt they needed
cleansed. But do you know that God's prophet
was not sent to cleanse any of them? Only to Naaman, a Gentile
leper. God passed all the others by
because He saves whom He will and He passes by and hardens
whom He will. Now that is what is known as
the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation. And men have always
hated the sovereignty of God in salvation. Men will accept
his sovereignty in creation. Well, yes, he created the universe.
I mean, even people who believe evolution, quite many of them
who believe evolution and deny the creation account of the scripture,
they still believe that God started it all. Most people believe that
way. And so they'll say, well, he was sovereign in creation.
He got it started. He willed the universe into existence
without any help. And men to some extent will accept
his sovereignty and providence. People say things like, well,
I know everything happens for good and there was a reason behind
it and everything was meant for this to take place. And they'll
to some extent acknowledge God's sovereignty and providence. but
declare His sovereignty in salvation. He has mercy on whom He will
have mercy, and whom He will, He hardens. Well, that stirs
up the enmity of man toward God. This is what creates gnashing
of teeth. Now, there are two things that
are very prominent in this passage of Scripture I just read. Who
the Lord is sent for and who does the Lord cleanse? Those
are the two things that are prominent. And this is what got the people
so angry. He wasn't sent for everybody. He was just sent to
a Gentile widow woman. He didn't cleanse everybody. He just cleansed a Gentile leper. Now, who was Jesus Christ the
Lord sent for and who does he cleanse? Now, that's the question
I want us to consider. Who is he sent for? And who does
he cleanse? Most people would think, well,
he was sent for everybody. Well, Matthew 121, the very opening
of his opening in the New Testament says, that's why I call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Not everybody,
but his people. Well, didn't He cleanse everybody
when He died on the cross? Didn't He die to cleanse everybody
and make it so everybody's sins could be forgiven? No. No. Everybody He died for, He cleansed. But those who end up being unclean,
He did not cleanse those people. If He would have cleansed them,
they'd have been clean. Everybody He died for, He cleansed. Who
was He sent for and who Does He cleanse? Now, I'd like to
read some verses in John chapter 6 regarding this thing of the
Lord Jesus Christ being sent. You see, if I send somebody to
do something, I've got an intention in why I send them. I send them
to do this or do that, but there's an intent behind it, a reason,
a purpose. Now, John chapter 6, verse 29,
Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God,
that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." That's so important. Not just
that you believe, but that you believe on Him whom He hath sent. He said in verse 38 of this same
chapter, For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will,
but the will of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's
will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me
I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day."
What was God's will for Christ to do? To save everyone who was
given to Him. He came to save the elect. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, verse 40, that everyone would seeth the Son, Now, that
doesn't mean see audibly. It means you see Him for who
He is. He's the God-Man. He's fully God and fully man,
the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. He's the Christ. Everyone
that seeth the Son and believeth on Him, the relying only on Him
whom God has sent, will have everlasting life. And I'll raise
Him up at the last day. Now, when the people responded
in murmuring over this, they didn't like what he'd said. Jesus
answered and said, murmur not among yourselves. You're murmuring
at what I said. Don't murmur. No man can come
to me, except the Father which hath sent me. Draw him, and I
will raise him up at the last day. Who's he sent for? Well, not everybody. Well, who?
Those who believe. And in the context of this passage
of scripture I was just reading, they're described in Luke chapter
four as the poor. He sent me to preach the gospel
to the poor, those who have nothing, to recommend them to God. Would
that describe you? They're described as broken hearted. Hearts are no good. They're described
as captives, captive to sin, can't escape. They're described
as blind. They're described as crushed,
crushed by the fall, disabled, unable. They're described as
slaves who need to be set free by the year of jubilee. Now,
would that describe you? Somebody says, no, then I can't
say he was sent to you. But if this describes you, he
was sent for you. Now, the next word is cleansed. None of these Israelite lepers
were cleansed except for Naaman the Syrian who was not an Israelite
leper. Cleansing. Cleansing who? Who
is cleansed? Well, who needs cleansed? That's
one way to answer that question. Filthy people. People who are
unclean in and of themselves. They need to be cleansed. Do
you need to be cleansed because you're unclean before God and
you can't appear before God? You need to be cleansed. Well,
that's the person He cleanses. Now, there are three things the
Bible says are used in the cleansing of the sinner. First, the will
of God. The leper said to the Lord Matthew
8, if you will, you can make me clean. If I'm cleansed, it's
because he willed my cleansing. I can't make myself clean. I
can't will myself to be cleansed. The leper said, if you will,
you can make me clean. And then it was said to be cleansed
by the blood of Christ. Everybody that the Lord Jesus
Christ died for, their sin is washed away, and they're clean,
holy, and without spot before God because of His blood. Everybody
He died for is cleansed. And this is why, you know, preachers
quite often preach that Jesus Christ died for everybody, but
you might be Damned anyway. You might go to hell anyway if
you don't do your part. Well, that takes away the very
heart of the gospel, because my only hope is that when he
died, he cleansed me of all my sins. And if he can cleanse somebody
of their sins and they wind up in hell anyway, you take away
the only hope I have. No, it's the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, that cleanseth us from all sin. And we're said
to be cleansed through hearing the gospel. Now are you clean
through the word which I've spoken to you. There's no cleansing
apart from hearing how a sinner is cleansed through the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, those things are what cleanses
a man. Now, who is cleansed? Well, the
ones he cleansed, the ones he cleansed, the ones he died for.
All who believe. He's sovereign. He's not sent
for all men, nor does He cleanse all. Now, what is your response
to this? How do you respond? How do I
respond to the fact that He never intended to save everybody? That was never His intention.
That He wasn't sent to save everybody. And that He didn't come to cleanse
everybody. What is your personal response? I see what these people's
response in Nazareth was, it was outrage. They wanted to murder
the Lord over this. They said, this is not fair,
this is wrong. They wanted to kill Him for it.
Well, let me show you a favorable response in the Scripture. In
Matthew chapter 15, we read of a woman, verse 21, Then Jesus
came thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast and
cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son
of David! My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil." What a need this woman had. Her daughter
was demon possessed. She comes to the Lord with respect,
knowing who He was, the Son of David. And she came for the right
thing, mercy. And look at the way our Lord
responded to her. But He answered her, not a word. He ignored her. He was silent
toward her. He did not respond. Have you ever dealt with the
silence of God? Where he is not responding. And his disciples came and besought
him, saying, Send her away, for she crieth after us. Oh, how
hard hearted they were at this time. She evidently continued
crying. But he answered and said, I am
not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Do you
hear what he says? I didn't come to save everybody.
I've only come, I've only been sent for the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. I only came to save the elect. Now, that's exactly what our
Lord is saying at that time. I only came to save the elect. Well, how did she respond to
that? Did she get mad? Did she give up? No, the scripture
says, then came she and worshipped him. You see, you'll only worship
a sovereign. If you can manipulate the situation,
if you can manipulate God, if you can get Him to respond to
you, you'll never worship. You'll only worship a sovereign,
one in whose hands you are. Then came she and worshipped
Him, saying, Lord, help me. But He answered and said, it's
not meat. to take the children's bread
and to cast it to dogs. He's saying to this woman, it's
not fit, it's not right to take my grace, the children's bread,
and to throw it out to dogs like you. Now, how would you respond
to that? Well, look how she responded.
And she said, truth, Lord. That's the truth. I'm not objecting
to anything you're saying, and I'm not looking for a place setting
with the children. This is her attitude. Yet the
dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. I don't claim to be a child,
but I'm a dog, and I'm your dog, and I'd be oh so grateful for
any crumbs of mercy that come my way. Now look at how our Lord
answered her. And Jesus answered and said unto
her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as thou
wilt. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. Now that's how she responded
to who the Lord was sent for and who He cleansed. Oh, may God give us grace to
respond the same way. I want to tell you a true story.
There was a man in France some two or three hundred years ago.
I can't remember what the date was. I read about it. But he
was given authority by the king to go in to a ship with a bunch
of galley slaves And he said, what I'm going to do, I'm going
to let you have mercy on anyone you want to. I don't care what
they've done. If you decide to let them go, they're going to
be set free. So, this man came into this ship
looking at all these galley slaves and he began to interview them
to find out which one he was going to have mercy on. Now,
the first man was a man who had been sentenced to 10 years as
a galley slave. And he asked him, why are you
here? He said, well, I was treated unfairly. My crime didn't warrant
this. And the man thought, well, he
doesn't need mercy then. He needs justice. Another man admitted
what he did, but the circumstances were such that who could blame
him for what he did? And so the man thought to himself,
well, here's another man who doesn't need mercy and he's justice. He needs to be treated fairly.
And then he came to the third man and interviewed him. Why
are you here? He said, well, I've been falsely
accused. I didn't do what they accused me of. Well, here's another
man who didn't need mercy. He needed justice. And then he
came to the fourth man and this man admitted to doing everything
he was accused of. But he said there were others
who had done things far worse and they were not being punished
as he was. Well, we have another man who doesn't need mercy. He
needs justice. So he finally came to one who,
when he asked him why he was here, he said, I'm utterly guilty,
condemned. What I did, I deserve to be put
to death. And if they knew how bad I was,
they would put me to death. I should be condemned. I ought
to be here. And the man looked at him and
he said, here's a man who needs mercy. And so that man was set
free. Where do you and I fit in? Now I want to close by looking
at a passage from Luke chapter 18. It's a familiar parable. The parable of the Pharisee and
the publican. Verse 9, two men, verse 10, two men went
up into the temple to pray. The one a Pharisee and the other
a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself. He thought he's praying to God,
but he wasn't. God, I thank thee, he gave God the credit. that
I'm not as other men are. He was comparing himself to other
men. You know, you can always find
somebody that you think you're a little better than they are. He compared
himself to other men, and that's a wrong standard. I thank thee
that I'm not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even as this publican I fast twice in the week and I give
tithes of all that I possess. Now, he's lying. Everything he said he didn't
do, he did do. And the commandments he said
he kept were man-made commandments that God never commanded in His
Word. Now we have the publican. He standing afar off would not
lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast,
saying, God, be merciful to me, thee, sinner. The worst man to
ever live. I need mercy. Look what our Lord
says about this man. I tell you, verse 14, this man
went down to his house justified. Justification means not guilty,
perfectly righteous in God's sight. This man who beat upon
his breast, God be merciful to me, the sinner, went down to
his house justified rather than the other. For everyone that
exalts himself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall
be exalted." Now, Christ didn't come to save everybody, but He
came to save everybody who's like this publican. If you're
like Him, and you cry from your heart, God be merciful to me,
the sinner, You're somebody, you're a sinner who Christ came
to save. Now we have this message on DVD
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