It is not that I did choose thee,
Lord, for, Lord, that could not be. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyvert. 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 Nyvert. In Luke chapter 1, beginning
in verse 1, Luke says, for as much as many have taken in hand
to set forth an order, a declaration of those things which are most
surely believed among us. Even as they delivered them unto
us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers
of the word, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding
of all things from the very first to write unto thee in order most
excellent Theophilus, that name means lover of God, that thou
mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast
been instructed." The term believer is a scriptural
term describing those people whom God has saved. They're called
believers. There are unbelievers and there
are believers. In Acts chapter 5, verse 14,
we read, And believers were the more added to the Lord multitudes,
both of men and women. Now, obviously, a believer is
somebody who believes. Now, here's my question. Believes
what? I've entitled this message, What
Do Believers Believe? Now, in this verse of Scripture,
we read, For as much as many have taken in hand to set forth
in order a declaration of those things which are most surely
believed among us. Now, when Luke speaks of those
things that are most surely believed among us, Who does he mean by
us? Does he mean those of our circle?
Those we run with? Those who are of our theological
persuasion? Is he talking about us Baptists,
or us Methodists, or us Catholics, or us Church of Christ, or us
Presbyterians? Is he talking about denominational
distinctions? Who is the demographic referred
to in the us? Let me tell you this. It's none
of those things that I mentioned. This is what every believer believes. This is the same us that Paul
spoke of in Romans 8, verse 31, when he said, If God be for us,
who can be against us? He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all. There's the word us. How shall
I not with Him freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. That's the us He's speaking
of. Every believer, every child of
God, all of God's elect, all for whom Christ died. There's
some things that are most surely believed. among us, every believer. Now, Luke is writing to Theophilus,
and his name means lover of God. And here's his end in writing,
that you might know the certainty of those things wherein thou
hast been instructed, the certainty of those things that are most
surely believed, that you might know. Lord said, you should know
the truth and the truth shall make you free. Now, what do believers
most surely believe? And like I said, this is every
believer from the youngest and most immature to the oldest and
most experiencing race, every believer believes these things. These are the things that are
most surely believed among us. Now, when I say that these are
the things that are most surely believed and that we might know
the certainty of these things, that doesn't mean that a believer
cannot be plagued with doubts and fears, even though he surely
and certainly believes these things. Why do I say that? Well,
there was a man in Mark chapter 9 who cried out to the Lord when
the Lord said, If thou canst believe, all things are possible
to him that believeth. He cried out and said, Lord,
I believe. Help thou my unbelief. And do you know, in my experience,
there has never been a time when I haven't had to make that cry.
You see, the new man, the new nature, always believes. But a believer has another man,
an old man, that never believes, and we always have to cry out,
Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. So when we speak of
those things that are most surely believed, Things we know certainly. That doesn't mean that there's
not part of us that always has some kind of doubts and misgivings.
I wish it wasn't that way, but it is. And someone who claims
to never have any doubts, I like what Charles Spurgeon said one
time, a preacher of the past. Somebody said to him, I never
have any doubts. And Spurgeon replied, I never
had a doubt about you. I always knew you were a hypocrite.
I love the way he answered that man. Now, what are the things
that believers most surely believe? Well, number one, every believer
believes that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. They believe the Word and they
believe that the Bible, this book, is the inspired Word of
God. The gospel is a religion of this
book we call the Bible. I repeat, every believer believes
that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. And every believer
believes that God is as the Bible declares him to be. God inspired
this book to make known to us who he is and what he's like. Thirdly, every believer believes
man is as the Bible declares him to be. At last, every believer
believes that salvation is as the Bible declares it to be. Now, all believers believe these
four things. They're all at perfect agreement. They all see eye to eye. Now, how can you say that? How
can you say all believers believe this? Because all believers have
the same teacher. They've all been taught of God. And God doesn't
teach one thing, one thing, and somebody else something contrary
to that. No, they're all taught of God and they're all taught
the same thing. They're taught the Gospel. Now, here's where
we begin. The Bible is the Word of God. The Bible is the inspired, inerrant
Word of God. 2 Timothy 3.16 says all Scripture
is given by inspiration of God. Literally, God breathed. Peter said, the prophecy came
not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Now, men wrote the Bible,
fallible, sinful men, just like me, just like you, weak men,
sinful men, but they were inspired by God. And every word that they
wrote down was inspired by God Himself. Every word in the Bible
is inspired. There's no error in it. Let me give you three words that
are very important for us to understand regarding this book.
First, inspiration. The Bible is literally God's
breathed our only rule of faith and practice. And that's why
I avoid confessions and creeds and so on. There may be many
good things in them, but men wrote them, and therefore they're
subject to error. I don't care how sound the confession
may be, There's going to be error in it because men wrote it. So
why have a confession in creed when we have the inspired word
of God? The Bible is our only rule of faith and practice. Now, somebody says it's so hard
to believe that this book called the Bible is nothing but the
inspired Word of God. I just have a hard time believing
that. I mean, I believe perhaps God inspired some men to say
some things and has true things, but to say every word is inspired,
that's hard to believe. I felt that way before, granted,
but let me ask you a question. Is it hard to believe that God
created the universe? Now, to believe the contrary,
Indeed would be hard to believe. To believe that somehow in some
primordial ooze some chemicals flashed together and all of a
sudden there was life and life evolved to the present day as
we know it. That is real hard to believe.
Real hard to believe. I know a lot of folks say, well
that's what I believe. No, it's because you don't want to believe
the truth. That's why you believe that way. It's not hard to believe
that God created the universe. It's the only reasonable thing
to believe. He's the cause of all things. Now, if He has the
power to create the universe, to bring into existence something
from nothing, doesn't He have the power to preserve His Word
inerrant? Of course He does. This word
is the inspired word of God, and it's preserved from the errors
of man. I would like to read you a scripture
from Isaiah chapter 8, beginning in verse 19. God says, And when
they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar
spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter. Should
not a people seek after their God for the living to the dead? to the law and to the testimony,
that's the written word of God, if they speak not according to
this word. The law and the testimony, it's
because there is no light in them. They're false if they speak
not exactly according to this word. And I love this description
of those who don't speak according to this word. It says they peep
and they mutter. That means they make the noise
of a bird chirping. Mutter has with it the idea of
imagination. They're speaking of the imagination
of their own corrupt heart. And what good is that going to
do anybody? Now, the Bible's the inspired Word of God. If
it's not, all we have is my opinion, my speculation, your opinion,
and your speculation. And what good's that going to
do anybody? No, the Bible is the inspired Word of God. Here's
the second word that's very important for us to understand. Mystery. Mystery. Inspiration and mystery. Now, mystery in the Scripture
is not that which is not known. That's the way we use it. It's
a mystery to me. When we say that, we mean, I don't know.
I don't know. But mystery means that which could not be known
apart from divine revelation. This book is filled with the
mysteries of God, and this is a mystery religion. Now, you
can't really understand mysteries. You just believe them. For instance,
the Bible reveals that God is one God revealed in three distinct
persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Now, that's not understood, but
it is believed, believed wholeheartedly and utterly. The Bible is filled
with the mysteries of God. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
Can anybody understand how that took place? Of course not, but
we believe it. Jesus Christ became flesh. When
Paul spoke of marriage, he said the two shall become one flesh.
This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and
the church. He's showing this Mysterious
union between Christ and the believer. The two are one. I'm
one with Christ. All that He is, I am, if I'm
in Him. That's a mystery. Paul said,
Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. Speaking of the resurrection.
The truth of the Bible could not be known without revelation. Paul said we're stewards of the
mysteries of God. And we speak the Word of God
in a mystery. These are things that we could
have never known regarding God unless he made them known. Now,
with regard to the Bible, first it's inspired, and then it's
a mystery, and the third word is history. His story is history. History is made of facts and
events. The religion of the gospel is
a religion of facts, that which is, that which is the truth.
It's not an interpretation of events. It's the facts, the facts
regarding him, who he is, what he did and where he is now. The Bible is the inspired word
of God. And if you don't have that, you
don't have anything. Here's the second thing that
all believers believe. God is as the Bible declares
Him to be. This book is a declaration of
His isness. That's why God wrote the Bible,
so He can tell us who He is. Now, we can guess things about
God. I can look at the creation and see God is very powerful,
and I can see His goodness in creation, all the blessings of
this life. We can speculate things about
God, but I can't know that He'll forgive sins. I can't know that
He's utterly just. I can't know of His holiness.
I can't know of His omnipresence. There's many things I can't know
about God except that He make them known in His Word. And this
book declares God as He is. He that cometh to God must believe
that He is. I was reading last week of a
woman who was giving her testimony. And she was saying, my testimony
is not like most religious people's testimony because my God is not
like their God. My God would include everybody.
And she was saying she couldn't believe in a God who would send
somebody to hell and so on. I thought, well, yeah, your God
is like that, but He's a false God. He's not the God of the
Bible. I know a lot of folks will talk
about my God, but I'm not interested in that. I want to know who God
really is. And He makes Himself known in
this book we call the Bible. In Exodus chapter 3, verse 14,
He said to Moses, when Moses said, who shall I tell him sent
me? He said, I am that I am. Tell them I am has sent thee. Now God is who he is. He never
says I was, will be, should be, could be, want to be. I am that
I am. He's holy. That's what the Bible
declares. The Lord is holy. He never changes. I'm the Lord. I change not. Therefore,
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. He's immutable. He's absolutely
just. He must punish sin. Justice and
judgment are the habitation of His throne. He's all-powerful. Whatever He wills, He has the
power to bring to pass. He's absolutely and utterly sovereign,
controlling everything. Daniel 435 says he doeth according
to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth Everything that is going on right now. He's an
ultimate control of and it's his will being done Whatever
it is for his own purpose. He's absolutely Sovereign he's
eternal he never began to be all these things God reveals
to us from his word now God is as He is, as He reveals Himself
in His Word. I was listening to a preacher
who was telling a story. He'd been preaching on the fact
that God had elected a people and Christ died for those people.
God wasn't trying to save everybody. He was saving those that He gave
to Christ. And a woman replied to him, she
said, thinking about God being like, she said, your God's a
monster if he doesn't save everybody, if he doesn't want to save everybody.
And the preacher replied to her, prepare to meet a monster then,
because that's the God of the Bible. That's who he is. Now, God is as the Bible declares
him to be. Thirdly, man is as the Bible
declares him to be. The Bible is the inspired word
of God. God is, as the Bible declares Him to be, and man is,
as the Bible declares Him to be. First, man is a creature. He's not an accident. He's not
evolved from some kind of stroke of fate where all of a sudden
life was created when a lightning struck a certain... some kind
of heat or whatever. He's a creature created by God. He's not chance. He didn't just
happen. He's a creature created in the
image of God. God created man upright, and
man sought out many inventions. He's a creature, but he's a fallen
creature. Ephesians 2.1 says, And you hath
equipped them who are dead in trespasses and sins. Now, what
can a dead man do as far as performing the functions of life. We can't
do anything. He's dead. He can't see. Natural man can't
see the gospel. He can't hear. Natural man can't
hear the gospel. He can't smell. Natural man can't
smell the sweet savor of Christ. He can't feel. The natural man
can't feel the warmth of grace. Natural man is dead in sins.
He can't believe. He can't repent. He can't love. All he can do is sin. He's a
sinner. That's what man is. He's a preacher,
but he's a fallen preacher. Well, how did he get that way?
Well, the scripture says, by one man's disobedience, the many
were made sinners. When Adam sinned, he did so as
a representative man. And what he did is charged to
our account. And we're born into this world
with his sinful nature. Man is a sinner. That's what the Bible says about
man. He is a sinner. Now, there are
different views people have of men. Some think that he's the
product of evolution. And if that's the case, he's
just getting better. Man doesn't need a Savior, if
that's the truth. There are others who think all man needs is the
right information to direct him in the right path, and he'll
be okay. Men are born with a blank slate,
and if you give them the proper information and the right upbringing,
everybody will be fine. Well, if that's the case, man
doesn't need a Savior, he just needs a good teacher. And then there
are others who believe that, well, yes, man is sinful, but
he still has the power of free will, and he can choose to become
better, and he can choose to accept grace if he decides to. Well, if that's the case, man
doesn't need a Savior, He needs someone to persuade him and to
point him in the right direction. But if man is, as the Bible declares
him to be, dead in sins, unable to save himself, corrupt before
God, as Genesis 6, 5 says, And God saw the wickedness of man
was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually. If that's the case, what man
needs is a Savior. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins." Now man is,
as the Bible declares him to be, a sinful man without the
ability to save himself. That means, if God just leaves
me alone, I'll go to hell. That's what that means. If God
leaves you alone, that's all He's got to do, is leave you
alone, leave you to yourself, and you'll wind up in hell. That's
the condition of man. If you want to know what you
really are like, look at the cross. Look at the cross. You look at these men nailing
Jesus Christ to a cross. That's the natural man's view
of God. They hated him. They hated him. Someone says, I don't hate God.
Well, when you hear the gospel, to see whether you really love
God is seen in your response to the gospel of how he saved
sinners. That's where men see their hatred
of God. And last, salvation is as this
book describes it to be. This book is the inspired Word
of God. God is as this book declares Him to be. Man is as this book
declares Him to be. And salvation is as the Bible
declares it to be. Matthew 121 says, Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. That's in the first chapter of
the New Testament, Matthew 121. What a precious verse of Scripture.
Thou shalt call His name Jesus. That's the Old Testament Joshua,
Savior. Do you remember how Moses couldn't
bring the children of Israel into the promised land? It's
because he represented the law. The law can't bring you into
the promised land. Only Joshua, the Savior, could bring them
into the promised land. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
Savior, for He shall save Not He'll make salvation available.
Not He'll make salvation out there for you to take, if you
will. No, it says, He shall save. Who's He save? He shall save
His people. Is everybody His people? No.
They're children of God and they're children of the devil. He shall
save His people. He said, I pray for them. I pray
not for the world, but for them which You've given Me, for they
are Thine. And all mine are thine, and thine
are mine, and I'm glorified in them. He's praying for His elect.
He shall save His people from their sins. Now here's what I
need saved from. I need saved from my sins. My
sins. My sins of omission. My sins
of commission. My sins of nature. My sins of
thought and attitude. My sins of action and deed. I
need saved from my sins. My sin is ever before me. I need
to be saved from the penalty of my sins. God's going to punish
sin. And if I stand before God in
judgment with sin on me, I'll be punished. I need to be saved
from the penalty of sin. And that's what our Lord did
on the cross when God punished Him. Now I won't have to be punished.
Christ died that I might live. There's therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. Saved from the punishment of
sin. But not only saved from the punishment of sin, I need
to be saved from the power of sin. You see, I can't believe,
I can't repent, if God doesn't do something for me, I have to
be delivered from the power and dominion of sin. Now, Christ
delivered me from the penalty of sin on the cross, and He delivers
me from the power of sin when He gives me a new nature. And
He makes me to be born from above. And I'm given a heart that I
didn't have before. I now can believe. I now can
repent. I now can love God. I've been
saved from the power and the dominion of sin by His mighty
work on the cross. And bless God, I'll be saved
from the very presence of sin. When I awaken His likeness, there
will be no sin. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sin. Salvation is
as the Bible describes it. Jonah said in Jonah 2.9, Salvation's
of the Lord. It's not of man. It's not of
works. It's not what you do. It's of
the Lord. Salvation is of the Father in
eternal election. Salvation is of the Son in eternal
redemption. And salvation is of God the Holy
Spirit in the new birth. Salvation is of the Lord. Most
especially, Christ is salvation. I'd like to read a passage of
Scripture to you from Luke chapter 2, verse 25. And behold, there
was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. The same man
was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel.
And the Holy Ghost was upon him, and it was revealed unto him
by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death, till he had seen
the Lord's Christ. And He came by the Spirit into
the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to
do for Him after the custom of the law, then He took up His
arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant
depart in peace according to Thy word, for mine eyes have
seen Thy salvation." Christ Himself is salvation. This is what believers
believe. Christ is salvation. salvation,
not Christ and Christ alone. Now, we have this message on
CD and DVD. If you call the church or write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Kniper, friend,
and God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's
our prayer. Amen. 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
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