Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neiberg. 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. In the last chapter of the last
book of the Bible, Revelation chapter 22, verse 17, we read
these words, ìAnd the Spirit and the Bride say, ìCome.î And
let him that heareth say, ìCome.î And let him that is athirst come.î
and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." I've
entitled this morning's message, No Man, Every Man, and Any Man. God created man. You know, the thought that there
was some primordial stew and some kind of explosion and somehow
life came out of that and then life evolved to where it is right
now is a big leap of blind faith. I know some very intelligent
people, much more intelligent than I am, believe that, but
it is unreasonable. God created man. God created Adam. in his own
image. And God created man upright. When God created Adam, He didn't
create him a sinner. He created him upright. He was
a morally innocent being. Now, we know what took place. In the Garden of Eden, God gave
a command. He put a tree in the garden and
forbid Adam to eat of that fruit. And he said, in the day you eat
thereof, you shall surely die. Now, notice he didn't say, if
you eat it, you'll die. He said, in the day that you
do, you shall surely die. Now, could God have prevented
Adam from eating that fruit? Of course He could. He's God. But He didn't. He allowed it
to happen because it was all a part of his glorious purpose
and his glorious plan. Now Adam ate the fruit and remember
God said in the day you eat thereof you shall surely die. Now he
didn't die physically but he did die spiritually. He became
sinful. He became evil. He lacked spiritual
life. Now his soul didn't die at that
time, his body didn't die at that time, but his spirit died.
He became spiritually dead. Unable to do anything to save
himself. Now that's how you and I got
in the mess we're in. We were in Adam. When he ate
the fruit, you and I did. When he died, you and I did. When he was condemned, you and
I were condemned. Read Romans chapter 5, that's
the teaching of scripture. But before any of that took place,
God chose a people to be saved, and He chose these people in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this took place before time
began, before Adam was created, before Adam ate of the fruit,
before Adam fell. God chose an elect number out
of Adam's race. It's called the election of grace. And in the election of grace,
God chose who would be saved. That's the teaching of Scripture.
Christ Jesus took responsibility for these elect ones. They were
chosen in Him. God the Father gave them to Him.
and said, all their salvation is dependent upon you. So in
time, God became flesh. God was manifest in the flesh. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
the Eternal Son, equal with God, became flesh. And in the flesh,
He saved His people. He kept the law for them. And
He died for them. Their sins became His. That's
why He died. His righteousness becomes theirs.
That's why they're justified. Now, He didn't die for all men.
His intention never was to save all men. It was to save the elect
and only the elect. And that's who He saved. If Christ died for the sins of
all men, then all men would be saved. If he died for some of
the sins of all men, then no one would be saved. But if he
died for all the sins of some men, then all those men he died
for must be saved. He died for the elect, and God
the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Blessed Trinity in time,
all those that God elected, all those that Christ died for, God
the Holy Spirit gives them life. They're begotten through the
Word of God, through the hearing of the Gospel, They're given
a new heart, a new nature. They hear the truth. They believe
the truth. They're believers. Now, this
is the teaching of Scripture. You can't really believe grace
and not believe exactly what I've said. Salvation by the work
of the Father in election, by the work of the Son in redemption,
and by the work of God the Holy Spirit in regeneration. Now,
that is the teaching of the authoritative Word of God. Now what? Now what? Where do I fit in there? Because God didn't elect everybody.
Christ didn't die for everybody. And God the Holy Spirit doesn't
call everybody. Now what? Where do I fit in there? Where do you fit in there? Well,
let me read this verse of Scripture again. Thank God for this verse
of Scripture. Verse 17, And the Spirit and
the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say,
Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. Now, what I have just said does
not exclude anybody. It does not keep people from
being saved who would have been. It includes people who would
have otherwise been damned. Now, understand this. The very
nature of the gospel is not exclusive. We're already excluded by our
sin. It is inclusive. It doesn't exclude people. It
brings them in. The gospel in its very nature
is inclusive. What is the message of the Spirit?
Come. Come and welcome. Come to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Well, what if I'm not elect?
You don't need to worry about that. What if Christ didn't die
for me? You don't need to worry about
that. What if God the Holy Spirit didn't call me? You don't need
to worry about that. The message to you is come. Not go and get better. Not wait
until you know or understand more. Not first get your life
straightened out. But just as you are, come to
the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the message of the Gospel.
Come and welcome. Me? Yes, you. Come and welcome
to the Lord Jesus Christ, the bride, that's the church. Here's
her message, come. The individual believer, the
one who hears, let him say, come. Now, what is meant by come? What is meant by coming to the
Lord Jesus Christ? What does one do when they come
to the Lord Jesus Christ? And that's a very good question.
Well, to come is movement. It's the movement of the soul
from one place to another, and it's emphasizing not what you're
leaving, but where you're coming, where you're going. Now, what
does one do when they come to Christ? They leave self. They leave salvation by works. They leave, that's repentance,
and they come, that's faith. They come to the Lord Jesus Christ. They leave self-confidence, and
they come to Christ-confidence. Now, in John chapter 6, verse
35, I'd like to read you this, and this gives us some idea as
to what it means to come to Christ. In verse 35, And Jesus said unto
them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never Now understand
this, coming to Christ and believing on Christ are the precise same
thing. If you believe on Christ, you're
coming to Christ. And if you come to Christ, that
means you believe on Christ. Look in verse 40 of John chapter
5, and this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which
seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life, and I will raise him up at the last day." Now here's
what it is to come to Christ. You see who He is. You see that
He is God the Son, that He is God manifest in the flesh. Somebody says, well, I haven't
seen that. Well, you haven't seen Him then. If He shows Himself
to you, you'll see who He is. There won't be any question in
your mind concerning who He is. He is the God-Man. He's the Second
Person of the Trinity. He is the Creator of the universe. He's the One who controls all
things. He's the only Savior of sinners. You see who He is. You see what
He did because of who He is. What he did is successful. When
He had by Himself, the writer of the Hebrews says, when He
had by Himself purged our sins, you see what He did. On Calvary's
tree, He put away sin. He made it to where it's no more. He put away the sins of those
He died for. Now, you see who He is? You see
what He did, that it's successful? You see where He is now? At the
right hand of the Father, you come to God only by Him. Coming to Christ is coming to
God only by the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I am the way. He didn't
say, I'll show you the way. He said, I am the way. He said,
I'm the truth. He didn't say, I'll teach you
the truth. He said, I'm it. He didn't say, I'll give you
the life. He said, I am the life. No man comes to the Father but
by Me. You see Him, who He is, not physically,
but spiritually. And it's the move of the soul
to Him, to trust Him only, as your Savior. And this move is
not a long journey. As soon as you come, you're there.
It's not a 12-step program. It's not a 7-step program. It's
one step out of self and into Christ. Now, who is called to
come to Christ? In our text, it says, whosoever
will. Whosoever will. Now, listen to me carefully.
Whosoever will. Let him take the water of life
freely. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Now remember what I'm talking
about election and Christ's death of the elect and saving them
and God the Holy Spirit calling them. That does not prevent you
from being saved. Whosoever will. Are you willing
to be saved on God's terms? But I can't. I didn't say anything
about whether you can or can't. I said, are you willing to be
saved on God's terms? Are you willing to be saved the
way he saves sinners? Are you willing to be saved?
However it is, he says he saves sinners. Are you willing? Whosoever
will let him take the water of life freely. Whosoever will,
let him come. All barriers have been removed.
Let not conscience make you linger, nor fitness fondly dream. The
only fitness he requires is to have a need of him. Let him come. God's not stopping you. Your
sin is not stopping you. It's not your sin that prevents
you from coming to Christ. The only thing that prevents
you from coming to Christ is your righteousness. That's the
only thing that prevents you from coming. If you see you have
no righteousness, you will come. Come and welcome. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. The only condition is that there
are no conditions. You're to take the water of life
freely. Now, remember the title of this
message? No man, every man, and any man, whosoever will, let
him take the water of life freely. The message of the bride is come,
the message of the Spirit is come. That's the message of the
gospel. Now I want to read a verse of
scripture from John chapter 6, verse 44. In verse 44, the Lord
said, No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent
me draw him. Now somebody says, you're throwing
the monkey wrench into everything. No, I'm not. These are the words
of the Lord. No man can come. It doesn't say
no man may come. You may come, but it says no
man can come. This is speaking of the inability
of man to come. Now, why? Because of this spiritual
death I spoke of at the first of this message. People are unable
to perform the functions of spiritual life. And you've never come to
Christ until you've found out you can't. until you're totally
unable. You've never come until you've
found out you can't come. Listen to this scripture. Romans
8, 7 and 8 says the carnal mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither, indeed, can be. 1 Corinthians 2, 14 says the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for
they are foolishness unto them. Neither, indeed, Can he know
them? He lacks the ability to know
them because they're spiritually discerned. Genesis chapter 6
verse 5 says, And God saw that the wickedness of man was great
in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of
his heart was only evil continually. Romans 3, 10 through 12 says,
There's none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understandeth. There's none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the
way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that
doeth good. No, not one. No man can come. We lack the ability to come.
All God has to do is leave us alone and we'll go to hell. All God has to do is leave me
to myself. And I will leave him, and I hope
I'm saying this from a broken heart, but there is a hell. There is a place of eternal torment. You can say, I don't believe
that, but deep down you know it's so. There is a hell, and
if God leaves us to ourselves, that is where we will go. No man can come to me, our Lord
says, except the Father which has sent me draw him. draw Him invincibly and irresistibly. This is the reigning, irresistible
grace of God where He draws us. gives us life, brings us to Himself. Behold, I've loved you with an
everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. And when you're drawn to Christ,
you find the Lord Jesus Christ irresistible. You must have Him. And like I said, you've never
come to Christ. Not really. You may have come
to religion. You may have come to experience.
But you've never come to Christ unless you've been made to see
that you can't come. And you'll stay away unless God
does something for you. That's when you find out you're
a sinner. Our Lord said in John 5.40, you
will not come to me that you might have life. And that's my
crime, that I won't come. I can't come because I won't
unless God does something for me. By nature, I have no wish
to come to Christ. Now, here we go. No man can come
to me except the Father which is set in me. Draw it. Now, here's
my second point. Every man. Verse 45, it's written
in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father cometh to me. Now what's the Lord talking about
when he says they shall all be taught of God? Well obviously
that all is qualified. He's talking about all the people
that he's talking about in this context in this passage of scripture.
In verse 37 of John chapter 6, this same chapter, he said all
that the Father giveth me. Shall come to me. That's the
all he's speaking of that are all taught of God He says in
verse 38 for I came down from heaven not to do my own will
But the will of him that sent me and this is the father's will
which has sent me that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing But raise it up again at the last day That's
the all he's speaking of all the elect that the father gave
to the son that he represented He said I'm gonna save every
one of them Verse 40, And this is the will of him that sent
me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him,
may have everlasting life. And I raise him up at the last
day. Now, every man that's heard, heard from God. Most have never
heard from God because they don't come to Christ. But if you've
ever heard from God, you'll come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Every
man that has heard and has learned of the Father, being taught by
God, what do they do? They come to me. Now this is
what God's people do. They come to the Lord Jesus Christ. They see Him, they believe Him,
and they come to Him. Just as I am without one plea,
but that Thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come
to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come, just as I am, though
tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt, fightings and fears,
within, without, O Lamb of God, I come. Every man that hath been
heard and learned of the Father, everyone that's been taught of
God, comes to the Lord Jesus Christ. And then in John chapter
7, there's Verse 37, any man. No man can come. Every man that
has heard and learned the Father does come. And now the third
point, any man. Our Lord said in John 7, verse
37, In that last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood
and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come to me and
drink. What is the one qualification
for these any men he's speaking of? If any man thirst. Thirst is a conscious absence. A conscious absence of water. A conscious absence of what you
need. If any man thirst. Are you thirsty? That's the one requirement. It
doesn't say how thirsty. It just says thirst. Is that
you? If any man thirsts, let him come
to me and drink." Listen to these words from Matthew chapter 11,
verse 28. The Lord says, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laboring under the burden of your sin, laboring in fear of
being cast off, laboring in your inability. Oh, you're heavy laden
with the burden of sin. He says, Come unto me, all ye
that labor and heavy laden. Now, this is a command. This
is not an invitation. I've heard this called the great
invitation, and I can understand why people would say that, but
here's something I like better. Here's the gracious command.
This is the command to all who are heavy laden. Come unto me,
all ye that are at labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give
you rest. What is rest? When the job's finished, you
rest. Christ said it is I rest. I rest in who He is and
what He did. I come to Him for this rest. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 11 says,
They which have believed do enter into rest. They ceased from their
own works as God did from His. Remember when God finished the
creation, it says He rested. It wasn't because he was tired,
but it was because the work was finished. And just as God rested
from his work, when we see that Christ accomplished salvation,
we rest. There's nothing to do. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you and learn of me, for I'm meek and lowly in heart, and
you'll find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden
is light. In John chapter 6, verse 37,
our Lord said, Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise, for
no reason whatsoever, cast out. So the message to you, the message
to me, is come. Come and welcome to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, I ask myself, have I come?
Well, here's how I'll answer that. Are you coming? If you're
coming to Christ right now, yes, you've come. If you're not coming
to Christ right now, you've never come. 1 Peter 2, verse 4 says,
To whom coming? This is what believers do. They're
always coming to Christ for all things. I'm coming, I'm believing
on Him. Now, why do I come to the Lord
Jesus Christ? Well, first of all, because I'm
commanded to. That's enough of a reason. Secondly, because I
need to. Thirdly, because I'm scared not
to. Fourth, because I have no choice. I love what Peter said
when the Lord said, Will you also go away? He said, Whom shall
we go? It's not like we have any other options. That's the
words of eternal life. And I come because I want to. And in coming to Him, I will
for no reason be turned away. Now, it's true. God elected a
specific people to be saved. It's true that Christ died only
for the elect. It's true that God the Holy Spirit
gives life only to those the Father gave to the Son. What
now? Come to the Lord Jesus Christ. That doesn't prevent you from
being saved. It opens the door of mercy wide
open, salvation for the very chief of sinners. Thank God for
this gracious commandment. To request a copy of the sermon
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