Did you? 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 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 Nyvert. In Matthew chapter 23,
the Lord is speaking to the scribes and the Pharisees, the religious
fundamentalists and conservatives of his day. And he says in verse
23, Woe unto you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites. For you pay tithe
of mint, and in eyes and cumin, and have omitted, left out, the
weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought ye to have done,
and not to leave the other undone, you blind guides, which strain,
choke at a gnat, And yet you'll swallow whole a camel. Now, this tells us there are some things in the
scriptures that are more important than other things. He says to
the scribes and Pharisees, you've omitted the weightier matters
of the law. Now, he was not criticizing them.
for tithing, he said, these ought ye to have done, but you shouldn't
have left the other undone, these weightier matters of the law,
judgment, mercy and faith. There are some things, some truths
in God's Word that are more important than others. For instance, what
we believe concerning the person and work of Christ is far more
important than our millennial views or our views of eschatology,
when he will return. What's most important is who's
returning and that he will return. The great and glorious doctrine
of election is much more important than our understanding of what
the Bible teaches regarding church government. My understanding
of justification is far more important than my laxarian views. There are some things in the
Word of God that are more important and weightier. And it's also
true there are things in life that are more important and weightier
than other things in life. For instance, hearing the Gospel
preached is more important than anything else I can do. I thought
of when the Lord was in Martha and Mary's house. And the scripture
said at that time, Martha was cumbered with much serving. And
Mary sat at the feet of the Lord and heard his word. Now, would
we consider what Martha was doing unimportant? She was trying to
get the house ready, get the meal ready, and she was cumbered
with much serving. Well, sure, that was important.
But she criticized her sister Mary. She said to the Lord, Lord,
don't you care that she's not helping me? Bid her come and
command her to come and help me. And the Lord said, Martha,
Martha, you're careful and troubled about many things, but one thing
is needful. One thing is needful. What she's
doing is the one thing needful, hearing the gospel. There are
things in life that are more important than other things.
And whenever I see someone trying to fit worship into life's busy
schedule, I know there's trouble. Life's busy schedule is to be
fit around worship. Now, we don't have to speculate
as to what is weightier in the law, because the Lord tells us. He says these are the weightier
matters of the law. Judgment. mercy, and faith. Now, in leaving these undone
and omitting these things which ought to be done, we end up straining
at a gnat, choking on something that really isn't important,
and swallowing a camel. We major on minors. and minor on majors when we omit
these wavier matters of the law. And notice the order. Judgment,
mercy, and faith. Judgment must first be established
and honored before mercy can be given. And there will be no
faith until judgment is accomplished and mercy is given. Now these
are the wavier matters of the law in our doctrine, Judgment,
mercy, and faith, and in our practice, in all of our doings,
we must be careful not to omit these three things. Now, let's talk about them one
at a time. The Lord tells us these are the weightier matters
of the law. Now, this is the Lord's words, and that tells
me these truly are the weightier matters of the law. First of
all, judgment. Judgment. What does judgment
mean? Well, it's the word that's generally
used to describe Judgment Day. We all know what Judgment Day
is. That is the day when God will reward the righteous and
punish the wicked. That's what's going to take place
on Judgment Day. Judgment is a decision. A judgment. Do you remember the Lord's words
concerning God the Holy Spirit? He'll convict the world of sin,
Of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin, because they believe
on me. You become convinced that faith's out of your grasp, that
you're an unbeliever. Of righteousness, because I go
to my Father. You become convinced that His
righteousness is the only righteousness. And of judgment, because the
Prince of this world has been judged. Judgment was accomplished
at the cross. Now, God is just. Proverbs says a false balance
is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight. He is first a just God and then
a Savior. God is absolutely, immutably
just. Now, here's what all this means.
In Romans chapter 3, I want to read several verses of scripture,
just give kind of a running commentary to talk about God's judgment,
His justice, His righteousness. Verse 19 of Romans chapter 3
says, Now we know that what thing soever the law saith, it saith
to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped,
and all the world may become guilty before God. Now here's
our state. Guilty before God. All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. And every mouth being stopped
means I have no excuses. I have no extenuating circumstances.
I can't blame it on somebody else. It's all my fault. Guilty as charged. Guilty before
God. Now, that's where the gospel
message begins. It doesn't try to prove God's existence. It
doesn't try to prove it's Inspired, the Bible doesn't try to prove
that. It simply states our state before God, guilty as charged. Well, is there anything we can
do to change that state? Look what he says in verse 20.
Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be
justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. No, there's absolutely nothing
that you and I can do to change that state of guilt before God. Well, does that mean there's
no hope? No, it doesn't mean there's no hope, because there's
great hope. Let's go on reading. But now, the righteousness of
God, without the law, without my law-keeping, is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets. This is what the
Old Testament Scripture teaches. This is what the New Testament
Scripture teaches. Verse 22, Even the righteousness of God,
which is by the faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all
them that believe, for there is no difference, for all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. Yes, there is hope. The righteousness of God, His
righteousness being placed upon an unrighteous person and making
them righteous. It's called substitution. My
sin became the sin of the Lord Jesus Christ so that He became
guilty and God smote Him. And His perfect obedience, the
righteousness of God, is given to every believer, everyone who
believes, everyone for whom Christ died. Now, He said all have sinned. and come short of the glory of
God being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation,
that's a sin appeasement, that's a making of reconciliation, taking
away the reason for anger, that's what the Lord did on the cross. God set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness. for the remission of sins that
are past. Notice it doesn't say to declare His love or His mercy
or His grace. All those things indeed are seen.
But His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past
through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say at this time,
His righteousness that He might be just and the justifier of
him which believeth in Jesus. Now there's the God of judgment.
He has made a way to be just. and to not let any sin go unpunished,
and all of God's holy law is fulfilled, and yet he can justify
someone who in and of themselves is not just. This is the great
gospel message, how God can be just and justify the ungodly. This is the message of judgment. Now, how can I omit judgment? He said to the Pharisees, you've
omitted the wavier matters of the law. You've omitted judgment. How can I omit judgment? Well,
first of all, by not saying anything about it, by simply keeping my
mouth shut regarding this. To teach salvation by works in
any form is going away from judgment and omitting judgment. Because
if I say that a man can be saved by his works in any way, I'm
bringing God down and saying God can accept that, saying God
can accept sin. Because all our righteousness
is according to Scripture are filthy rags. Can God accept that? If I teach salvation by works
in any way, I omit judgment. And thirdly, I omit judgment
when I don't have a proper understanding of the cross. Now, listen very
carefully. On the cross, The Lord Jesus
Christ actually paid the sin debt of everybody that he died
for. Now, most religion, most of what
goes under the name of Christianity, says that Jesus Christ shed his
blood for all men without exception. But some of those men that he
shed his blood for, many of those men that he shed his blood for,
will end up in hell because they don't do what it takes to make
them saved. Now, that decries the justice
of God because it says God can punish sin once and then punish
it again. You're going to tell me that
my sins can be punished in Christ, and then I'll have to be punished
for them again in hell? Well, that would make God unjust.
If the payment's made, the payment's made. Oh, may God give us an
understanding of what was taking place on the cross. The Lord
Jesus Christ wasn't simply making salvation possible. He was actually
saving everybody He represented, and how this magnifies the justice
of God. The next thing that is mentioned
as one of the weightier matters of the law is mercy. Mercy. Now, once justice is satisfied,
for God to do something for me or you, he had to first do something
for himself. He had to make sure all sin was punished. He had
to make a way to be just and yet justify the ungodly. But now the weightier matter,
now the judgment is taken care of, God can now show mercy. What is mercy? In Ephesians chapter
2, beginning in verse 1, Paul said, and you have he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins. And he goes on to describe
us in the next three verses, and he ends up saying we were
by nature children of wrath, wrathful children, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy,
For His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
ye are saved. Now, it's not but you turned
things around, not but you turned over a new leaf, but you made
a decision, but you walked an aisle and took a preacher's hand,
but God, but God, but God, who's rich in mercy. Now, what is the
mercy of God? Let me read a passage of Scripture
from Romans chapter 9, beginning in verse 11, talking about Jacob
and Esau, for the children, Jacob and Esau, being not yet born,
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. This is God speaking. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. Now God said that. Somebody says,
doesn't God love everybody? Well, he doesn't love Esau. He
said he didn't. Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. And don't
get stuck on God's hatred of Esau. Esau was a profane man
who didn't care anything about God. And God's hatred is not
like our hatred. It's a righteous, just hatred.
Don't be stuck at him hating Esau. You know, I can understand
why he'd hate me apart from Christ. but be amazed at his love for
Jacob. He said, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. Now what shall we say then? Is
there unrighteousness with God? Is God unfair in loving Jacob
and hating Esau? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. His mercy is sovereign
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion,
so then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy. It says in verse 18, Therefore
hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will
he hardens. Now, how would I pass by or pass
over or omit mercy. Now, see, mercy is the way a
sinner is saved. First, justice is established.
Judgment is established. And then he can sovereignly give
mercy. He can see me in my misery and say, I'm going to have mercy
on him. And he's a merciful God. He delights in mercy. Well, how
do we omit or pass over mercy? He said, this is what the Pharisees
have done. They've omitted mercy. Well,
we omit mercy when we make the reason for mercy merit. When
we say, well, God will have mercy because we did this or we did
that. That's a denial of what mercy is altogether. We omit
mercy by making it the end rather than the beginning of salvation.
We say, well, if you do this, this, this and this and stop
doing that and that, then God will have mercy on you. And that
makes God's mercy a payment. No, salvation begins with the
free, sovereign mercy of God. We omit mercy when we deny God's
sovereignty in giving His mercy or withholding His mercy. And
we omit mercy when we deny man's responsibility for his own sin
and thus make mercy an entitlement, something that God owes us. May God deliver us from omitting
mercy. And the third thing he warns
us about omitting is faith. Judgment, mercy, and faith. Faith, the weightier matter of
the law. Now, what is faith? Faith is believing God. It's believing what God has said. Now, faith is a supernatural
gift of God. Ephesians 2 says, By grace you
are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. It's
the gift of God. And it's also true that you and
I are commanded and called upon to believe. And God doesn't believe
for me. God, the Holy Spirit, doesn't
believe for me. I myself must believe the gospel. Faith, it's believing God. So the first thing we have to
say about faith as the great foundational truth of the scripture
that we fear omitting is we have to say faith's foundation. It's
the word of God. The written, infallible Word
of God. Now, the Bible is God's Word. It's God's revelation of Himself.
And true faith rests in what God said. Somebody says, can
you prove to me that the Bible is the Word of God? No, I can't.
Nor do I feel the need to. But I know it is. I know it is. It claims infallibility for itself.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. That's what the Bible
claims. Now, you can believe that or not, but if you have
faith, you're going to have to believe it, because if you don't believe
that, believe what? My opinion or your opinion? What
good does that do anybody? No, faith's foundation is the
Word of God. And faith has an object. Christ
Himself. I don't look within for any hope
of salvation. I don't look to anything I'm
doing. I look totally outside of myself to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the object of our faith.
I believe Him. I trust Him. I'm resting in Him.
He is my salvation before God. Faith has an object, and that
object is the Lord Jesus Christ. And faith has a ground. Now,
upon what ground can I believe that Jesus Christ has done something
for me? Now, you've probably heard me say, I don't believe
for a second that Jesus Christ shed His blood for all men without
exception. Don't believe that? The Bible
doesn't teach it. Don't believe it. So, how can I know He shed
His blood for me? Upon what ground can I believe
that He's done something for me? Well, listen to this Scripture. I Timothy 1.15 says 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. The only ground I have to believe
that Christ died for me is that I'm a sinner. Not a good person. It doesn't say He came to save
the righteous or the good or the religious. It says He came
to save sinners. I'm one of them. Lord, save me. This is the ground I can rest
in that He's done something for me because I really am a sinner.
And He came to save sinners. So, I can believe He came to
save me. Well, what is my warrant to believe?
He commands me to. God commands all men everywhere
to repent. That's my warrant, his command.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is a command. And the result
of faith, he that believeth on him is not condemned. Faith is satisfied with what
Christ did. Because faith sees that God is
satisfied with what Christ did. And faith is satisfied with the
same thing God is satisfied with, the person and work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And here's one of my favorite
biblical definitions of faith. In 2 Timothy 1 12, Paul said,
I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I've committed to him against that
day. First knowledge. I know whom
I have believed. You can't believe what you don't
know any more than you can come back from a place where you've
never been. There is no faith without knowledge, the knowledge
of who he is and what he did. I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded, I'm convinced that he's able. I really believe
that the Lord Jesus Christ is able to save me with no help
from me. I believe His righteousness is
the only righteousness. I believe His grace really saves. I am persuaded, I am convinced
that He is able to keep that which I've committed to Him.
Now, first there's knowledge, then there's belief or persuasion,
and then there's committal. I've committed the salvation
of my soul to Him. My hands are off. Like when you
get on board a plane, you commit to that plane. You expect that
plane to get you there. I expect the Lord Jesus Christ
to bring me into glory, and I've committed all my salvation to
Him. If He didn't do it all, there's
no hope for me. I've committed the salvation
of my soul to Him. How do you leave faith undone?
He said, you've omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment,
mercy and faith. How do you omit faith? Well,
by not believing. Or by teaching something contrary
to what the scripture says regarding salvation by grace, by changing
the meaning of faith and making it the saving act rather than
the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. and thou shalt be saved, were
to call upon men to believe. Now not only are these the wavier
matters of the law in our doctrine, judgment, mercy, and faith, but
these are also the wavier matters in our life. Judgment. It's always right to do the just
and right thing. And whenever faced with doing
the lesser of two evils, do neither. What's the right thing to do?
We know. And if we don't, God will show
us. And if we do not do what we're
called upon to do, the Lord says this, to him that knoweth to
do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. To omit judgment
is to fail to do what's right. It is leaving things undone. And then mercy. Here's the most
weightier matter in my practice. Mercy. Being merciful. Not being harsh and critical
and judgmental. Who am I to set in judgment on
anybody? Being merciful. Moved to action
by the misery of others. Now, I may be sound as a dollar
in my doctrine of sovereign mercy, But if it doesn't make me a merciful
individual, I'm rotten to the core. Mercy in our doctrine.
Mercy in our practice. And faith. Faith. Living by faith. Faith is more
than a doctrine that just shall live by faith. You see, faith is the grace that
opens to us the unlimited resources of God Almighty and God rewards
confidence in himself. According to thy faith, be it
unto you. All things are possible to him
that believeth. Whatsoever you ask, believe that
you shall receive them, and you shall have them. You see, faith
is the receiving grace. What do you have that you didn't
receive? All I receive from God's hands,
I receive by faith. And we omit faith when we fail
to live in conscious, confident dependence on Him for all things
material and spiritual. Now, these are the weightier
matters of the law. Judgment, mercy, and faith. And the Lord says these ought
ye to have done and not to leave the other undone. Now we have
this message on DVD, CD, or cassette. If you call the church, write,
or email, we'll be glad to send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg,
praying that God will be pleased to make Himself known to you.
That's our prayer. Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
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