Not that I did. 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. One thousand years before the
Lord was crucified on Calvary's tree, David, writing under the
inspiration of God the Holy Spirit, said in Psalm 69, verse 21, they
gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst
they gave me vinegar to drink." Now these are the words of the
Lord Jesus Christ, speaking through David, 1,000 years before they
took place. Then in John chapter 19, verse
28, we read these words, After this, Jesus, knowing that
all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled,
saith, I thirst. And this statement of our Lord
is the shortest of the seven recorded sayings of the Savior
from the cross. Now, I believe there were other
things he said. I believe that there were very
many scriptures that he quoted while he was on the cross, but
the Holy Spirit gives us these seven sayings from the cross. The first was, Father, forgive
them. They know not what they do. The second was his words to the
thief, when he said, Verily I say unto thee, Today thou shalt be
with me in paradise. The third saying is what he said
to his mother, who was standing at the foot of the cross alongside
of John. Woman, behold thy son. And then he said to John, Behold
thy mother. And then his cry, My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? There's no way that I could put
the depth of what all that means in quoting that passage of Scripture,
but this was his shriek as it were. My God, my God, why? hast thou forsaken me." And then
after that he said, I thirst. And after that he said, it is
finished. And his last saying was, Father,
into thy hands I commend my spirit. Think of this saying of our Savior
from the cross, I thirst. What is thirst? It's a conscious
absence. It's a painful conscious absence. It comes from a lack of something. You lack water. You do not have water. The water
that you need and you're thirsty. Oh, the depth of his thirst. Intense physical thirst. He felt a great need for water. This represents his sufferings,
a conscious absence. It doesn't merely refer to him
needing water. He thirsted for God's favor because
he did not have it. There was a conscious absence. His father had forsaken him. He thirsted for righteousness
because he did not have it. You see, he was made sin. All
that sin is, he was made to be. And he cries out, I thirst. This represents all of his sufferings
in the flesh. Do you know that when hell is
described, it's described as thirst? Listen to the words of
the rich man that our Lord told us about in Luke chapter 16.
That rich man who was in hell, he said, Father Abraham, Have
mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame."
Now on the cross the Lord Jesus bore the full equivalent of an
eternal hell. And he cries out, I thirst. This represents all of his physical
and emotional sufferings in the flesh. In John's day, And in ours as
well, there was a heresy being circulated and preached called
Gnosticism. Perhaps you've heard the word.
It's taken from the Greek word which means knowledge. The Gnostics were the knowing
ones. They found their salvation in
their knowledge. Now here is what the Gnostics
believed. They believed that all matter,
everything that could be touched, everything physical, everything
contrary to pure spirit, was evil. Therefore, because they
believed that all matter was evil, they did not believe that
Christ actually came in the flesh, because that would have made
him evil if he would have come in the flesh, so it looked as
if It appeared as if he was in the flesh, but it was nothing
more than appearance. He didn't truly come in the flesh,
because if he came in the flesh, that would make him evil. Now, John opens up this book
of John by combating that error. He said, was made flesh and dwelt
among us. God, Paul said in 1 Timothy 3.16,
God was manifest in the flesh. Paul said, in him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead in a body. physical flesh, bone
of our bones and flesh of our flesh. And John tells us that
spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh is Antichrist. So he's speaking of these Gnostics,
these knowing ones. If he didn't come in the flesh,
nobody would be saved. Now, I Thirst speaks of the reality
of his sufferings in the flesh. Now, the Gnostics believed salvation
was in knowledge. It can't be in you. It's got to be something you
believe because all your flesh is is evil. So you don't even
need to worry about that. What you need to think about
is what you know. They understood John 8.32. where
the Lord says, you shall know the truth and the truth shall
make you free. They interpreted it like this,
you shall know the truth and your knowledge of the truth shall
make you free. Now my dear friend, it's not
your knowledge of the truth that makes you free, it's the truth
himself who makes you free, not your knowledge of the truth.
I don't have any confidence in my knowledge. I don't get any
assurance from my knowledge. My hope of salvation is not what
I know, but who knows me. That's my salvation. Not what
I know, but who knows me. Not what I do, but what He has
done for me. This is where I find all my assurance
and comfort. I don't find assurance of salvation
because of what I know. I find assurance of salvation
because of whom I'm in. in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
who a believer rests in, and these Gnostics were putting their
salvation, their assurance in knowledge. I think of what Paul
said in Galatians 4.9. He says, now that you've known
God, or rather, are known of God. You know, he said to a bunch,
I never knew you. My salvation is in his knowledge
of me, not my knowledge of him. his knowledge of me. And you
know, every error has an element of Gnosticism in it. It's nothing
new. Nothing new at all. Now, the
Gnostics reasoned Christ couldn't have suffered in the flesh because
that would have made Him sinful. Far be it from us to say such
a horrible thing, to say that Christ could actually be made
sin. No, He couldn't have been flesh because that would have
made Him sinful, and we want to protect His righteousness
and so on, and that's just corrupted reasoning. It's wrong. It's like
I hear people say even in our day, Christ couldn't have actually
been made sin because that would have made Him evil. Now, He bore
the punishment of sin on the cross, but He couldn't have actually
been made sin because that would make Him evil. Listen, God said
He was made sin. And the only hope that I have
that I'll be the righteousness of God is if He was actually
made to be what I am, that I might be made to be what He is. Paul
said in 2 Corinthians 5.21, For He hath made Him. to be sin. I don't know what all that means,
but it's awful. All that sin is, he was made to be. For he
hath made him to be sin who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. Now, thirst represents all of
his physical sufferings in the flesh. Understand this about
Jesus Christ. He is 100% God, and He's 100%
flesh. He is God, He is man. He is all God, just as if He
were not man at all, and He's all man. just as if he were not God at
all. He is God manifest in the flesh. Now man sinned, so man must be
punished. Man rebelled against God, so
man must suffer. And for Christ to be my substitute,
he had to become flesh. He never quit being what he was,
God. He's always been the eternal
God. But he became what he was not, flesh, and never ceased
to be what he was, God. The God-man Christ Jesus. And I love the way the scripture
reads in John 19, 28. After this, now you think of
the sufferings of our Lord. After this, Jesus knowing that
all things were now accomplished. that the scripture might be fulfilled,
saith, I thirst." He was in control of everything that was taking
place. Yes, he was in intense physical pain and spiritual pain
and darkness and isolation, but yet even at that time as God,
he was in control of everything. Everything was happening according
to his will. Now in him saying, I thirst,
we see his real humanity. You know, he was raised from
the dead. He was still a human being. He said to his disciples,
a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me. Haven't he even
ate before them to let them know he's a real man. And even right
now as I'm speaking, there is a man in glory. Real flesh and real bones. A real human being in the third
heaven, sitting at the right hand of God, ruling and reigning
and interceding for his people. The man, Christ Jesus. He was and is a real man. And that is seen in his statement,
I thirst. Now in this statement, I thirst,
I see the sinfulness, the cruelty, the wickedness of all men by
nature, me and you included. Now I want you to think, if somebody
was thirsty, thirsty, suffering from thirst, what kind of cruelty
would cause them to give that person vinegar to drink? Quench your thirst, all it'll
do is make you sick. They gave him vinegar to drink. Now, I don't just look down at
those people. I see what I am by nature. You
see, if you want to know how bad you are, don't look within
your heart. Look at the cross. Look what men did to Christ on
the cross and you'll find out how bad you are. There's no sin
that you and I would not commit. And if we haven't committed a
particular sin outwardly, it's simply either because we haven't
been tempted to do it or we've lacked the opportunity because
there's no sin, there's no monstrous iniquity that you and I wouldn't
commit. unless God restrains us, and the cross is proof of
that. When our Lord died on the cross,
when He was treated so cruelly, it was men doing what they wanted
to do, and in this act of cruelty, I see how evil I really am. If God left me to myself, I'd
be one of those people giving vinegar to the Lord, nailing
Him to a cross. I thirst He said this right after
He had said, My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me? Now,
when our Lord said this, at this time, He couldn't even call God
His Father. He doesn't say, Father, Father,
why hast thou forsaken Me? He says, My God, My God, why
hast thou forsaken Me? You know, David said, I've been
young and now I'm old, and I've never seen the righteous forsaken.
or his seat begging for bread. Now the reason God forsook Christ
is because Christ was made sin. He was made all that sin is. Now I don't understand everything
that I'm talking about, nor does anybody else, but I know this. God didn't look at Christ and
say, now I know you didn't do this, but your people did it. And I'm treating you as if you
did it, but I know you didn't really do it. No, that's not
what took place at all. When God poured His wrath upon
Christ, it's because Jesus Christ deserved it. Because He was seen. You see, the sins of His people
became His. I remember on several times when
I was growing up, I was accused of doing things that I didn't
do, and I was punished for things that I did not do. I guess I
gave my parents reason to believe I was probably the one who did
it, but I can remember several times where I was punished, I
was whipped for things that I did not do. And I can remember how
smug and indignant my little self-righteous soul was as that
took place. I know I didn't do it. But you
know when the Lord was on the cross, He couldn't think, I didn't
do it. My sin so truly became His. In Psalm 40, He said, My iniquities
have gone over My head as a heavy burden, they're too heavy for
Me. My sin literally, actually became
His. He was made sin, and God poured
His wrath on Him. In Lamentations chapter 1, verse
12, I want to read a passage of Scripture. Is it nothing to
you, all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the
Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger." Now
that's the words of the Lord Jesus Christ from the cross. He's the one who could say there
was no sorrow like his sorrow. Now, I've had sorrow, but nothing
like his. I've had affliction, but nothing
like his. Mine is not even worth mentioning. Now, right before that, he said
in verse 11, See, O Lord, and consider, for I am become vile. Now, I never became vile. I was born that way. I was never
innocent and righteous and then did something and became vile.
No, I was born a sinner. But on the cross, Christ became
vile. Now, like I said, I don't know
what all that means, but I know the only way it would be just
for God to pour His wrath on Him is if He really had it coming.
It wouldn't be right for God to punish Him for my sins. I
should be punished for my sins. My sins became His, and that's
why God's wrath came upon Him, and just as truly as my sin became
His. His righteousness becomes mine,
so that I and every believer are the very righteousness of
God. What this is, is substitution.
He became what I am, seeing that I might become what He is, the
righteousness of God, because He said, I thirst. I will never
have to thirst. All of his sufferings, that's
what I had coming to me, it became his, and oh how he suffered. And now I'll never have to, because
I am the very righteousness of God in him. You're looking at
me right now, and this is true of every believer. I'm not just
talking about myself, I'm talking about every believer looking
at me. You're looking at the very righteousness of God. Somebody says, I don't see it.
But God does. And I'm just concerned about
what he sees, not what you see, what he sees. And he sees me
as the very righteousness of God. That's the gospel, my friends.
That's the gospel of substitution. I'd like to read you a passage
from John chapter four. We read in verse four, and he
must needs go through Samaria. Now there's only one reason why
my Lord must need to do anything. He must need to do his Father's
will. And one of his Father's people,
one of his Father's elect, one that he died for is in Samaria,
and he's going to go after. Verse 5, Then cometh he to a
city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of
ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well
was there. Jesus therefore being wearied
with his journey, there's his flesh, tired, thirsty, wearied
with his journey, he sat thus on the well, and it was about
the sixth hour, about noon. There cometh a woman of Samaria
to draw water. Now why was this woman coming
at noon to draw water? Because when you came to get
water back in those days, you'd come early in the morning to
avoid the heat of the day. But this woman was coming at
noon because she knew no one else would be there. As you go
on reading in this passage of scripture, you find out that
this woman was a very sinful woman. She had been married five
times, and she was living with a man who was not her husband.
She was an immoral woman. And I have no doubt that the
reason she came at noon was so she wouldn't have to deal with
what all the other women would be saying about her and snickering
and whispering. Look, there she is. She came
at noon, at a time where she thought she would be alone. Verse
7, There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water, and Jesus saith
unto her, give me to drink." For his disciples were gone away
into the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria
unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of
me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews had no dealings
with the Samaritans. She was surprised that the Lord
would even talk to her, much less ask her for something. Jesus
answered and said unto her, The gift of God. The free gift
with no strings attached. The gift of God. Oh, the freeness of this gift. If you knew the gift of God and
who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink. If you knew
who I really was, here's what you do. You would have asked
of him, and he would have given thee living water. Now this woman didn't really
understand what He was talking about all she understood was
the flesh, and the woman said unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing
to draw with, and the well is deep. From whence then hast thou
that living water? Art thou greater than our father
Jacob, which gave us this well, and drank the herb himself, and
his children, and his cattle? She obviously didn't know who
she was speaking to. This is the Creator of Jacob.
This is the God of Jacob she's speaking to. She says, Are you
greater than Jacob? Yes, he is, infinitely so. Jesus answered and said unto
her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. And you can say that about anything,
whatever it is you feel like you're thirsting for. You get
it, you drink, and you'll be thirsty again. I don't care if
every goal is reached. Once you reach that goal, you're
going to be thirsting again. There's never going to be any
satisfaction in anything in this world. Whosoever drinketh of
this water This physical water shall thirst again, but whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give
him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting
life. Now I'm interested in this, this
water that will cause me to never thirst. Now here's what causes
me to never thirst. Listen to me real carefully.
Because Christ said, I thirst. What that refers to is the fact
that my sin became his. He bore the punishment of it,
he bore the guilt of it, he bore the defilement of it, and he
put it away. It is gone. His next words after
he said, I thirst, were, it is finished. Now the only thing that satisfies
my thirst is to know that my salvation was accomplished totally
outside of anything I've done or experienced. My salvation
was accomplished when he said, it is finished. My salvation was finished and
that satisfies my thirst. Listen to this, Colossians 2,
9 and 10 says, dwelleth, all the fullness of
the Godhead in a body, and you are complete. Nothing lacking. There's no absence. There's nothing
to thirst for. You are complete. You have wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification and redemption. All that God
requires of you, you possess. You can't get any more saved.
You can't get any more loved. You can't get any more accepted.
You can't get any more justified. You can't get any more sanctified
than you are in the Lord Jesus Christ. There's nothing to thirst
for because there's nothing that's absent. You are complete. lacking nothing in him. Now because he said, I thirst. I do not thirst. I'm not looking
for anything else. Oh, I'm dissatisfied with myself.
I'm disappointed with myself all the time. But I am completely
satisfied in him. Now, we have this message on
cassette tape, DVD, or CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Knifer, praying
that God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. 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
church at the information provided on the screen.