Description: The Lord is near to every one of us in the areas of our salvation, our calling, and His perfect will. Our starting point is seated above in Jesus. Many are called, but few are “choice” in quality. We are drawn to Him. The only condition to be joined to him is to believe.
Acts 17:26-28; Matthew 22:1-14; 4:18-19

Speaker: Mikael Toll, Thomas Schaller
Sermon 12718
Date: 2024-05-15
Time: Wed 7:30pm

P. Schaller –

Turn to Psalm 133 and we have our Sunday message on the Body, the Body of Christ. I just want to shout out a
few names and thank the Body for their love and ministry to each other as it says here. Psalm
133:1, you have two words there that are kind of mild words in a way. “Good and pleasant.”
Not bombastic like out of this world. Explosive. But just solid, good, and pleasant.

We have a guest speaker tonight, P. Mikael Toll from Sweden an Tiina here his wife who is
sitting next to Pirjo who is Finnish. And they help me say something and that is how good and
how pleasant when we have unity. They’ve been friends like 35 years because we lived in
Finland before that and then we lived a short time in Sweden, my wife and I. I remember
meeting this young guy, Mikael Toll, and watching him make big decisions in his life. And it
means a lot.

But then as I look out at the crowd and I think of people – not to sound like old, like we’re old
people – but we do sometimes to young people. But actually, it’s a big deal when you walk with
God together for 30 or 40 or 50 years. And how good and pleasant it is to have nothing
between you but Jesus and that we love each other and he has done that and Tiina.

And every time we go to Finland, they come over from Sweden and we have fellowship. He’s
the pastor of the church in Stockholm where we used to be also and then he studies a lot and
he’s got many degrees and he just got another one at Liberty a couple days ago. And then
coming by and being with us here tonight and the rap that follows. And he really has a lot of
really good, solid biblical understanding. And we appreciate that a lot and the friendship. And
then they’ve been missionaries in Russia, in Azerbaijan, you know. Serving. Just simple servants,
you know. How good and pleasant it is when we have found Jesus.

You have a spiritual life and then a lot of us struggle with this. This is a very real thing. You have
a spiritual life and then how does it work practically? You have a spiritual life and does it work
in my life? Does it help me when there’s a lot of negativity? Does it help me when there’s a lot
of temptation? Does it help me when my life is troubled or I’m hurting or I’m broken or
something? Does it help me when I’m out of money or out of food or out of opportunities or
something like this? Is the spiritual life real and does it affect my life?

Look at vs. 2. And we said Sunday, that oil is like makes your skin soft, glisten, shine, and
fragrant. And when that is in our life, it’s very soft. Very gentle. But distinguishable.
Recognizable. You can see it. You can feel it in your heart. My brother, my sister. I trust them.
They are my brother, my sister and I love them and they love me maybe. But I love them, you
know.

And as I look at the crowd, I think Glen Sawtelle here, P. Glen. What a man. I love that guy. Are
you coming now from Virginia or North Carolina or somewhere? North Carolina, yeah. To make the service. Connected with work or something. Doesn’t matter to me. He’s just a real brother
in the Lord.

Um, Liam McCahill. I was thinking about him and his wife. A.J. here. Sitting right down here. The
flower man. Ginny and Bert. She lost her mom. John Clark. We were in India, and John Clark.
Maybe in Sweden. Were we in Sweden together? No, okay. Randy Rollins. 1989 maybe? I don’t
remember. He was a student in – why am I saying this? It is simply not fantastic in that way the
way the world talks about fantastic things, but it’s a different thing.

It’s good and pleasant and it’s peaceful and no strife and encouraging and edifying to have
friends and friends for years and trust and understanding and love and encouragement. We
have that. You have it. We have it in our DNA. We have it. But to be honest, we can struggle
with each other. We can question. We can doubt. And those things happens.

Let’s finish up here. It says the oil, #2, and #3 as the dew of Hermon. That’s water. We said
Sunday if you went to sleep on Mt. Hermon in the night, you’d wake up in the morning soaking
wet. There’s so much water that condenses in the night that you’re soaking wet with the water.
So, the metaphor is oil and then the metaphor is water. And that water is what makes things
grow but it is gentle. It is sweet. It is kind. It is a phone call. It is a prayer. It is silence. It is
kindness. It is trust.

I believe you will make it through this trial. I believe you will make it through this trial. I believe
you will make it through this trial. I believe you will have discernment. I believe you will
recognize the difference between good and evil. I am for you. I believe you’re going to make it. I
believe that God answers prayer. I believe that we can continue and finish our journey and say
that it is good and pleasant to live together in unity. It is so precious to us. If you ever had the
other happen to you, you can’t forget it. When there is the discord, the bad words, broken
heart, the disappointment. When that happens, when that happens it just upsets us very much.
But when it’s good, it’s good and it’s working, it’s so precious to us and memorable. And that’s
beautiful.

I had a phone call this morning and we talked a little bit and the brother said I just listened to P.
Stevens funeral online. Face to face service. I just saw in that service something precious. I saw
honor. I saw people. I saw trust. I saw loyalty. I saw something precious in that service. That
was beautiful to hear that. I feel just to say it tonight. We’re going to have a Convention. Our
folks are coming in from different parts of the world, and I think some of them are coming
prayerfully saying Lord, build me up. I need help or Lord clarify a question or build me up with
my friends. I can’t wait to see them. I’m looking forward to seeing them because how good and
pleasant it is when we live like this as a way of life.

One other thing is in a way, the oil goes down on the body it says there in the psalm. And the oil
goes to every part. You can turn to your neighbor and say you are God’s anointed for my life.
You are God’s anointed for my life. You are a minister to me. You are God’s anointed for my life.
Go ahead. And what does that mean?

It means when I’m hurt, I’m troubled, I can be with you and you may not realize it, but you’re
helping me. You’re ministering to me. You’re just sitting in this room quietly for one hour. Just
sitting. Nothing said almost. Something like that. I could see you come in. God is with us. God
cares about each of us. Then, of course, God has words for us. There’s a song. Yes, and then
there are words. And then there is love and quietness. It’s just simply good and pleasant. And
the psalmist is saying that it’s important. I just appreciate it tonight a lot. I love P. Mikael Toll
very much. He’s a real friend. I thank you and your wife for that very much. Praise the Lord. All
right. We’ll pray for the offering. (Prayer).

P. Mikael Toll –

Good evening. P. Schaller said that can go on all night if you don’t stop them.
So, enough is enough! It’s amazing to be here. I’m just overwhelmed just to be here on a
Wednesday night and see so many faces. It’s fantastic. I mean many churches these days don’t
have a mid-week service. They don’t have a Sunday night service. They have no evangelism and
no prayer meetings just a Sunday morning service, so it’s amazing that we can gather like this.
Basically, every day of the week there is something going on.

Let’s pray. (Prayer). So, greetings first of all from Sweden. I am as many of you know the pastor
of a church in Stockholm, Sweden. I actually have been there for – this is my 31 st year as the
pastor there. I basically thought I was going to be there for a year or something, but I ended up
being there 30 years. I don’t know if Malva is here tonight. Greetings to you from your parents,
family, and the church. There she is. There she is. Good to see you.

And also, greetings from Culpeper, Virginia. We came into Washington last Thursday and we
made it to their mid-week service which is on Thursday, and they have a daughter here too.
Rebecca. Is she here?…there you are. There you are. What is your name? Oh, it is Rebecca.
Who said something else? There are three Rebecca’s. Oh, three daughters. The other two I met
already. So, I just wanted to make sure – okay. All right. Let’s see what else. Okay. No more
greetings. We got to move on here.

Okay. Greetings from Liberty University. Some of you know it’s like a three hour drive south of
Washington, D.C. So, we were there for their commencement. Graduation. It’s another word
for graduation and it was quite impressive, 29,000 graduates. Now, not all of them are, you
know, theology majors. They’re like medical students, law students, what have you. But it was
quite impressive. Former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, was one of the speakers. And
Senator Tim Scott from South Carolina was another speaker. And then they had a very, very
impressive firework. That ended the whole thing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it.

And my wife is leaning over and says, I know what you’re thinking. And I said, what am I
thinking? That money should have been given to missions. Actually, that is what I thought! This
is a complete waste but it was impressive and it was enjoyable, but I think that money would
have gone very far on the mission field. We know that story from the Bible. The oil. That money
could have been given to the poor. So, I had the same spirit!

Okay, Acts 17. Acts 17. Let’s see. That’s in the New Testament I believe. Good start. Acts 17:26-
28. Now, notice at the end of verse 27 it says, “for he is not far from each one of us.” And that’s
the title of my message tonight. He is not far from any of us. Because, you know, a lot of times
both unbelievers and believers claim that God is far away. He’s transcendent. There is a famous
Chinese philosopher who lived about two and a half thousand years ago, Confucius. He said
that – he believed in God. Shangdi. That was the name of the highest god. The highest deity.
And he believe in him. He said he’s so far away from us that there’s no point in even trying to
have a relationship with him. So, he developed this whole philosophy without God, although he
believed in him.

And isn’t that interesting that that can sometimes be our case, too. We develop some type of a
religious philosophy that we adhere to, but we do not really know the Lord personally. And you
know, sometimes people think that the Christian life is like a long journey. You’re just walking
through life and you don’t even know if you’re going to make it. And I always say that is the
wrong way of looking at it. It’s the wrong approach.

We start right up there at the mountain top. We start with positional truth. We’re already
seated above in Ephesian 2:6. That’s our start. I remember going to many years ago a meeting with
the Full Gospel Businessmen. And there was a guest speaker there and he said I start every day
in the dust and I’m warring myself through the clouds until I’m up there. I said you got it all
wrong. We are starting up there. You don’t have to make your way through the clouds every
day. I’m seated above.

So, I was thinking about how God is near in three different ways or in three different areas
maybe we could say.

#1. Salvation is near. Salvation is near. In Romans 10:8-10, it says that the
word is near you. If you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, you will be saved.
So, religion says God is far away. You can’t really reach him and if you’re going to reach him, it’s
going to take a lifetime. And the Bible says that he is near. We just read it.

Maybe you can turn with me to the Gospel of Matthew. The first book in the New Testament.
Matthew 22, we can read a number of verses there beginning in vs. 1-3. I want you to notice the
word “invited.” They had a choice, but they were not willing. Vs. 4-8. That sounds strange but
we’ll get back to that. Vs. 9-14.

this question. He said what is this all about that this poor guy comes into this wedding place
and he’s thrown out. He didn’t have the right clothes on. Maybe he was so poor that he could
not afford to buy. But that was not the problem. The problem was that he rejected the
provision. And that is the whole point here. We reject the provision. That is the only reason why
we are thrown out. God is not throwing people out because we are choice.

So, what God sees here – I believe it’s an American ice cream, but it says “Choice.” I don’t know
but I believe – maybe it used to be. But. Whatever. But it’s choice in the sense that it has a
superb or supreme quality. So, when many are called meaning the invitation has gone out to
many people or to all people, but many reject it. And if you reject it, you’re stuck with your own
righteousness and that won’t go very far on the day of judgment. But if you accept his provision
meaning the finished work of Jesus Christ, there is a difference because now you have God’s
imputed righteousness and that is what God sees.

When we read this thing here in vs. 14, “for many are called” or invited, EKLETOS, “but few are
chosen.” Meaning few are choice. Few have that quality that God is looking for. How do I get
that quality? Not because of my own work or works but because of my faith in Christ accepting
the invitation.

So, in other words, salvation is near. And I’m thinking about the thief on the cross. You know, I
don’t know how far apart these crosses were, but we can imagine that they were probably not
more than 10 feet apart, you know. They were so close that they could talk to each other and
so on. I’m thinking like what did he do? He was just sighing. Lord, please think about me. And
that thought was enough to provide that imputed righteousness so that he became choice. The
other one was invited. The soldiers were invited. The spectators were invited. All people were
invited. The Jewish nation was invited.

But in John 1:8-11, it says he came to his own and his own did not receive him. In Rev. 8, it says
the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. That’s the wedding garment. That’s not
imputed righteousness, but that is imparted righteousness. Remember how P. Stevens used to
teach imputed righteousness and imparted righteousness. Meaning imputed righteousness has
to do with our justification. And imparted righteousness has to do with our sanctification,
meaning our growth. So, as we allow God to borrow our humanity so that he can manifest his
divinity, to that degree there will be something going into our wedding garment and that’s
what it speaks about there. So, it’s not a justification verse but it is a sanctification verse.

So, evangelism really is just inviting people, isn’t it? I mean we go out and invite people to this
and if they accept it, if they believe the message that we have, they will be choice. They will
have a superb quality of life. They will have God’s own imputed righteousness given to them as
a gift and they will not be thrown out.

So, going to Switzerland – I’m from Sweden not Switzerland. A lot of Americans confuse
Sweden and Switzerland because they both start with ‘S’. But that’s about it. Anyhow, they
have banks. We have Volvo’s and Vikings. We have banks, too, but they are not as famous.
Anyhow, the thing is we know about Luther and we know about Calvin. But there was another
Swiss reformer. His name was Zwingli. And it was interesting because Swiss democracy is like
direct democracy meaning that you vote on everything and if 51% think a certain way, okay.
That’s the way it’s going to be.

So, when the Reformers came around, these different provinces they voted. Are we going to be
Protestant or are we going to remain Catholic. So, those places that accepted Zwingli’s typically
around Basel, you know that city, – when it happened, he ordered – he said now we are
Protestants. He said in all the churches, there were altars. And altars speak about something
that is not finished because it talks about sacrifices. We don’t need another sacrifice because in
Hebrews 10:10 and Hebrews 10:14, it says that one sacrifice was enough. One person, the Lord Jesus
Christ, offered himself once and for all. So, there is no more sacrifice needed. So, the altars had
to go out. And you know, he replaced the altars with tables because tables speak about a feast.
Meaning you go and eat from something that has already been fulfilled or finished. And I love
that.

I don’t know if that’s the right thing. You vote politically if you’re going to be Catholics or
Protestants when you have the majority. I believe in separation between church and state, the
American way. Anyhow, I’m just saying it’s interesting how he had that understanding.
But what I’m saying here is that salvation is near. So, how does God do this thing? He goes out
with this invitation and that is different from like some people say God is dragging us to himself.
Well, he is actually in John 6:44. It says no one comes to me unless the Father draws him…the
word there can actually mean to draw or to drag but it can also mean to – the focus is on the
attraction power. We are drawn to him because of what he offers us.

So, that was salvation is near. Then also, there is something else that is near and that is the
calling of God. The calling of God is near. If you go to Matthew 4 very quickly here, Matthew. 4:18-19. They
were fisherman but they became disciples. They were going about their daily duties and then
Jesus showed up and said come follow me. In Ephesians 4:1, it says we are to walk worthy of our
calling. We have a heavenly calling and our experience needs to catch up with our position. So,
that is what sanctification is all about.

The word here for “walk” – sorry, for calling is “PARAKALEO” in the Greek. And PARA means,
that’s where we get the word “parallel.” And KALEO is where we get the word “call.” So,
PARAKALEO means that there is someone right by my side and calling me continually or
constantly. And I think that is so amazing that we all have a call.

P. Schaller was naming different people here, you know, just individuals and I know the feeling
when you are up here. You’re a pastor and you have a big congregation, you can’t go through
all the people. But that’s what you want in a sense. Everyone is special. Everyone is precious
and they all, we all have a special calling and it’s unique. It cannot be replaced. It cannot be
changed. It cannot be improved. It is what it is.

God has given us a very specific calling. There’s like a diversity of gifts. The older you get, the
more experience you have, the more you appreciate that so to speak because it is so special to
see how different gifts and callings are coming together and forming this great unity that we
heard about in P. Schaller’s message here. And I love that, you know.

In 1 Samuel 30, another verse that we have probably heard many times. 1 Samuel 30:24, meaning
that it doesn’t matter what I do. Some positions may be more visible or seemingly more
important but not in the eyes of God. Whatever God has called me to do, even if it is something
that is not seen or maybe humanly speaking appreciated as much, that doesn’t matter. God has
a special calling. And if I’m faithful to that calling, I will be rewarded accordingly. I’m not going
to be rewarded based on my giftedness. But I’m going to be rewarded based on my
faithfulness.

And you know, some of you know Charles Stanley. He passed away half a year ago or
something. He was down in Atlanta. He pastored a church for 50 years there. And one of the
things that he said almost in every message, it was like “obey God and leave all the
consequences to him.” Obey God and leave all the consequences to him. But what if I obey God
in this area? What about the ramifications? Who’s going to deal with that? Well, God will. Obey
God and leave all the consequences to him.

So, the calling of God is important. Paul was running the race in 1 Corinthians 4:24-27. And he said I’m
afraid I will be disqualified. Some people think that speaks about losing your salvation. That he
was afraid of losing his salvation. That he would not reach the finishing line. But he’s not talking
about that obviously. But what he talked about is that he thought that maybe he’s not going to
live in his divine potential. He’s not going to have a full reward because of that.

The word in the Greek is ADOKIMOS. Something will be tested and is not approved. It’s not his
salvation because he had the imputed righteousness. He wanted to live in his spiritual potential
100%. He didn’t want to miss anything. And it says “do not be deceived” it says in 2 John 8 but
so that you don’t get a full reward. So, there is something we can lose in eternity. It’s not our
salvation but rewards. We want to have them. The key to get them is to understand that God is
near. Salvation is near. We have trusted him. We have imputed righteousness. And the calling
of God is near as well. So, we respond to that.

So, just one final point here. The perfect will of God is also near. So, not only is salvation is near,
not only is our calling near, but also – sorry- our perfect will for our lives. And in 1 John 1:9, it
says if we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us. And he will also cleanse us from all
unrighteousness. So, when we confess our known sins, God will cleanse us completely. And this
is a sanctification verse. This is not a salvation verse that you give to an unsaved person in that
sense. Just mention all your sins and you will be saved. That is not what it’s talking about.

It’s talking about us. That when we have sinned and we have a guilty conscience and we enter
into dead works that it talks about in Hebrews 9:14, when we enter into those dead works because
we have a defiled conscience, that is not good. That is not the place we want to be if we want
to have a full reward. We want to understand that the blood of Christ cleanses us the moment
we agree with God because that’s the word in the Greek, HOMOLOGEO. Meaning agreeing with
God.

So, that is a beautiful thing. And one hundred times, roughly one hundred times in the Gospel
of John the condition, the only condition for salvation is belief. One hundred times. Nothing
else is mentioned. Sometimes I look at tracts. People say here’s a good tract. But they have
three or four or even five different steps to salvation. My tract has only one: believe. Because it
is finished. All you need to do is trust in Christ that that work was for you.

Sometimes people enter into the maze of guilt and sin. We don’t get out of that place. If I try to
figure my life out, what I did ten years ago or 30 years ago or 50 years ago – I forgot to forgive
somebody. I did this bad thing here or there or whatever. It’s not going to work. We’re going to
get stuck in that maze.

So, I suggest we enter the grace maze. You know, because only one confession and I find myself
in the right place meaning on top of the mountain where I’m already standing. Romans 5:1-2 it
says that in vs. 1 we are saved by grace. We stand in grace. But in the second verse, it says that
we are actually – sorry, we have access to that same grace. So, there is saving grace,
justification grace, but there is also growing grace, sanctification grace. So, there is grace all the
way.

One guy that I know, he has a newsletter and it’s called Grace for the Race. I like that title.
Grace for the Race. And that’s what we want. Now, I just want to close with this. I had a lot
more to say but I think this is enough. I’m going to be around also if you can stay. We can have
a little rap here. I started out sending you greetings from Sweden, but we have had a very
interesting year actually. We are not a big church. You know how it is in western Europe. It’s so
secular and people are not so interested in God. It’s so special.

I’m not going to mention names here but people will know who I am talking about. And they
don’t mind it. We have a family in the church. Their daughter is in her low 20’s. Two years ago, she started to have severe headaches. They wouldn’t go away. They saw different doctors. They
tried everything. And she’s been stuck with it for like two years. It has really crippled her. It was
so interesting because she has taken this in an amazing way. She has not turned bitter but
somehow thankful and her father asked me, he said she feels a lot better when we have
something from the Word of God. He said do you mind if I start another Bible study? Never. No!
I said of course you can. Of course. Then he said, I’ll do a second one.

Twice a week, her father is doing a Bible study. I show up there too and share sometimes. It’s
been very interesting cuz for some reason, it has attracted young adults. You know, like her age
between 20 and 30. Some new people have come. Some old people. And it’s very interesting.
Every time I go there, it’s like this is what happens. I walk into the room or into the home and
we start right away with a rap. Sometimes I don’t even get to the point where I share
something, because the rap takes over because there are questions. That’s how it is for three
hours. It’s like every time it’s like that. Three hour raps. It’s amazing how God has used that to
draw her close to him and then the family close to him and then others close to him. So, it’s
sort of like a little revival around her.

She was in touch with a lady that was helping her. I don’t know what kind of expertise this lady
had but she had some expertise in some area. So, they were talking on the phone. They were
emailing and so on and she was very helpful in this girl’s life. So, she had a good relationship
with her but then she found out that this lady had cancer. And she didn’t really know much –
sorry, I’m jumping ahead her. She didn’t hear from her for a long time, and then she did find
out later on that she had cancer and the interesting thing was she shared the Gospel with her.
And then she didn’t hear much from her and she wrote again and no answer. And I don’t know
what happened? What happened was she actually died.

But what happened was that she got an answer, not from her but from her daughter. The
daughter wrote in the email. She said, my mother died but I just want you to know that before
she died, she mentioned you and that you had shared the Gospel, and she told me that I should
tell you that she received Christ. And she was not even a believer, the daughter, but she
brought that message. God is near, right?

The thief was just sighing on the cross. And he got saved. We are invited. We are not randomly
chosen but we are choice. Why are we choice? Because we have made a choice, pun intended.
And because of that, we have this imputed righteousness. So, God sees a certain quality in us.
That’s why we are choice. He sees that and it’s not because of something we are producing or
making up. It’s something that is given to us the moment we accept the invitation.

So, just in closing, salvation is near. The calling of God is near. And God’s perfect will is near.
Only a confession away and we can get out of that maze of guilt that so many people are in,
running around trying to figure out their own life and not getting anywhere. But we start out on top of the mountain. We start out above the clouds. We don’t have to fight our way through
the clouds. We are already up there. That’s our starting point. Like I said, I have a lot more to
say but let’s just close in prayer here. (Prayer).

 

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