Hospital Visitation (Part 1) (rerun)

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

Handling Criticism and Misrepresentation

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth and I�m your host today. Last week I�ve got quite a few emails, some positive, some negative, but almost all of them say, �We�ll keep listening.

So I�m glad you�re listening. I�m glad whether you like me or don�t like me, that you listen to the show, because I believe it is healthy for you to understand what the Bible says. I got one email that said that I have misrepresented people, misrepresented Roman Catholics, misrepresented I got another one that said I misrepresented Armenians.

They said Armenians, but I personally know some Armenians and they make a really good fool. I didn�t say they�re fools, but they make good fool, a kind of food, and I would never misrepresent an Armenian.

That would be somehow racist or somehow going against the people from Armenia. But I think what they meant was that I misrepresent Armenians. And so what I said to these people is that, two different emails, �If you can show me how I misrepresented the different groups, the Armenian Armenians.

We actually had some Calvinistic Armenians in California at our home Bible city. That made for interesting talk. There are many Armenian Armenians. Back to topic, if I make a mistake, and certainly I�m a human, and so I could make a mistake here on No Compromise Radio.

Some of the shows are edited, some of the shows are not edited. Usually Mondays are edited, but the other ones, you just get them as we go. Once in a while I�ll have to tape a show over just because I think, �Oh, that sounded kind of stupid.

And applause button here. If you can tell me, via an email, �Mike, you said this. That is not correct. This is what they believe instead. You said this. This is what the Bible says. I�ll be glad to make any correction on the air.

I would say live, except this is usually a taped show. But you�ll hear me say, �I was wrong. No, I�ll gladly say it. I was wrong. I should have said Catholic Catechism, page 1542, or section 1542, and it was really 1541 and a half.

They can�t find that reference, and I just made it up, or something like that. I will be glad to say, �I have made a mistake. Now if I�m just talking and I misspeak, what if I said that Jesus was sinful and I meant that He was sinless, and you knew in context when I was talking about His impeccability and how He was perfect and how He was spotless and how He had no corruption and how He was never tainted by the fall, how He was virgin-born, how the Spirit of God protected Him in the womb even from Mary�s sin, full nature, and then I misspoke and said sinful instead of sinless.

Well, I hope you give me a pass on that. I do believe that Jesus was sinless, that He was perfect. He had to be perfect or else He would be dying for His own sin. So once again, if I say something and you disagree with it and you�d like to email me, feel free.

I usually write back and I say, �Thank you for emailing me. I appreciate that you listen, and if you can tell me something that I did wrongly and you can document it, I�ll be glad to repent. Most of the emails I get are very, very positive.

Thank you, listening in certain different cities and countries, and so if you�ve got a bone to pick with me, feel free, info at nocompromiseradio .com, info at nocompromiseradio .com. What ends up usually happening with at least these last two emailers, they said at the end of the day, �Well, we don�t have any real points that you have said that would be wrong, but we just don�t like the way you say it.

So I have to remember that I have a disclaimer before my show, and that is something to the effect that if you like kind of watered down words that are kind of soothing and no controversy, if you like words that sound like women�s words from a man�s body, I think women�s words from women�s bodies are good.

I think men�s words from a woman�s body aren�t good, and I also am a man. I have a testosterone and a beard, and I am a man, and so therefore I usually talk like a man. And so in our society today, people like, �Oh, I want something relevant, kind of transparent.

Let�s go have a nice lunch together and just kind of talk. I think those are all fine things, but they�re typically found in ladies. Ladies are just different than men. It doesn�t mean anybody�s right or wrong.

I just don�t like men who act like women. And so if you�d like to have a man who acts like a woman as they teach the Bible, well, then you probably should turn the channel to somebody else because I�m just not that guy.

I think if you meet me in person, I think those who know me in person would vouch that for the most part, I mean, I have my bad days, but for the most part, I�m fairly nice. I�m fairly kind. If you�re in the hospital and you need someone to visit you, I think the God of all grace has worked in my life that I�m kind and tender and have a good bedside manner.

But again, that would be for you to judge. But if you don�t like the way I say things, then keep listening, I guess, is what I�d like you to do. But if you can�t take that, then find somebody else. David Jeremiah, for instance, I think he has a much kinder delivery, a sweeter delivery than I do.

And by the way, if he was doing No Compromise Radio Ministry, I think he�d be blunter. That�s just the way we have the show positioned. Something, here�s what the Bible teaches, we want you to believe it.

We laugh around a little bit on Tuesday with Steve. And so we�re not laughing at people, I�m not saying, you know, look at how these people look or smell or trying to make some kind of ad hominem remark.

If somebody says something stupid, I�m going to say, �That�s stupid. I�m not going to say, �They�re stupid unless they really are stupid, and then maybe I�ll say it. The whole issue today is, now I�ve gone on my little rant, Mike Abendroth, No Compromise Radio Ministry.

I don�t know how I got off on this other subject, but I�m talking about, I was trying to talk about how to visit people in the hospital. Oh, I know what I was going to say. It�s not the pastor�s responsibility to make hospital visits.

It is the pastor�s responsibility, ultimately, to train the congregation to do that. Oh, he should go visit the hospitals, but the body of Christ should rally around those who are sick and infirm and should make the hospital visits.

So if you�re a Christian and you�re in the hospital and the pastor didn�t visit you but 15 other people from your church did, I think you should go to the pastor and say, �Thanks for training up these other people, because I was visited so much that people in the hospital thought I was a very important person.

I got the VIP treatment because of the body of Christ. It is the pastor�s job, it is the elder�s responsibility, to train up people to do the work of the ministry. The pastor�s work of the ministry is equipping the saints.

The saints� ministry is to do the work of the ministry. And so we all do things together. Now the pastor should lead, he should be an example, he should take people out and train them. I�ve gone to the hospital many times with people and have said, �Now bring your Bible, not the big family Bible, but it looks like a millstone, but go ahead and just bring your regular Bible.

And by the way, now with cell phones and iPhones and everything else, it�s easy to remind yourself, �Oh yes, I have the Bible, and off we go. So today I want to try to encourage you, it�s a very positive, upbeat, transparent, relevant show for all the listeners today at No Compromise Radio.

How to minister to sick people, or make a hospital visit, or go to somebody�s house if they�re sick. This applies to all those kind of scenarios. Number one, let me give you a truth that I think is good for you and it will motivate you to serve sick people, ill people.

Number one, sickness will be with us until Christ returns. So before the fall, no sickness, no death, no colds, no cancer, etc. And when we are glorified, we will no longer have any of those infirmities.

We will not need pharmacy companies to help give us medicine. It doesn�t take a rocket scientist to look around and say there is illness everywhere. You can have all the money in the world and you can�t stop yourself from getting sick.

No matter what the scientific breakthroughs reveal, the truth from Psalm 90 is still valid. As for the days of our life, they contain 70 years, or if due to strength, 80 years. Yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for soon it is gone and we fly away.

So 70, 80 years, maybe you live to be 90, maybe you live to be 50. One thing�s for sure, there�s sickness on earth. And so we need to always be ready to serve sick people because it will be an ongoing thing.

If your church is large enough, there�s probably somebody sick at your church all the time. But if you take a look at Revelation 22, the delights in New Jerusalem, you will see as you move inside the city, the heavenly city, there�s going to be no sickness, and that�s going to be great.

How great it is to have no pain, no ibuprofen, no capsicum, Bengay warming gel, that is going to be a great day. And he showed me, Revelation 22, a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb.

And here we see this pollutionless river, no pollution, waters flowing right down the middle of the great street of the city. In the middle of its street, verse 2, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.

And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nation. By the way, interestingly, the leaves of the tree, that is where we get the word that is used for the cross in Acts 5, 10, 13, Galatians 3, and 1 Peter chapter 2.

I�m not saying there�s a cross there that people would be crucified upon, but here that same word is used. And here we have the tree and its fruit and its leaves, maybe a perpetual reminder of our spiritual blessings and what it cost.

And so we have this therapeutic, because that�s where the English word comes from, this Greek word, this no sickness in the eternal state. Maybe this tree�s fruit and its leaves somehow lend themselves to us always having well-being and healing.

Well, I�m not exactly sure. One thing for sure is, no sin in heaven, no sickness, no death, and there shall be no longer any curse, verse 3,. �And the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it, and His bondservants shall serve Him.

And so sometimes you have to go to work when you�re sick, you don�t feel good, you�re under the weather, and in heaven you will always feel good. There�ll be no curse, no darkness, no sin, no Satan, and you can serve as a good steward of the manifold grace of God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength, because Christ Jesus has purchased for you heaven.

And what�s wonderful about heaven, Revelation 22, verse 4, �And they shall see His face. You can�t see His face unlived if you have less than a glorified body. But now personally, you can look at God, stare at Him, admire Him.

You can see Christ Jesus face to face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. So, before we get to heaven, there�s going to be sickness. And so you have lots of opportunities to serve Christ Jesus and His body, His bride, on this earth today.

The Church’s Calling to Minister to the Sick

The second thing I�d like to say is a reiteration of what I said earlier, that ministering to the sick is the job for all saints. I didn�t have the verse before, and now I have it, Ephesians 4, �He gave some, Christ, some as apostles and some as prophets.

I�m going to sneeze, �and some as evangelists. I turned it into a yawn, �and some as pastors and teachers. I just need some more coffee. I�ve been drinking some Starbucks coffee, but I like Pete�s coffee better, and I get free Starbucks once in a while, and maybe I just need some more Pete�s coffee.

�Some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. So the teachers, the pastors and teachers, apostles not for today, prophets not for today, evangelists for today, the pastors and teachers, they equip the saints for the work of service.

I could ask you a question. If you�re a Christian, when was the last time you visited somebody from your church in the hospital? Not your own family, I�d assume you would visit your own family, but what about somebody in church?

What about somebody in church who�s in the hospital? Maybe you, instead of going to the hospital, you delivered some food to their house because they just got out of the hospital, they just had a baby in the hospital or home.

I think all those things count. When was the last time you went to the hospital or some infirm person�s house and served them with prayer, encouragement, a hug, food, or anything else? Too often we like to say, �Well, our church really isn�t that loving.

Well, if you say our church isn�t loving, you�re saying, �We aren�t that loving. You�re saying, �I am not that loving. You�re saying for yourself, �You aren�t that loving. And so, what�s the best thing to do when there�s a problem?

Maybe there isn�t enough love in a church. Go love other people. Love is, I want what�s best for the other person. I want what�s best for them, so I�ll go to the hospital and I�ll visit. If you were in the hospital, would you like a visitor?

If you were stuck at home sick, would you like a visitor? The answer is yes. And so, if you�d like to be more loving, then you ought to go visit. It actually boggles my mind that there are Christians who don�t go to the hospital to visit other Christians.

They think that�s for somebody else. They think they don�t have time. They think that�s below them. They think they don�t know what to do. The excuses are manifold, and they multiply like rabbits in the spring.

Some kind of excuse. If you�re a dad, you need to swoop up your kids when you get home, grab some fast food, tell your wife, �Honey, don�t spend the day cooking. I�m going to take you out for some quick fast food, and go to Moe�s, go to Chipotle, go to some place that you like, eat some food, and then go to the hospital.

Pick up an extra salsa spicy burrito for the person in the hospital if they�re able, and it�s not some kind of GI issue, and take it to them. And just lead as a father. If you don�t go to visit people in the hospitals, I don�t see how you love the sick.

I don�t see how you care for them. I don�t see how you love them. It�s not the deacon�s job, it�s not the elder�s job, it�s not the pastor�s job. It�s everybody�s privilege to go serve Christ Jesus. He�s not on earth in a body, and so go serve people who are in a body who are his bride, people that he has loved.

If you�d like to be visited, then why don�t you go visit? So number one, we�ve got a lot of opportunities to serve. Number two, it�s your responsibility to do that, not just your pastor�s. Number three, if you�d like to see a person who serves wonderfully, beautifully, regularly, consistently, and lovingly, look to the example of Jesus Christ.

Christ’s Compassionate Service and Authority Over Death

Look at the way he had a great attitude of love towards sick people. If you take a look at Philippians chapter 2, Paul says, �Do nothing from selfish or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself.

Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourself, which was also in Christ Jesus. Here�s the attitude. �Who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking� here�s how he emptied himself �taking the form of a bondservant, he added by subtraction.

No, he subtracted by adding. He decided not to always use all his divine attributes, and he laid aside some of the prerogatives. He never laid aside the attributes, but he laid aside some of his prerogatives to divine perfections.

And then he took the form of a bondservant, a slave, and being made in the likeness of men and being found in the appearance of man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

And we know from Matthew 20 that the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. I think of the specific example of Jesus serving. Your daughter has died.

Why trouble the teacher anymore? Remember the person came from the house of the synagogue, and Jesus, you know, my daughter, my daughter, my daughter, and they said, you know, don�t trouble Jesus. But Jesus, Mark 5, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, �Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.

Stop fearing and keep believing. Present imperative, stop fearing, present imperative, keep believing. Trust in me, trust in the circumstance, no, trust in the person, not the circumstance. And Jesus allowed no one to follow with him except Peter and James and John, the brother of James.

So here comes this select group of insiders, first appearing here, Peter, James, and John. Later they�re going to go to the Mount of Transfiguration and the Garden of Gethsemane. And they came to the house of the synagogue official, and he beheld a commotion and people loudly weeping and wailing.

When we have a funeral, it�s quiet. When they had a funeral back then, you needed to mourn. There was mourning. There was weeping and wailing. It was a sound used of clanging cymbals and soldiers on a battle.

It was in a battle, loud lamentations. Professional mourners were hired. And entering in, he said to them, �Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep. He�s asleep, it�s a figurative expression.

When you look at somebody sleeping, they look like they�re dead. When you see somebody dead, it looks like they�re sleeping. Jesus said plainly to them in John 11, �Lazarus is dead. When the same kind of thing was happening, the sleeper dead, Lazarus has fallen asleep.

They began laughing at Jesus, but putting them all out. He took along the child�s father and mother and his own companions and entered the room where the child was. They were laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing.

Taking the child by the hand, he said to her, �Little girl, I say to you, arise, arise, get up. And can you imagine, stiff, rigor mortis, death, tenderly, she wakes up, this little one. A Scottish man translated it, �My wee lass, get up.

And immediately the girl rose and began to walk, for she was 12 years old, and immediately they were completely astonished. Complete healing, instant healing, a healing that shows how much Jesus loved people, how much power he had over death.

And the people laughed at Jesus, but now because of Jesus, we can laugh at death. Oh, there�s a sting, that�s sure, but we know that Jesus has power over death. And he gave strict orders that no one should know about this, and he said that something should be given her to eat.

Wow, divine power and tender compassion put together. Reminds me of Isaiah 42, �A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not extinguish. He will faithfully bring forth justice.

J .C. Ryle, the great Anglican of over a century ago, said, �The gods of the heathen are generally represented as terrible and mighty in battle, delighting in bloodshed, the strong man�s patrons and the warrior�s friends.

The Savior of the Christian is always set before us as gentle and easy to be entreated, the healer of the brokenhearted, the refuge of the weak and helpless, the comforter of the distressed. The man�s best friend, the sick man�s best friend.

Here we have the great physician who would defend widows and help them, who would take children in his lap, who would weep over Jerusalem�s plight, show kindness to sinful men and women, and now he visits them when they�re sick, in this particular case dead, but just the kindness of Christ.

He is the one that you can look to. He�s also the one you can look to when you have failed in this and you need to repent and you can say, �I�m thankful I have Christ Jesus and his life of loving sick people and serving them is credited to my account because of the faith that Christ Jesus himself with the Spirit of God and the Father has granted to me.

And now I stand before God, certainly not because I was such a great lover of sick people, but because Jesus was and I stand in his stead. I stand covered with his robes. So Mike Abendroth, No Compromise Radio Ministry, like always, we�re not going to get through with this today.

I�d like to specifically tell you what to do when you go to the hospital, how to walk you through steps so that you would know, oh, this is how you make a hospital call, to disciple you so you�ll know what to do when you go to somebody�s house or ICU to help them.

If you�d like to write us at info at nocompromiseradio .com, you can. If you think something that I said today was wrong or inappropriate, I�d like you to be able to document that because if you just say you�re unloving, I don�t know what to do with that, that�s just too vague, that�s the cop-out.

If you say you didn�t like my tone, well, of course, you can pray for me. That would be good that you pray that I would be kind and tender. But remember, when Jesus would talk to Pharisees and Sadducees and those that thought they had their own righteousness, that is, false teachers, Jesus was not sweet to them.

Jesus hammered them, and society today would call that unloving, but that�s the most loving thing he could do. But when Jesus found people who knew they had no righteousness and they knew they were sinful, he was generous, kind, patient, would eat with them, sup with them.

So that�s the way I want to do it. And so you can write us at nocompromiseradio .com. How to visit people in the hospital next week, same time, same channel. God bless you.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God�s Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We�re right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.