The Coming One

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. Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, and if you have questions about our show, you can always write us. Our slogan is �Always Biblical, Always Provocative, Always in that Order.

What don�t you hear us do at No Compromise Radio? I guess there�s probably all kinds of things. I don�t think you hear us espouse Roman Catholic theology, confusing justification and sanctification.

I don�t think you hear us recording shows at the bar, and of course you know my views about Christian liberty, and I think they�re biblical views. I just think the whole advertising stuff, and look at the tweet of this IPA, and blah, blah, blah.

I just don�t think that�s wise, so you haven�t heard us ever do that. I don�t think you�ve ever heard us ask for money, although times are tight, and it�s that time of year again. Just kidding. For a long time, we never had a PayPal, Patreon, or anything on the website, and then I was talked into that.

I think there�s like 13 donors or something like that, so I�m very thankful for them. You can always support us, I guess, if you want to. I can give you a disclaimer. Support your local church first. Support Gospel Coalition second.

Support Southern Baptist Convention third. Or not. What is going on at the Southern Baptist Convention? It�s crazy. They said that the Eleventh Commandment is that you�re not supposed to say anything bad about the Southern Baptists themselves.

I went to Southern Seminary to get my doctorate of ministry. I know it�s not a Ph .D. or anything like that. It�s not a D .Phil or a Ph .D. or Ph .D. or some other doctoral, terminal degrees. I don�t know.

Anyway, just a D-Min, I know. But I did work hard for it. I did pay. The church paid, actually, the money for it. That was a four-year process, and I did a dissertation called �Training a Layman to Teach the Bible� at Bethlehem Bible Church.

Training a layman to teach the Bible verse by verse. There you go. So that has helped me in ministry and helped me with other folks in their ministry. And then I taught, I think, three classes total for Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in the Northboro campus here.

I think it was two preaching classes, Proclamation of Preaching 3000 and the same thing, so the Intro to Preaching, and then a lab where they just had to do a lot of preaching, and I critiqued those. I was very thankful to do that and really appreciated that.

I did receive some negative comments here or there regarding that, but that was just from local guys because the local Southern Baptists here are not so aligned with theological conservativism, and so I got some trouble there because we would not give our money to the local Southern Baptist organizations here, we would give it to Southern Seminary instead.

I had a lot of guys go through the Southern Seminary Northboro campus extension. I don't think it's as good, I don't think campus extensions are as good as going to the real campus. I mean, maybe that's politically incorrect to say as well, but you don't have all the professors there, you don't have the library there, although of course you have access to the library because you can do library loans and get stuff sent up, but it's just not the same.

On campus is better. So far nobody has been able to make me believe something else. Online, it's not as good as in person. But anyway, love my time doing that, and for many years didn't really say much about the problems in the Southern Baptist Convention because, well, I guess I said stuff about the convention but didn't say anything about Southern Baptist Theological Seminary because I just didn't need to, I didn't want to.

But then after a while it got to be so bad it wasn't kind of like just minor things. You get close enough to an organization and you can spot problems. If you work as a janitor for a church, you can recognize things that you didn't know were happening and you were thinking it was just this great place, and with all the political issues and issues of people.

So anyway, I have expressed my concerns about Southern Seminary, Southeastern Seminary, Southwestern Seminary. I think the only Southern Baptist Seminary that I would send people to is Midwestern. I think Matthew Barrett's there and some others, and maybe they have the same problems.

I don't know. I don't think so. I hope not. But anyway, I haven't been asked to teach at Southern Seminary since, and nor will I probably ever be asked to, which is fine, and I have actually said to the people that do the website stuff, it might still be up.

It should not be up because I asked them to take down the adjunct professor for Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I hope it turns back around, but I never would have guessed in my wildest dreams that the Lord would use somebody to turn around that seminary, Al Mohler, from liberal to conservative, and you think of the movie that was produced back in the PBS movie, it's got the R .E .M. song at the very beginning, it's like screw tape letter-like because it was filmed as a bad takeover.

Losing My Religion was the song that they played, but what's the name of the movie? I don't know. Lipscomb, I think, was the producer. And anyway, then now to watch it go liberal again under the same president, and seeing some of the notes of the social justice people and the woke people and the critical race theory stuff that's in there, it's unbelievable.

It's unbelievable. I think that there's probably, you know, that movie that's out, there's all kinds of issues with that, and the Idaho connection, cross-politic connection, theonomy connection, etc., etc.

But anyway, I want what's best for them, but they're going to lose. Just like with the gay agenda, who are the guys that wrote the book about the gay agenda? And they're going to, they have these steps to take over.

And essentially the steps are, you get your nose in the tent like a camel, and then everything just gets moved in. So anyway, I'm a man without a country, right? But I would not have fit in very well at a seminary where I just have to bite my tongue when it comes to a lot of these things, when I think this is obvious.

These things are obvious. When what's-his-name says, you know, the white guy says that he's a racist, and then you've got these other people teaching different intersectionality things. I don't need that in theology classes.

If you want to have an elective, how to navigate your church through, you know, black-white issues and all that stuff, and it's done from a theological perspective, then I don't have a problem with that.

If it's done from critical race theory, liberalism, and everything else, social gospel stuff, then I have a big problem. Well, anyway, my name's Mike Ebenroth, and that was just my little detour there.

Hebrews and the Call to Endure in Difficult Times

I've been talking a lot about the book of Hebrews because it exalts who Jesus is. And of course, people think that NOCO is a discernment ministry. Maybe early on it was. I tried to talk about things on this show that didn't need to make it into my sermons.

And now my sermons are essentially Christ-centered, and the radio show is essentially Christ-centered. I try to give some comments here or there. And while I try to keep up on a lot of the stuff now, I'm not great at keeping up.

I'm not great at what I'm keeping up with. It's getting too complicated to figure all these things out and people, and I don't want to study. There's one person that just studies this stuff all the time, and they don't study the good stuff.

And I think it's showing in his ministry, well, what's going on in the book of Hebrews at the end of Hebrews. There are difficult times. What do you do? How do you process difficult times when you're getting persecuted?

And I talked about keeping your eyes peeled, trifocals, and the first one that we were in is Hebrews 10, 33, 34, and 35. And that's essentially, remember, Christian, when you first were saved, what you went through for the name of Christ and how you did it with joy, how you did it with just excitement, and you didn't care that you got persecuted for the sake of Christ back in those days.

And now you do. You're more mature now and you care now. Here's what he's essentially doing. He says in verse 33, but recall the former days when after you were enlightened, after you got saved, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.

For you had compassion on those in prison and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. And so I said that would be look back.

You look back and remember those days. And instead of saying, by the way, you're going through trouble now. And this applies not for these dear Christians only, but for you as well, listener, if you're going through any kind of trouble, it doesn't even have to be persecution.

It can be regular trouble. Instead of me telling you, remember the good old days? Remember those days when things just went so well? Look back on those days. No, look back at the days that were difficult and ask yourself, was God faithful?

Was God giving me these trials so that I might grow and learn and mature? I almost said, was he giving me more than I can handle? Yes, I think sometimes the Lord does. We take those verses completely out of context.

That's a different show. What did Jesus say? Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

You, Jewish people, are now traitors for your faith because now you're Christians, but the Lord Jesus gives you blessings. Jesus blesses you when you get harassment. When you have ill treatment, you get blessings.

You loved God and followed the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, and then you were nice to other Christians, and you suffered for their sake. Personally, you were partners with them, koinonioi, where it's just a plural fellowship terminology.

You were partners with them in their suffering. You came alongside and you thought, you know what? They got persecuted because they're Christians, and I don't care if I get persecuted because I'm a Christian.

It doesn't matter. I want to have compassion on those who are in prison, and in those days, if people were in prison and nobody was compassionate for them, it's not like they had ACLU and other people to make sure they had three squares a day and exercise for an hour.

No, you got things taken away. You got thrown in jail, and unless somebody came in there, you were smoked. Here, sympathy, fellow feeling, as some call it, for other Christians. It reminds me of what Jesus was saying in Matthew 25.

For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, and I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I needed clothes, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you looked after me. I was in prison, and you came to visit me.

And that's what you did with these fellow workers of the gospel, and you got so close to them, then you lost your stuff, too, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your property. You are blessed when people hate you, when they revile you, when they spurn your name as evil.

Rejoice in that day. Leap for joy, and behold, your reward in heaven is great. And so their fathers did to the prophets. Luke chapter 6. Why? You lose property. How could you have joy for that? Because the real property is a better property, an abiding property, a better possession.

You see the text? And an abiding one. John Hooper was facing death. Quote, loss of goods is great, but loss of God's grace and favor is greater. There is neither felicity nor adversity of this world that can appear to be great if it is beweighed with the joys or pains of the world to come.

What does Lord's day 10 say in the catechism? Who can be patient when things go against? We can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and for the future we can have good confidence in our faithful God and Father that nothing will separate us from his love.

All creatures are so completely in his hand that without his will they can neither move nor be moved. You know you're going to get a better position and an abiding one. You're going to get heaven. So, live for things that endure.

You have an inheritance in heaven. Don't give up, right? This is all framed so that you can have endurance. We have endurance twice in this section from verses 32 to 39. One endured and one endurance.

Setting us up for these people who believe, who are in the hall of faith. Listen to what Thomas Brooks said. There is infinitely more evil in the least sin that there is in the greatest miseries and afflictions that can possibly come upon you.

Yea, there is more evil in the least sin than there is in all the miseries of torments and hell. So, don't sin now, right? That's the point. Don't sin now. Avoid the sin. You say, well, if I sin, I'll have less suffering.

Wrong. That might be true, but that's wrong thinking. So, this pastor, he's talking about the inheritance that's imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for you, to use Peter's language, a heavenly possession, enduring, lasting.

It's not that big a deal. Remember back in those days, you just let that joyfully happen. Therefore, since we've been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, we also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Not only in that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love, or the love of God, has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

That's what we're talking about here. For I consider that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us, Romans 8, 2 Corinthians 4. Do not lose heart, though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal way to glory far beyond all comparison. For, excuse me, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

When you go through difficult times, look back to when you first were saved, and you didn't mind the persecution, the name-calling, the insults, the associations, you didn't care because you were so fired up.

Was the Lord faithful back in those days? Has the Lord ever been not faithful? You'd think he'd be faithful in the times where you're doing things, you know, that things are going well. But even in the most difficult times, he's been faithful, has he not?

So look back. The second trifocal lens that we look through is look forward. So look back and then look forward. And there's some overlap here, but that's okay. I needed three points in a poem. Kidding.

Looking Forward to the Coming One

Look forward, verses 35, 36, and 37. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, Hebrews 10, 35, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised.

For yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay. What's happening here, the writer, like a good pastor, is saying, now I want you to keep going. Based on looking back and remember how you used to act, and now look forward to the promise that God is going to grant you.

There's a promise that he's given. There's a final goal, and he wants you to remember that. He has already said in Hebrews 10, 3, 23, let us hold fast a confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

This suffering isn't for nothing. This trial isn't for nothing. So don't throw it away. Don't act like it doesn't count for something. Your suffering is supposed to mean something, and it's going to be proven on that day, that glorious day, the day that the Lord returns.

And I don't want you to say, well, it'd be better for us to go back to Egypt, garlic and leeks and everything else. It'd be better if we weren't Christians. That's not what I want you to say. That's not how I want you to do it.

The writer says, you know what, you just need to hold fast. You need to trust. You need to not do this to stay saved. Don't throw away your confidence. It's not because if you do, you lose your salvation.

But this is how Christian people live. This is how they act. Is your best life now, or is your best life later? Is your best life to come, or has it already come? Jesus says, everyone who confesses me before men, I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven.

What a day that will be. Your reward's going to be great. So persevere. Rich rewards. Therefore, persevere through trials and sufferings. You need boldness. You need confidence. You need faith in the Lord Jesus, the High Priest.

Without faith, it's impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. The reward isn't now. You might get great things now, but the reward's later.

So don't throw away your confidence, which has what? A great reward. Guard yourself. Be careful. Have patient endurance. You don't want to throw things away. You don't want to turn your back on these things.

Whatever comes your way, there's going to be a great reward. It says in this commentary, the Greek word for reward, found only in Hebrews, is emphatic imposition and connotes the eschatological reward that awaits all true believers in Christ.

Full fruition of your salvation. Sight, not faith. Joining the throngs of singing, worthy is the Lamb. So you know what you need now, verse 36? Endurance. So that when you've done the will of God, that is, suffer properly, you may receive what is promised.

There's a reward. There's things promised. You've got forgiveness of sins, but there's going to be what we might call complete salvation when you see God face to face. The noun promise occurs 53 times in the New Testament, 14 in Hebrews.

You can just imagine these Jews getting persecuted, and they need to know the future's worth it. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness, to have full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises.

So there's a warning, and then consolation, not only here in chapter 10, but also in chapter 6. The certainty of God's promise, where God doesn't swear with someone greater or someone of His equal. He swears by Himself.

He guarantees things with an oath. Doing the will of the Father, what should be going off in your mind there is, sounds like Jesus, He came to do the will of His Father, which was suffering, and we have been called to suffer.

That's God's will for us, we know, 1 Peter chapter 2. Therefore, the Lord glorifies the Father's name by being obedient and suffering, and we ought to walk in His footsteps as an example, and we receive what is promised.

This has nothing to do with legal standing of your salvation. This has to do with fruits and evidences, and you will persevere. And you think about that promise language, chapter 11, considered Him faithful who promised.

That's what we're talking about here, the promise keeper. He received the promises, Abraham did, obtained promises about these people who stopped the mouths of lions, and some commended, didn't receive what was promised on earth, but they're going to receive it in heaven.

That's amazing. I read one commentary, and they said, basically, when you go through trials in life, what are your options? What are the three worst things that can happen? You can be blessed, you can die, or you could suffer.

The first one, hey, that's just good. Second, when you're in the presence of Jesus, and the third one, He's going to make you like Jesus. Sacrifice now, receive later. That's the idea. That's how Richard Phillips would put it.

And that's right. So, dear Christian, you're going through trouble. Look back and say, I remember how I acted when I was the first Christian, and then look forward and think, heaven is coming. Jesus is coming.

This one who's promised that He's going to never leave me nor forsake me, He's coming back. Yet, for a little while, it says in verse 37, and the coming one will come and will not delay. The Lord Jesus is coming back.

That's where I'm going to put my hope. That's where you need to put your hope as well. My hope is found in nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. My name is Mike Ebendroth, this is No Compromise Radio, and we'll talk to you next time, probably about the Lord Jesus, and maybe a little bit about discernment.

Info at NoCompromiseRadio .com. Don't forget SermonCritique .com. And if you go to the YouTube channel, type in No Compromise Radio, and you'll see about 150 short videos that hopefully edify you. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Ebendroth 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.