Election and Evangelism (Part 1)

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.

Rick Warren, the Lottery, and a Judge on Homosexuality

Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth and I�ve been especially busy these days as we prepare for Carl Truman, Phil Johnson, and James White to fly into Massachusetts for the NoCo video, No Compromise colon ever.

And so those men will fly in, we�ll film two two-hour broadcasts, I�ll take them through some old cemeteries and film some cameos there, and then hopefully around June you�ll be able to get online for $49 .95 and watch the show.

No, I don�t think we�ll charge for it. You know what we might do? We might say donation of any size, and you can just click, and you can click zero, you can hit minus 15, or you could click $1, whatever you want.

Before we get into our subject today, we will, oh, by the way, if you want to see the teaser promo for the No Compromise video recording, you can go to Vimeo and just type in No Compromise teaser, and then you�ll get that.

I think you can go on our Facebook page as well, or on nocompromiseradio .com. Music desk, I forgot his name. He just sends me things. He sends them to Todd Friel, and then he copies me. And so if he would send them to me and copy Todd, that would be much better.

And so since he does it the other way around, I�m probably a day late and a dollar short. Anyway, he tweeted Rick Warren�s, I mean, he forwarded Rick Warren�s tweet. I think I just whistled as I said that.

Rick Warren, at Rick Warren. Romans 8, 28 promises that if I love and trust God, everything happens, capital letters, for me, not merely capital letters, to me. Everything happens for me, not merely to me.

What's right with that? What's wrong with that? Trials and troubles and tribulations and sufferings and afflictions, they're not just done to you, but they're for you. See it's a little too, a little too general for me.

Instead of talking about God's glory and how God works these things together for our good, and we talk about the unbreakable chain of redemption found in the verse afterwards with glorification assumed, I think that would be better.

So anyway, you say, well, that's just a little minor point. Well, I think it's a minor point, but if you read Rick Warren's tweets, you need to be reviewed. What else do I have here? I did find this of interest.

International Business Times says that the poor people in America, those earning 13 ,000 or less, spend 9 of their income on lottery tickets. How about that for a tax? How about that for a poor tax, the lottery?

The tax on the greedy and the tax on the poor. I don't really mind tax on the greedy. That's probably a good thing. Sin tax, extra tax on cigarettes and alcohol, even though I don't think either of those is by nature sin.

But you get my point. And here I also read, let's see, $500 a year the average American household spends on the lottery. A survey by Opinion Research Corporation by the Consumer Federation of America and the Financial Planning Association revealed that one-fifth of the people surveyed thought the lottery was a practical way to accumulate wealth.

Yes. It's very practical and the state can gouge people. Let's take the money from the poor people. Let's take the money from the simple-minded people. Let's take the money from other people and we've got it.

I don't know if you want to play a game, even if you're an unbeliever, think, okay, the odds are 176 million to one that I'm going to win. And even though I get some little seed money once in a while and win back 5 or 10 or 20 or 100.

Let's see, 176 million to one. Should I invest in a mutual fund or... It's crazy. It's absolutely crazy. I told you one of my all-time pet peeves is going into a market here. We don't have 7-Elevens, but something close to that, Honey Farm or Cumberland Farm and see a bunch of people standing there scratching, getting, you know, three packs of plain label cigarettes and can't buy beer in those stores here in Massachusetts, but if they could, you know, buying some near beer and a couple of five-hour energies, hey, I am one of those.

And it just is just crazy. All right. So what do we have on tap for today? I just like to start off shows with some interesting things. I did also find Alberta judge rules that it is legal to disagree with homosexuality.

Alberta court, this is 4 -4 -2012, a Queens bench justice, Paul Jeffrey, has dismissed a crown appeal of a decision from a lower court that acquitted Bill Watcott of trespassing charges for distributing truth about homosexuality pamphlets at the University of Calgary in 2008.

On Friday, March 30th, Jeffrey upheld the November 2011 ruling by provincial court judge John D. Bascom that states that the University of Calgary infringed on Watcott's charter rights to freedom of expression when campus security arrested and detained him for distributing a pamphlet that addressed the harmful consequences of homosexuality.

How about that? That's pretty amazing. His activity was peaceful and presented no harm to the university structures or those who frequented the campus. Although Mr. Watcott's pamphlet is not scholarly, freedom of speech is not limited to academic works.

I find that very, very encouraging. Maybe there's hope for Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada, or those three different places. We actually have some no-compromise listeners in Canada. Today I'd like to talk about one of my favorite doctrines to talk about because I actually think it's God's favorite doctrine.

R .C. Sproul said the sovereignty of God is God's favorite doctrine. And more particularly, I'd like to talk about election. And you say, oh, you always talk about election. Well, if it's God's favorite doctrine and then my favorite doctrine, I guess I'm always going to talk about that.

Election in the Context of Evangelism

I'd like to talk today about election in the context of evangelism. You heard it. That's right. We're not going to say, yes, as much as I hate to admit it, election and predestination is in the Bible.

It's everywhere we go. But we'll hide it from unbelievers because that might turn them off about God. And we'll hide it from new believers because we don't want them to get all, you know, some kind of finger puzzle, confused mentally and spiritually.

And so we'll save it for later. We especially don't want to talk about it to our people on a Sunday morning sermon and service because we're not into causing a kerfuffle. We're into smooth, watered-down words.

Is that in our introduction? I still need to change our introduction. I need to change our outro as well. Our services are at 8 .30 and at 11, not at 10 .15. But come at 10 .15, you'll catch half of Sunday school.

So today, the doctrine of election in evangelism. Evangelism basically means that we tell people the good news. We have good news. Reagan won. President Obama defeated. It's a boy. Sins can be forgiven.

Did I just say what I just said? We declare good news. That good news is all about God. It's historical news. Jesus was a real person. He was a historical person. He had a mother. He had a stepdad, of course.

And he lived. And he wasn't just a thought. We don't believe we're Christians because Jesus is alive in our hearts and was raised from the dead in our hearts. No. He died a real death. And it was more than just a death from men because he died then bearing not God's wrath for his sins because he was sinless, but for the elect's sins.

And then God literally, bodily raised him from the dead. It's a historical fact. Christianity is based on history. And if you'd like to read J. Gresham Machen's Christianity and Liberalism, you can get a good dose of that very thing.

But it's more than history. It's theology as well. So when 1 Corinthians chapter 15 says that Jesus died for our sins, he didn't die for his sins. He died for our sins, huper, on behalf of, in our place, substitutionarily died.

He was an atonement. He was the Passover lamb that instead of the firstborn dying, he dies. Instead of the sinner dying, he dies. And so all those that look to Jesus, this perfect God-man who died a substitutionary death on Calvary for their sins and then was raised from the dead, all those who then believe that good news, repent from their sins and of their sins, and trust in Christ's life, death, and resurrection, soon return, they are saved.

And they don't have to pay for any of their sins. I think that's good news. There is hell to pay, one slogan goes, as the slogan goes. And so aren't you glad, if you're a Christian, that you don't have to pay for your sins?

Of course you are. That is great news. That is good news that you should go tell other people about, and you herald it, and you say, hear ye, hear ye, this is great news. By the way, it was an interesting story, an interesting thing that happened to me last night and now I'll try to make it into an interesting story.

I went to Walmart and I needed to pick up some, what did I get at Walmart last night? I think I got some baby powder and then they had some of those dream potions. They're the opposite of five-hour energy and they think they have melatonin and something else and some sleep potion.

I think it said, it wasn't boysenberry, it was somniberry or something like that. It was interesting, sleepy berry. So I got a couple of those and I don't know what else I got. So as I was walking out, I heard the lady say, and I'm recording this today on Thursday, Maundy Thursday.

This is Holy Week, just before Easter here, coming up on Sunday, which I'm going to play this later in May probably. And so she said, have a nice, have a good holiday. And I thought, wow, here we are in Massachusetts.

And the lady, the cashier, she was about 50 years old, 40, 50. She said, have a nice holiday. I didn't even know people had a holiday around here for Good Friday, Maundy Thursday, Easter. So when I went up to her and I said, hi, how are you today?

And she said, oh, hi, how are you? And I said, you know, I tried to get my typical line, smiled, and I was in a workout outfit and a rip curl hat. And no, I didn't have my Pete's coffee, but I wish I would have.

And I said, well, compared to what I deserve, I'm really doing great. And I said, it's a good day. And she said, what do you mean compared to what you deserve? And so she fell for it. Most people just look at me like I'm a complete loon.

I'm the equivalent of a Unabomber, of a person who is an extreme Muslim or something. That's who fundamentalists are now in the minds of people, at least they thought I was a fundamentalist. And she said, what do you mean, what do you deserve?

I said, you know what I deserve? Death and judgment. You should have seen her face. Death and judgment. This is all there in the line. It was classic. Death and judgment. And then she looked at me quite perplexed, quite flummoxed, and she said nothing.

And then I had to say, you know, like Good Friday, Easter, meaning, oh yeah, Christianity. And she just looked at me like, who are you? And I said, well, in light of all my sins, I deserve sin and judgment.

And she said, you're not a sinner. Now he's trying to convince me. I said, I am a sinner. And she said, says who? And I said, says the Creator and says my conscience. She just looked at me. I said, the real question is, are you a sinner?

And she said, no. I said, oh, really? You're not a sinner. And she said, well, I am. I just don't like to admit it. I said, well, you know, that's good news because if you don't think you're a sinner, you have no reason for a Savior.

But if you know you're a sinner, you need to have a Savior, hence Good Friday and Easter. Thank you. Next. Next. Some gang members behind me. Oh, so what does this have to do with anything? This is all talking about evangelism, part one of 500, election and evangelism.

How do these things go together? Would you ever evangelize someone like this? Are you chosen by God? Did you know some people are chosen and other people are not? Does God have a special love for you?

Did you know some people receive his special redemptive love and others do not? Would you ever try evangelizing this way? Are you one of God's elect? Did you know God elects some and passes over others?

Or would you try this one? Has God selected you to be with him in heaven? God has selected some people, but not everyone. Has he selected you? Huh. I don't know. Do people evangelize that way? Let me tell you a little bit about George Whitefield, one of the greatest evangelists in the last 500 years.

He was, of course, British, but he was on the American soil. I want to say, I don't have it in front of me, I want to say he came over 13 times, maybe at six or seven, I don't know, but he came over by boat many, many times and went up and down the Atlantic seaboard preaching the gospel, including Massachusetts.

And so Whitefield had a very insightful thing to say. And he was talking about election and preaching about election to not believers, but to unbelievers. And here's what George Whitefield said, remember, one of the greatest evangelists.

We can't say, oh, Calvinists don't evangelize and they're hyper-Calvinists, they don't evangelize or pray. You can't do that. And by the way, even the staunchest Arminian would say that George Whitefield had a heart for the glory of God and the souls of men and women.

It's incontrovertible evidence. That's why I'm using him. Here's what he said, this is one reason among many others why I admire the doctrine of election. And am convinced that it should have a place in gospel ministrations, that is preaching the gospel to unbelievers, and should be assisted on with faithfulness and care.

Then he gives the reason, George Whitefield says, I like to preach about election to unbelievers for many reasons. Make sure you're careful about it, but I'm convinced it has a place in evangelism. Why?

Quote, it has a natural tendency to rouse the soul out of carnal security, end quote. It has a natural tendency to rouse the soul out of carnal security, end quote. So God has made a choice who he wants to have fellowship with and who he doesn't.

Did God choose you? By the way, I'm very happy and joyful that God chose me. And if I'm talking to unbelievers and I tell them about God's choosing, I ask them a question. Don't you want to know if God chose you?

If I were you, I would want to know. Now see, isn't this a lot different than the approach that goes something like this? To the unbeliever, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Bill Bright, Campus Crusade, Spiritual Laws, numero uno.

By the way, he first started off his spiritual laws with sin and hell and punishment and those kind of things, but then when it went out for the board's recommendation and the council people and his handlers and other friends, he rejected that and started off with the love of God.

Because if you start off with all that downer stuff, who's going to respond? And actually, if you do some research, you'll find out that his daughter, Bill Bright's daughter, was very, very upset about that change.

And it actually caused a problem between Bill and his daughter for some time. So God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Basically, if you go to someone who's living with his girlfriend or who is a practicing homosexual or who is a practicing Jesus hater, that is, a not-worshipping Jesus, whatever the sins are, however they manifest themselves, an idolater, then you say, well, you're an idolater.

God loves you. Great. Carry on. I can imagine before I got saved, if someone says, you know, God really loves you, well, great. That's good to know. Especially since I'm so sinful, I'm really glad to know God loves me.

But when you say, did God choose you or didn't He choose you or did He not choose you? You have to consider the point, if you're the unbeliever, where do I stand with God? How do I stand with God? Am I chosen?

If God loves me, then I'm in. I must be chosen. S. Lewis Johnson said this, if we preach a universal love of God, then we're not forced to think, I may not be there. So Whitfield says, election has a natural tendency to rouse the soil out of carnal security, and therefore many carnal men crowd against it, whereas universal redemption is a notion sadly adapted to keep the soul in its lethargic, sleepy condition, and therefore so many natural carnal men admire and applaud it, end quote.

Since God has elected some and not all, are you in the some? Don't you want to know? If you're listening today as an unbeliever, wouldn't you like to know if God has chosen you or not? In eternity past, He has chosen some, not all.

He could have chosen none, because we're all sinful and none of us have earned the right to be chosen. He could have chosen everyone, including Judas and Goliath and other men. Hitler died unregenerate, which he probably did.

He could have chosen everybody, and then applied Christ's death to them, or He decided, just like with Israel, He didn't choose no nation, He didn't choose all the nations, He chose one nation. He chose a select group, an elect group, a nation, one single solitary nation.

That was fair for God. It was fair for God to just choose some of the angels to be elect angels. He didn't choose them all. A third of the angels fell. Those aren't chosen angels. God chooses Jacob over Esau, Moses over Pharaoh.

By the way, why are you so bugged that God chooses? Because you like to choose your job, you like to choose where you live. If you're Western, you like to choose your wife, or if you're a woman, you like to choose your husband or have him choose you.

Sovereign grace of God. So if you're an unbeliever, you have to ask yourself the question, are you chosen? Because if you're not chosen, you're not going to heaven. And the good news is today, and in our series to follow, you can know if you're chosen or not.

You can know if God has chosen you. Everywhere in the Bible we see election, and what does election do for the Christian? It makes them say, wow, thank you, gratitude, grace, God, you're so great. It's a joy booster.

It's like the second blessing. Who needs fake speaking in tongues when you can think about unconditional election that God chose me? It also, for believers, roots out lethargy. It roots out laziness, that God has done this for you, and we, in response, with gratitude and thankfulness, want to honor His name and lift up His name.

For unbelievers, it roots out this lethargy, too, because there are two kinds of love that God has. One kind of love is general love. He lets the rain come down on the believer and unbeliever. He gives the joy of a family to a believer and unbeliever.

He gives taste buds to a believer and unbeliever. This is Sermon on the Mount, common grace. God is good to people. But the love we're talking about today is the redemptive love, the choosing love, the love that chooses in eternity past, in love He predestined us, Ephesians 1.

The love that sends the Son to die for those whom He has chosen and then sends the Spirit to quicken those whom the Father has chosen and the Son has died for. How do you know? Well, if you're an unbeliever today, the only way you know if you're elect or not is if you repent and believe.

And if you repent and trust Christ with all your heart, confess Him with your mouth and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, trusting in this resurrected Jesus, the substitutionary sin bearer, confessing your sin and your self-righteousness and your self-sufficiency as dirty rags, knowing you're unrighteous before God and can't earn anything except hell.

Once you believe, you can know you're elect because the cause is election, Christ's death, the Spirit's work, and the effect is repentance and belief. And so, if you've experienced the effect, saving faith, then you can know that there was a cause.

You wouldn't have believed without God. He's the one that set it all up as a triune God, the Father choosing, the Son dying for and the Spirit regenerating. So today on No Compromise Radio, just a teaser to start.

God chooses some and not others. Are you chosen? Did God select you to go to heaven with Him? You can find out. Open your Bibles and read the Gospel of John and find out for sure.

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.