Classic Friday: Thankfulness or Jesus (Part 4)

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Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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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

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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.�

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In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you.

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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

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Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King. Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

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Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, and I am not going to say

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I�m glad to be your host. I think I say that too much, and I think it�s okay to say Mike Abendroth, No Compromise Radio.

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I think that�s probably a good thing to say, just so you know who this is, but I think it probably doesn�t the announcer say, �And your host,

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Mike Abendroth.� So, I could say, �Good morning. How are you? Good afternoon. Welcome to WVNE 760

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AM Radio Dial.� Remember the old radio dials? Remember how you used to set the radio to a certain station that you liked, the presets, pull out the knob, little thing, and put it back in again?

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I remember those days. Sometimes it didn�t quite work. I remember, well, even I have an older car, it�s a 1970

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K5 Blazer, and it�s got AM only. Only AM.

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So, anyway, if you want to write us, if you�ve got a question, you want to have a show on something, info at NoCompromiseRadio .com,

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want to make comments, if they�re snarky, you can send them in anyway. I mean, there is a point to where,

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I think it was a crazy week a couple weeks ago on Facebook or Twitter, had to block a couple people.

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Normally, you just let them ride. Maybe it was the YouTube channel or something. Some people just, I don�t know, it�s something you get behind a keyboard, and you can just about say anything you want, and there�s no delay, no pause, no discrimination.

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So, on No Compromise Radio today, we are going to try to finish, if possible, our

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Luke 17 excursion. It started off simple enough. It was

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Thanksgiving time, I was thinking about passages, I finished Jonah, and what do

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I teach? In between series, sequential series of expositions and books,

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I�m going to start Malachi soon, you know, there are some things that if you want to teach, you can teach, which is better than wanting to teach something, jamming it into a passage.

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So, I thought, well, I�d like to teach some kind of Thanksgiving topic. What Thanksgiving topic do you teach?

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Well, if you want to teach a Thanksgiving topic, there�s a variety of times that you can look in Ephesians 5 and 1

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Thessalonians 5, which the Bible says about thankfulness, but you might as well go to the mother of all

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Thanksgiving passages, the mother load, and that is Luke 17. Ten lepers healed, only one came back to say thank you, you ought to say thanks too.

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But then I realized, that�s nothing, there�s nothing in the passage that shows that that�s the authorial intent.

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That�s not the intention. Could it be a secondary application in a sermon? Yes. As long as you say this is a secondary application in the sermon.

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Aren�t you thankful for your salvation? Aren�t you thankful for your life, health, breath? You know, Bible, Holy Spirit, eternal life, assurance.

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But the main point of Luke 17 is talking about Jesus can heal lepers.

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He is God and He is alone worthy to be worshipped. Do you believe in Him? So you have

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Luke in Luke chapter 1 saying, I�m going to write a doctorly, orderly, is there a doctorly out there?

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An orderly account of what happened among us and I�m going to write to you

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Theophilus and anybody else who�s going to listen so that you can see in a detailed account who

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Jesus is. Here�s this great Jesus with a long introduction of His infancy and His early life,

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His genealogy to show you that He�s in fact human. He�s more than human but He is in fact human.

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And that He ministers in Galilee for a while and then He sets

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His face to Jerusalem and He�s not going to be stopped because He has a deadline with the cross.

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He has destiny with the cross. And so, when we read

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Luke 17, we don�t want to moralize the passage, hermeneutics is the science and interpretation of biblical interpretation.

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And as you apply that art and that science, when you actually do the work of interpretation that�s called exegesis.

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And you avoid things like moralization and that is the leper was thankful, you be thankful too.

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That�s not the point of the passage, that�s not why Luke wrote it. If it�s a secondary application in a message, okay,

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I�m not going crazy here, I would allow it. If a pastor says, by the way, shouldn�t this make us all much more thankful because we can see the contrast between gratitude and ingratitude or something, okay, fine.

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But I hope when you preach Luke 17, 11 through 19, you talk about how great

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Jesus is. That�s the point. The point is, here�s an orderly account, only

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Jesus can heal lepers, only God can heal lepers.

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Wait a second, how do those two things go together? Jesus is God, that�s correct. That is correct.

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And last time we were looking about this and around and over the situation, we went to 2

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Kings 5 and this foreigner leper was healed from a distance.

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And so, hmm, God did that. God healed a leper.

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Jesus heals a leper. Jesus is God. Now, remember when

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John the Baptist and Jesus, there�s some interaction there with the disciples of each of them.

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Listen to Matthew 11. When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their cities.

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Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of Christ, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, �Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another ?�

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So Herod Antipas put him in jail. John the

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Baptist hears about the ministry of Jesus, �Are you the one ?� Jesus answered them, �Go and tell

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John what you hear and see. These are my Messianic credentials.� Here you want proof that I�m the

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Messiah? Here comes the proof. �The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.�

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Lepers are cleansed. How do you know I�m the Messiah? I clean, cleanse lepers.

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Jesus said, �And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.� And as they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John, �What did you go out into the wilderness to see, a reed shaken by the wind?

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What then did you go out to see, a man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings� houses.

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What then did you go out to see, a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, �Behold,

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I will send a messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before me.�

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I identify myself as the Messiah because I do what only the Messiah can do.

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That is why Luke is talking the way he is. He's showing you that Jesus is the

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Messiah. Now Luke 17 says regarding the lepers, for those of you that are just tuning in, you haven't heard the last three shows, well, there goes your demerits.

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Let me just read you the first part of the passage in Luke 17, 11 through 14.

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On the way to Jerusalem, he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee, and as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, �Jesus,

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Master, have mercy on us.� When he saw them, he said to them, �Go and show yourselves to the priests.�

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See, they're not cleansed yet, but the implication is by the time they get there, they will be cleansed. And as they went, they were cleansed.

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All right? Now we come to our passage, or our portion of the passage, rather, today.

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Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, there's three actions.

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Turn back, praising God, number one, praising God with a loud voice, two, he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, three, giving him thanks.

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He gets it. He understands God is

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Jesus. Jesus is God. Now let's look at these three responses. The first one, praising

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God. Luke likes to talk about praising God in his books,

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Luke and Acts, and Luke has shown us that this man has correctly associated

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Jesus' activity with God's work, right?

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For Luke, this is kind of normal. This isn't an appropriate response. Praising God is an appropriate response.

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But going back to Jesus to do this, something's not right, unless Jesus is

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God, unless Jesus is God. Can't you just, walking and praising, leaping and praising

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God, can't you just do that where you are? Can't you just praise God in front of the priests?

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He comes back to Jesus, because Jesus is God. Two, falling at his feet, you are higher than I am,

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I am lower, you are in authority, I am in submission, I want to give you reverence.

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Three, and here is the epicenter of the passage. This part should make you never say to yourself, the main point of the passage is

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I should be like this leper and be thankful. Here the leper gives thanks, the cleansed leper, the cleansed leper gives thanks.

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And he gives thanks to, wait a second, every place in the

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New Testament. Thanksgiving is directed to God. Only here in all of the

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New Testament is Thanksgiving directed to Jesus.

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What happens when you thank people who praise people who really aren't

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God? Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down to his feet and worshipped him, but Peter lifted him up saying, stand up,

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I am a man. What happens when there's praise to just people?

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On the appointed day, Herod put on his royal robes and took his seat upon the throne and delivered an oration to them, and the people were shouting the voice of a

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God and not a man. Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give

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God the glory and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. Yet here we have a thanking, a praising of a man.

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But he's the God man. This is homage and worship to Jesus.

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And have we not seen earlier in the book of Luke that Jesus can forgive sins?

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Haven't we seen before Jesus doing things that only God could do? What's the point of the passage?

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Go be thankful? No, the point of the passage is Jesus is

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God. That's what Luke is trying to tell us in his entire book. And now it says at the end of verse 16, now, he was a

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Samaritan. He was a Samaritan.

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It was the Samaritan that fell on his face. It was a Samaritan that gave thanks to him.

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It was a Samaritan. Samaritan?

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What do you mean Samaritan? And he knew. And of course, as you think about Luke and writing to Gentiles as well,

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Gentiles believe that Jesus is God. You ought to believe, Jew or Gentile, that Jesus is a lone

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God. Yes, the Jews had the covenants, they had the giving of the law and the temple service and the promises.

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Yes, Jesus said to the Samaritan, you worship that which you do not know.

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We worship what we know for salvation is from the Jews. But Gentiles can believe.

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This Gentile believed. Luke 17, 17, then Jesus answered, were not the 10 cleansed?

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Where are the nine? NAS does a little bit better job translating the end of that verse.

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But the nine, where are they? Now, what could have Jesus said?

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Hey, get up, worship God alone. Don't worship me. Get up off your face. He didn't say that at all.

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This guy comes to Jesus and praises God. He comes to Jesus and praises

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God. Jesus is the master. Jesus is the

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Lord. One man said Luke's Christology reaches impressive heights as he presents

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Jesus in the role of the temple as one in whom the powerful and merciful presence of God is realized and before whom the

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God of the temple can be worshiped. Jesus gives these rhetorical questions in the next couple, in these couple of verses.

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We're not the 10 cleansed, we're not the 10 cleansed. They got common grace, didn't they?

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They got common mercy. Where are the other nine? The nine, where?

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Where's their gratitude? Certainly, they can say, praise God, we appreciate God, thank you,

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God. And then the third question, verse 18, was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner.

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The foreigner has more insight than the Jews. The Jews had more knowledge, but the foreigner has more insight.

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Healing power is found in Jesus. People say, well, Jesus never called himself God. How about this?

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Was no one found to return to give praise to God? Hey, we will receive the benefits of Jesus's common grace, but the question is, do we believe that he is the

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Messiah? The foreigner alone responds with gratitude.

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What a rebuke by Jesus, ouch. And it says in verse 19, rise, go your way, your faith has made you well, amazing.

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Your faith has made you well, your faith has saved you, and here I think the healing was more than physical.

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The nine Jews receive common grace, that is physical healing, no more leprosy, but they will one day die and they'll need something better than physical cleansing.

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They'll need spiritual cleansing. Whether those nine lepers that were cleansed ever received that or not,

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I don't know. Just walk off the pages of scripture. But this particular one we know has saved you, has made you well.

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That's literally saved you. And for Luke, real faith, saving faith, eternal life kind of faith, it's connected in many ways, forgiveness of sins, entering

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God's kingdom and inheriting eternal life. This man got saved.

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This man is a believer. This man believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and he had cleansing first in a common grace way, no leprosy, and then he has cleansing of his sins.

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Wonderful, fascinating. And as I said last week, the way Luke writes this, you would think

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Jesus was alone during this whole time, but it says in Luke 17, verse one, and he said to his disciples,

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Luke 17, verse five, the apostle said to the Lord, Luke 17, 22, and he said to the disciples,

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Jesus wasn't alone when he was traveling. He wasn't alone when he was approached by the 10 lepers as far as we can tell.

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But the focus of Luke's narrative has you focus like a laser beam on Jesus, who's

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God in the flesh. The focus of Luke is on Jesus.

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And so, I think this is a good time on No Compromise Radio to ask the question. Do you believe that Jesus existed?

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Do you believe that he exists? Do you believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, as Luke talks about?

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Do you believe that he can calm the sea of Galilee? Do you believe he can cast out demons?

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Do you believe he can touch lepers and heal them? Do you believe he can heal lepers from afar?

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Do you believe he could raise people from the dead? Do you believe he did that? Do you believe that Jesus said and did everything that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John say that he did?

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Do you believe that he set his face toward Jerusalem and then eventually allowed those men to crucify him?

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Nobody killed Jesus. Ultimately, he gave up his own spirit, but it was a sin -bearing responsibility given by Jesus in eternity past from God the

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Father, as the Spirit empowered him to live the life of a man, although he was

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God, and to die on the cross as the God -man, dying on the cross as a man so that he might be our representative, and dying on the cross as the

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God -man so that he would have an infinite amount of righteousness to bestow to all those who would ever believe.

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His life, death, sacrifice confirmed by the resurrection and then the ascension, soon to be followed by the return.

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You have to believe in him for eternal life. I mean, think about all the things that you've received—taste buds, pleasures, joy, the intimacy of marriage, children, trips, a job, vacation, sight, hearing, walk—now some of you might not be able to walk, some of you might be blind, but you've received many other blessings.

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To think what we've deserved—see, that cuts it back down to size. What does

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God owe us as rebels? What does God owe us as sinners?

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What does God owe us as men and women who have

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Adam's imputed sin, and then, consequently, we have sin nature? What does

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God owe us? Jesus is fully God, and this foreigner recognized that, and it was, of course, by the special work of the

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Holy Spirit for him to recognize it, but he did recognize it. Do you recognize it? How do you know if you're a called one?

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How do you know if you're elect? How do you know if the Spirit of God is working in your life in this saving way? If you believe, if you would believe, if you are believing, then we know what the answer is.

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Jesus is the Messiah, the Promised One, fully God and fully man. Now, is there room somehow, somewhere in the account to say something about thanksgiving, to be thankful for God's saving grace, thankful for God's common grace?

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The answer is yes and yes. But the answer is way down on the totem pole, or way up, depending on which kind of Indian you are, technically speaking.

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The point is, Jesus is the God -man. He is the Son of Man. Do you believe it?

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You must believe it, and, of course, if you do believe it, then the thanksgiving starts cascading down.

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I always think to myself during thanksgiving, everybody's thankful, but to whom? Maybe their dad, maybe their mom, but they're thanking some, in their mind, who knows, a

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God made up in their own image. They don't really know who God is, they're just kind of thanking this general deity in the sky or something, or maybe themselves, who knows.

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Here we have Luke presenting, in an orderly account, the things that happened among him, so that this man,

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Theophilus, and everyone else who would ever read this would believe Jesus is

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God. Who heals lepers? God alone. Who heals

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Gentiles? God alone. Who heals at a distance?

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God alone. Who should be praised? God alone.

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Who should be given worship? God alone. Who should be given glory?

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God alone. Who should be given honor, worship, praise, adoration, thanksgiving?

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God alone. And this man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, recognizes

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Jesus is God. Do you? Jesus is the one who heals foreigners.

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Jesus forgives sin. Jesus grants eternal life. And no other, no other person is

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God. No other deity is God. No other, that's a small d in air quotes.

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Jesus alone. And if you're trusting in your baptism, if you're trusting in your confirmation, if you're trusting in catechism, if you're trusting in your education religiously, if you're trusting in your good deeds, if you're trusting in your parents, if you're trusting in your membership,

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If you're trusting in your founding members of the church, if you're trusting in anything else, you are deceived.

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Look at Luke. Luke is trying to show you in an orderly fashion. It is Jesus plus no one.

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Jesus plus nothing. Jesus plus is a bad way to go about your spiritual life.

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Jesus alone. Christus sola.

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Solo. Jesus alone. Well, my name is Mike Abendroth. This is No Compromise Radio.

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We've tried to highlight today Jesus is the Christ and that you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's the good news.

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If you do believe, you certainly shall be saved with finality and with glorious forgiveness.

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How would you like to be forgiven? Then believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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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.

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Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 10 .15 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

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You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

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