Do as I do (Part 2)

Thanks for tuning in to No Compromise Radio with pastor and author, Dr. Mike Avendrop. Today on No Compromise Radio, we'll be hearing

Pastor Mike open the Word of God in a recent message he preached at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

Now let's join Pastor Mike in progress as he preaches through the scriptures verse by verse with No Compromise.

Paul is not saying I've got a different gospel and I'm going to be flexible with the gospel. These people don't like sin, so I'll cut out sin.

These people don't like the exclusivity of Christ Jesus, I'll cut that out. These people over here don't like supernatural resurrection,

I'll cut that out. Paul didn't have a flexible gospel, but he was flexible. So how can Paul, was

Paul a Jew or a Gentile by the way? How can Paul a Jew say I'm not going to act like a Jew? He is a

Jew. How could Paul become a Jew? Second Corinthians it says, are they

Hebrew? So am I, Paul said. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am

I. How can a Jew become as a Jew? Well here's how it happens.

Paul says, now that I'm a Christian, I'm no longer under Mosaic Law. Mosaic Law, moral, civil, ceremonial, all of Mosaic Law together.

I'm not under it, because I'm under the law of Christ now. But if I have to go back into a

Jewish culture and do some Jewish things on the Sabbath, go to a Jewish festival, have a

Jewish celebration, I'll even in Acts chapter 16 circumcise

Timothy. I'll do it. What's the difference by the way between circumcising

Timothy in Acts 16 and circumcising Titus in Galatians 2 that Scott read? Well in Galatians chapter 2, they wanted

Titus circumcised or he couldn't be saved. And Paul says, I've got something for you. It's called a stiff arm to your chin.

I will not do that. That's what Galatians is, a stiff arm to the chin. I won't do it even if Peter does it. I'm not circumcising

Titus because you get saved by grace alone. But over here, Timothy half

Jewish, if there's a better entree into ministry, has nothing to do with salvation, it just has to do with accessibility,

I will gladly have Timothy circumcised. And what

Paul is saying here is, I'm no longer under the Mosaic law. I'm no longer under Moses.

Paul in Acts 18 made a Nazirite vow which was Mosaic for ministry's sake.

He joined four Nazirites in purification rites in Acts chapter 21.

He didn't have to do that, but when you're around Jewish people and you say, you know what, I'm going to act like them, not because of my status, but because I'm free,

I'm not under Moses, but under a certain circumstance, I'll put myself under Moses for ministry's sake,

Paul said, no problem. Notice the text again. To those under Moses, I became as one under the law, under Moses.

But Paul says, though not being myself under the law. Christians aren't under Moses any longer.

They're under what? We'll learn in a minute, they're under Christ, New Testament commands, the new covenant.

But what's the purpose that I might win those under the law? The Bible says

Christ is the end of the law, Romans 10. Romans 6 says the believer is not under law, but under grace.

Paul says, though occasionally, even though I'm not under Moses, I'll put myself under Moses for a special celebration, a feast, our circumcision rite.

When it's not salvific, I'll be happy to do that. I'm delivered from Moses, in a couple of Sunday nights, we'll do a whole sermon on what does it mean to be delivered from Moses and not under Mosaic law.

But for now, it's good to realize that Paul was being flexible as a person, but the flexibility wasn't in the gospel, the gospel never changes.

So I can ask you the question again, when it comes to different people, groups and different situations, just how flexible are you?

And let me help you with your flexibility. When you remember eternal hell, for all those who are not born again,

I think it should help your flexibility. Aren't you willing to bend a little bit? I don't mean bend the gospel.

If you do, you need the stiff arm of Galatians 2. But if you're saying, you know, with this culture, with this issue, it's not that big a deal.

Not everything is code red. I can just tuck myself underneath this system right now for a while because it's not over me, but I'll work within the system because hell is real.

I looked up some words that described hell this week, punishment, torment, eternal fire, unquenchable fire, lake of fire, destruction, second death, outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth, the pit, the worm.

If the gospel is of first importance, don't we want people to believe the gospel and hear the gospel through us so they might be one to Christ and literally one away from eternal damnation?

Friends, every sin that's ever committed in this life will be paid for one way or the other because God's just.

And either Jesus pays for it on Calvary in your place, on your behalf, or you pay for it yourself forever.

And so Paul looked at people that way. Paul looked at the world like Jew and Gentile, but Paul would also have this kind of view, saved or not saved, believer or unbeliever.

One old preacher said, it is labor in the eternal fire of hell, no ease, no peace, no sleep, no calm, no quiet, everlasting storm, eternal hurricane, unceasing tempest.

In the worst diseases, there are some respites. There is no peace in hell's torment.

You cannot compare the pains of this life with the agonies to be endured hereafter. Could all the misery that ever startled the keepers of our hospitals be conceived?

It could not convey the least idea of the pains of the spirits that are doomed to dwell in eternal fire and everlasting burning.

The memory aghast, hope and fear, thoughts and imaginations, conscience and judgment all will be racked.

Every one be stretched on a bed of fire. Every nerve strained to its utmost.

Every vein made a road for the hot feet of pain to travel on.

If you knew how bad hell was, you wouldn't want Adolf Hitler to go, let alone your neighbor or your daughter or your mom or your spouse.

It's all about the gospel for Paul. And as our example, it should be about the gospel for us, too.

Let me give you another purpose clause. This is for the Gentiles, found in verse 21. That I might win more is a general statement, verse 19, than the

Jews in verse 20. I want to win them. Now I want to win those outside the law, verse 21. I want to win

Gentiles, people that didn't have the oracles of God, that weren't Israel, that didn't receive the Ten Commandments and the rest of Mosaic law at Sinai.

To those outside the law, I became as one outside the law. Paul, you're not under law.

You're some antinomian. No, parenthetically, he says not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ, the

New Testament law that's given for new covenant believers. I'm not outside of that.

Rejoice, always, again, I say rejoice. I'm not outside of that, but I'm not under Moses anymore. That I might win those outside the law.

He's talking about Gentiles. And so when Paul's around Gentiles, here's what happened.

He didn't say on Friday night Shabbat, I've got to celebrate Shabbat. It's dark. What did he do?

On certain feast days, he didn't say, I've got to keep that feast day or else. Why not? One, because he didn't have to.

He's no longer under Moses. Two, even though he did that around Jews, he didn't do it to gain access to God.

He did it to gain access to them. And three, these Gentiles wouldn't know what

Paul was talking about. He didn't have to do new moons and Sabbath celebrations and food laws.

I got to eat kosher around you guys. And of course, the

Jewish people, especially the weak Jewish people, the weak Jewish Christians are thinking, what is

Paul doing? And Paul's like, I've got a goal, and my goal is to win people. I want to gain those who are under the law.

That's another word for win, to gain. I'm not becoming a pagan to be winning pagans. But I'm not underneath that anymore.

I want to be flexible. Now Paul changes his tune. Let me give you another purpose clause in verse 22a.

This is the fourth one, and it's all about winning people. But now he wants to win weak Christians. Everything else, he wants to win people for Christianity.

Now he wants to win people who are weak. And this is almost stemming from the entire argument of chapter eight and chapter nine.

There are weak Christians who think they're still under Moses. And when meat is sacrificed to an idol, they're thinking

Mosaic law. And they're thinking it's sacrificed to a real idol. I can't eat it. And Paul's saying, weak

Christian, under Moses, you can have me serve you by becoming down to your level.

But I'm gonna try to teach you and win you to a better view, a strong view. You're no longer under Moses.

So what does he say in verse 22? To the weak, I became weak, that I might win the weak.

See, that's what he's after. I wanna win them over to a better view. This isn't evangelism. These are weak

Christians thinking they're under Moses. These are weak Jewish Christians thinking they're under Moses.

And he just says, you know what? I'm gonna just try to win you over to the strong view. There's no such thing as an idol.

It's just food. You can go ahead and eat the meat if you want. I'm gonna sacrifice my convictions as I try to love you and win you over.

Galatians 5, it says, for brethren, ye have been called to liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but love, and by love serve one another.

Paul says with the fifth purpose clause found in verse 22. The rest of verse 22 goes on to say, in a summary fashion,

I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. Within the bounds of God's word,

I am trying to save people as the gospel is preached through me. I'm not watering down the gospel.

I'm not soft peddling the gospel. See, by the way, that's what liberals do with this passage. See, you know what?

To people that think self esteem is really good and it's virtuous, we don't really wanna say self esteem according to 2

Timothy chapter 3 is sinful and we just will water those things down. That is not what Paul is saying.

He never modified the gospel. Remember chapter 1? This is a scandal to Jews and Gentiles, stumbling block.

And by the way, a person who accommodates himself without giving up convictions, but just ministers to certain people through different mores, through different customs, sounds a lot like me to reflect exactly what

Jesus did. Didn't Jesus do that? Didn't Jesus go to the woman at the well in John chapter 4?

Don't talk to women, was the culture. Now, if it was under Mosaic law, Jesus wouldn't have, but there's no

Mosaic law that says that. And so Jesus accommodates himself to culture to win the woman at the well.

He hangs out with sinners and prostitutes, which people weren't supposed to do. It sounds exactly like Jesus in Philippians chapter 2.

And then Paul says, we've got to hurry up, in verse 23, the sixth purpose, that I might share with them in its blessings.

I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I might share with them in its blessings, that I might have fellowship.

I want to gain other people for the Lord, but then I kind of want to be in on it for fellowship, camaraderie.

Paul's not the loser in all this in evangelism. He gets to share in the gospel ministry. People say, well, you know what?

We're autonomous, independent people. That's not how Paul thought. That's not how the Middle Eastern people thought.

I'm a co -sharer, communion with others. Jump ahead to chapter 11, verse 1.

11, verse 1, this should make you feel better, all this imitate me, follow me stuff of Paul.

Paul makes it explicit here what he really means. Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.

Jesus surrendered his prerogative and independent exercise of divine rights as he cloaked himself with humanity.

Paul learned that lesson very well. All right, turn to Mark chapter 10, and then we're going to finish. I'm going to give you an example of this very thing.

Mark chapter 10, this could be a whole sermon. It might just turn out to be, but you're all here.

By the way, I was informed that the place is packed. There's hardly any room over in the overflow. There's just a few seats left up here for the elect people, right there.

And so I'm going to have to preach a little harder to kind of run some of you guys out. Church just keeps filling up.

What are we going to do? We're going to look at Mark chapter 10, and I just want you to see

Jesus through the eyes of scripture and say to yourself, you know what? Paul learned from Jesus well.

Paul learned that it's about the gospel. It's about salvation. It's not about all kinds of other stuff.

It's about self -sacrificial service for others. Paul learned from Jesus. He's the one.

Dick Lucas said, God had only one son, and he made him an evangelist. And you're going to see a comparison between give me glory and Jesus stooping to serve.

This is just, it gets no better. Mark chapter 10, verse 35.

Let me read some of the first verses. And there's going to be a question in verse 36. I do not want you to forget this question.

What do you want me to do for you? Do not forget that question. You will not know this passage unless you get that question.

Can I tell you one more time? Remember that question. Verse 35,

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.

Kind of a Peter moment, right? And he said to them, what do you want me to do for you?

They said to him, grant us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory. Jesus said to them, you do not know what you're asking.

Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? And they said to him, we are able.

Jesus said to them, the cup that I drink, you will drink. And with the baptism with which

I am baptized, you will be baptized. But to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.

And when the ten heard it, they wish they would have asked the question first, they became indignant with James and John.

And Jesus called them and said to them, you know that those who are considered rulers of the

Gentiles lord it over them and their great ones exercise authority over them, but it shall not be so among you.

But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave.

And then the most important verse in the Gospel according to Mark, verse 45. For even the

Son of Man, the exalted Messiah, came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

One commentator said of that verse, every part of it is important. The supreme example of service, the

King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, giving himself voluntarily, sacrificially laying down his own life for a substitutionary ransom for many.

Reminds me of John 13, I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you, the guilt offering of Jesus Christ.

Now, if you're not careful, you stop right there. Let me just help you expand your biblical knowledge, and that is keep reading.

Don't go for the typical break. Move on to verse 46 and following, and you'll see

Jesus do exactly what he said he was just talking about. Serving other people, loving other people, no one's too low for Jesus to stoop down and serve.

No one's too insignificant. Here's the only person named by name in Matthew, Mark, or Luke.

To put a little personal touch on it as Jesus, the God -man, the eternal

Son of God, stoops low to serve. You boys over here, you wanna be exalted?

I'll show you what exalted looks like. I'm gonna serve this one that no one else has time for, and I'll show you that I'm Messiah as I do it, verse 46.

And, see, tied in, they came to Jericho, and as he was leaving

Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.

They're over in Jericho, 15, 18 miles away, nice climate, warm oasis, last time, no, two times ago,

I was there. The only thing I remembered in Jericho was Arafat's Casino, but that wasn't there at this time.

Mark Anthony had given the city to Cleopatra, fig trees, water, palms.

People said, you know what, if you wanna get your blindness cured, go to Jericho because there's all kinds of balsam and water and it's warm.

And maybe some scholars say up to 20 % of the people had eye problems, different things that happen at birth.

You know, I remember that with my kids, and one of the first things they did is put some stuff in their eyes and hear all kinds of people blinded and eye problems.

They go there to beg, and there's son of Timaeus there begging. And someone's gonna stumble upon him who is the epitome of a person making himself a slave for all.

Actually, Matthew says there's two blind people. I don't know, maybe this one shouted the loudest. And when he heard that it was

Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out. This is a loud cry out, by the way. This is screaming, this is yelling, this is used of insane people.

Have you ever met an insane person screaming? I remember going to places where there's insane people screaming.

This is what women do in childbirth. You're laughing.

Who laughed? This is what Jesus did on the cross, screaming.

Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. That was the best begging he ever did in his life, confident of what

Jesus could do. And usually, Jesus silences people.

But here, the crowd tries to silence this person, causing a scene, man.

Can't you see he's off to Passover? Son of David's got bigger and better things to do than you. And then in verse 49, as one commentator says, the sun stood still,

S -O -N. And Jesus stopped. And the next few words are gonna determine the eternal fate of this blind beggar.

And Jesus stopped. He's stopping to talk to a poor person, a powerless person.

He stops and said, call him. And they called the blind man, saying to him, changed their tune pretty fast.

Take heart, get up, he's calling you. Here Jesus standing to serve, just like when

Jesus stands to serve Stephen. Cheer up.

Every other time in the Bible when cheer up is used, it's used by Jesus saying that to other people. Here, they say it to this man.

And throwing off his cloak for a 50, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Eagerly responding.

Had his cloak for a bedroll, threw it away. I don't think he's gonna need that anymore. And Jesus said to him, what was that important question

I asked you in verse 36? What was that really important question? Who knows it? Few do.

What do you want me to do for you? See, they're tied together. You can't read earlier section without this section, cuz the two tie in.

What do you want me to do for you? I want power. And now, what do you want me to do for you?

And the blind man said, just wants his ordinary health back.

Rabbi, let me recover my sight. Let me regain my sight. I think

Jesus asked the question to stimulate a good response, and Jesus got exactly what he wanted. And Jesus gave him a double healing.

If you like double anointings, here you go, here's your double healing. Zadopio healing. Kampana. Go your way, your faith has made you well.

How well? Physical healing and spiritual healing. And immediately he recovered his sight, physical healing, and followed him on the way.

Literally, your faith has saved you, that's the Greek word. Sozo, it saved you, physically, spiritually, the cure was immediate.

Didn't need to go to the DCU center and have some false teacher talk to him after he gave him about $55.

The cure was instantaneous, organic, immediate. Jesus didn't have to touch him, he said the word.

And just like in creation of Genesis 1 -1, let there be light, and there was light in his eyes, and then light in his heart.

How great is that? Luke goes on to say, in another account of the same passage, he began following him and glorifying

God. And when all the people saw, they gave praise to God. Reminds me of the one guy healed, he went walking and leaping and praising

God. I want to just start singing that kid's song right now. He went walking and leaping and praising God.

Yeah, I should do special music next week, maybe not. He's on his way to the cross, he's on his way to Jerusalem.

Who has time for these kind of people? The low people, the hoi polloi, the blind. You look at David, and David was a great man, but he had great faults, and sometimes he would say of the blind.

I don't want him. Yes, on occasion he might say to Mephibosheth, I do want you close, but here's

Jesus. If anybody could say, I'm too busy to stoop down and to serve you in your culture, in your area, and all that, this is the time.

Except Paul learned well from Jesus, that it's the gospel and winning people takes priority over everything.

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 8 .30 and 11 AM and Sunday evenings at 6

PM. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston, Massachusetts. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org

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