Jesus THE Expositor (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.

Who Is Your Favorite Preacher?

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, my name is Mike Abendroth, glad to be here in the studios which happens to be just my study in West Boylston, Massachusetts. You can find us, if you�d like to know more about the church, bbcchurch .org, you can go to our website, nocompromiseradio .com, and the other social medias out there.

Well, today I�d like to ask you a question, and then talk about the answer. Okay, ready? Ready for the question? Remember that old show, 20 questions, that old game? Who is your favorite preacher? That�s the question.

Who�s your favorite preacher? Now, I�ve asked this question across the world, I�m a world traveler, no, but I�ve been several places where I�ve asked the question, in Europe, in Africa, I don�t know if I�ve asked it in India or not, that would be Asia, and I get lots of answers.

Several people have said their own pastor, and it was, you know, a guy I didn�t know, and they said, you know, he�s my favorite pastor. I�ve heard Martin Lloyd-Jones, who�s your favorite preacher? I�ve heard Spurgeon, I have heard John MacArthur, I have heard, I probably should have heard S. Lewis Johnson, but I didn�t.

Who�s your favorite preacher? I mean, come on, just pick one, who is your favorite preacher? And the one that people should say, but they don�t, and it�s kind of a trick question, my favorite preacher is Jesus Christ.

Out of all the preachers who preached, he�s my favorite. He is the Prince of Preachers. Matter of fact, that sounds like a good book to write, doesn�t it, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Preachers? That would probably be really a bestseller.

I think that it was originally printed in 19, let�s see, 2007, 2008, day one, and I think they made 6 ,000 copies, and I think there�s like 5 ,900 left. No, I think there�s actually less than 1 ,000. So anyway, Jesus Christ is the great preacher, and he is, of course, Lord and Savior and King and Friend and Substitute and Alpha and Omega and First and Last, the Author and Captain of our Salvation, but we should think of him as preacher as well.

And specifically today, I want you to think about Jesus, the Expositor, Jesus Christ, the Expositor, and out of all the Expositors, I think Jesus is the best. Thomas Watson said, �Jesus alone�, this is on my little tagline on my email, �Jesus alone is the Prince of Preachers.

He alone is the best of Expositors. And so often people say Spurgeon is the Prince of Preachers. But I pulled up this Watson quote, Thomas Watson, the great preacher, Puritan, probably the easiest Puritan to read.

If you�ve got to start with one, start with Watson, lots of word pictures. He said Jesus is the Prince of Preachers. Now Watson is probably 1650s, and Spurgeon is 1850s, and so I don�t think Spurgeon today, if I were to say to him, �Chuck, old Chuck, who�s the Prince of Preachers

I think he would say, �Certainly not me. And he would certainly say, �Certainly not Mike Ebendroth as well. So today I want to do a beginning part of a series about Jesus the Prince of Preachers, the Expositor, and want to see him first as preacher and his priority of preaching, and then we�ll look at maybe an example of his preaching and then look at the implications.

So if you want an outline today, sometimes I give outlines, sometimes I don�t. Now when I first was new in preaching, I always gave an outline. I always gave a plural noun proposition. I always did that stuff, and these days I�m not doing that so often.

So don�t forget, you can write us at info at nocompromiseradio .com. By the way, we at the station, at the studio here, at the show, I don�t think I�ve ever asked for money, and I don�t intend to. I don�t think we even have a �donate� button, although people figure out how to send money to the church, etc., etc.

But I will say this, if you like the show, send money. I�m kidding. I�m kidding. If you like the show, in all seriousness, why don�t you tell your friends? That would be a good thing to do. Sell your friends on the idea, and maybe they�ll send me money.

I�m kidding. You know my philosophy about money and donations and begathons and everything else. If you haven�t figured out that radio costs money, studios cost money, then I guess you haven�t figured it out.

But would you tell your friends, in all seriousness, just say, �Oh, check out this NoCo90 video. Check out this show, and forward it. You can Twitter forward it kind of thing, and we�d appreciate that.

Jesus Came to Preach, Not Merely to Heal

So back to the topic at hand, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Preachers. Jesus came into the world not primarily to say something, not even to be something, but to do something. He came not merely to lead men through his example out into a larger life, but to give life through his death and resurrection to those who were dead in trespasses and sins.

And I agree with that. I agree with J. Gresham Machen, how could I not, that Jesus came into the world primarily not to say something. But that doesn�t mean it�s not important for what he did say. What he did say was important, and he is a wonderful preacher, and so I don�t want to take anything away from his representative work, his Substitutionary Atonement, but I want to focus on what Jesus said and how he said it.

And why would I do something like that? Because every church needs to continue to give the Word of God a preeminent place in its worship service. And so if you�re at a church now that does do that, I say, �Amen.

I commend you. I�m thankful for the grace of God in your leadership�s life, in your life, that you would have a church that would honor the Word of God. Iain Murray said, �In the church, the Word of God must have the highest possible position of honor.

And that�s why many churches, you can even think about things with non-audio markers. In other words, the pulpit is in the center of the church. Why? Because preaching is in the center of the church.

The pulpit�s up a little higher because preaching is exalted. You know, that type of thing. I mean, if you�re going to preach from a pulpit that�s to the side or the room doesn�t work with a pulpit in the center, I get all that, but this is just my own personal.

I also, when I look at the preaching of Christ, I want you to continue to be all in when it comes to preaching, especially you pastors and especially you laypeople who try to encourage pastors. There isn�t another strategy besides preaching.

There isn�t Plan B. There�s not a flowchart. If this doesn�t work, then what about that? We as a church are called to preach, 2 Timothy chapter 4. We are to preach the Word in season and out of season.

And if preaching doesn�t save, well, then there�s no salvation. If preaching doesn�t sanctify, then there�s no sanctification. �The church of God is not staking her all upon the power of spiritual weapons said A .G. Brown.

And I want to do that. I want to stake it all. I want to stake it all. I�m all in. It�s like I�m sitting� I guess you�re not supposed to mix in sinful gambling metaphors, but I�m all in at this table in Las Vegas.

It�s preaching all or nothing. And I also want you to say to yourself, if you do have someone who preaches like Jesus, preaches with the authorial intent like Jesus would, that you�re thankful for your pastor.

I�m not asking people at Bethlehem Bible Church to say, �Thank you, Pastor Mike. I get plenty of thanks and lots of encouragement, but I know there�s lots of pastors who don�t. You see, even with the radio, I�d say 95 of the people that I interact with, the listeners, they like it.

Why? Because unbelievers are people who don�t like, believers who are not liking the show, they don�t interact much. So I get lots of encouragement with friends and that kind of thing, but I know there are pastors out there who just take beatings and the morale still doesn�t continue to be up there.

And so I want to try to have you say, �Thank you, Lord, for giving me a faithful expositor who is an under-shepherd for Jesus, the shepherd. How much is that worth? What is it worth to a church? Okay, let�s just talk shop.

What�s it worth financially even? Everybody�s afraid to talk about finances. Is a pastor who preaches the Word valuable to the church? Maybe you should try to keep him poor and he can get a side job at Starbucks for his health insurance?

I think not. Well, let�s talk about Jesus the preacher generally. And I know you�ve heard me talk about Him, Jesus, on No Compromise Radio, even in Mark chapter 1, but I want to go back there, because for the Savior, there was nothing greater than preaching.

Jesus put a premium on preaching. And my question is, do you? We live in a world like with H .L. Mencken, who would say, �What�s the function of a clergyman in the world Answer, he gets his living by assuring idiots that he can save them from an imaginary hell.

It�s the business almost indistinguishable from that of a seller of snake oil for rheumatism. That�s the kind of modern-day perception for preaching today. Stott described it, �It is an outmoded form of communication in our postmodern age.

Some stress the worldwide revolt against authority and others, the cybernetics revolution in which ever more sophisticated electronic media will dispense with sermons as surely as the automobile has replaced the horse-drawn carriage.

It even, that is, preaching, even has a negative connotation. Who are you to preach to me? But thankfully, a quick look at Christ�s life will reveal that Jesus loved preaching. And you should too. I know you do, but I want you to love it even more than you do.

Mark 1, verse 34, we pick up the account of Jesus, �And he, Jesus, healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who he was.

Just imagine the busy, hectic schedule that Jesus was keeping. Suddenly, surprisingly, strategically, Mark leads the reader into an interlude, kind of an intermission of sorts. Chapter 1, verse 35, �Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed, �Everyone�s looking for you Why is the pause there? Why is that little textual rest found there? This break from the healing and casting out demons?

What does it do? It serves as a vivid demonstration of the primacy of preaching in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. He gets up very early in the morning, while it's still dark, three Greek adverbs emphasizing the very early nature of the morning hour, the last watch of the night, 3am to 6am, and here Jesus goes and prays.

It's an imperfect verb. He prays for a long, long time. Now put yourself in Simon's shoes. Put yourself in Simon's shoes. Can you imagine the horror of Simon waking up, finding a crowd of people outside his home and Jesus isn't around?

Lenski said,. �It seems that the crowds of the evening before were already again gathering at Peter's house. Peter and his companions wanted Jesus to hurry back in order to satisfy the crowds. All the people there, Jesus isn't there, Peter can't do these miracles and healings, I can hear Peter's heart beating 2 ,000 years later.

Simon must have had his Adam's apple stuck in his throat. He's frantically checking, double-checking each room of the house. Is there a little note? Put yourself in his shoes. I can see his forehead getting moister by the minute.

So the hunt is on. Release the hounds and track down the escapee, Jesus. Peter and company, probably who, Andrew, James and John, look for their healing master. And the text in Mark 1 .37 says to look for.

And it in no way describes the intensity of the Greek word. It means to hunt, to track down, to pursue with single-minded determination. Hebert says,. �It reflects a recollection of the anxiety of the disciples before they succeeded in locating Jesus.

And so it's panic time. They are looking. This word is used later by Mark to depict the intensity of Jesus' enemies seeking to arrest him and murder the Messiah. And they find Jesus. Everyone's looking for you.

Get back to the ministry of healing you started. What did Jesus say? How did he respond? Can words express the devastating reply of Jesus? It's like a nuclear bomb exploding directly in the face of the disciples.

Jesus replied, Mark 1 .38, �Let us go somewhere else, to the nearby villages, so I can preach there also. That is why I have come. Talk about a cold, wet slap in the face. �Let us go� is present tense.

This is going to be a long preaching tour. Luke's parallel account describes it this way, �But he said to them, �I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.

What's the point? Preaching about God's forgiveness, the good news that God saves sinners, is far more important than healing. So Jesus goes to preach. Robert Mount said, �We are prepared for the prominence of preaching in the ministry of Jesus by his own declaration that it was for this reason he had come.

When the ministry of healing threatened to eclipse that of preaching, Jesus drew apart from the clamoring crowd and moved on to the next town. He had come to preach. Healing was secondary. I mean, how to ruin your ministry?

Dick Lucas. Three easy steps. 1. Get the power to heal all sickness. 2. Get a large crowd of sick people. 3. Turn away and tell them you're going on a preaching trip. Jesus comes preaching the gospel of salvation for sinners, and nothing's going to stop Jesus.

Mark 1. So he traveled throughout Galilee preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons. For Jesus, preaching was important. For Jesus, it was preeminent. And then Jesus would tell his apostolic messengers the same thing, to preach the word.

And the climate of our culture today, even in many evangelical churches, they pay lip service to the word of God. We want dialogue. We want drama. We want video clips of the latest movie deals. We are visual learners.

When you look at preaching definition online in a dictionary, somebody giving advice on morals, somebody who gives advice on morality or behavior in an irritatingly tedious or overbearing way. We want nonlinear learning.

We want participatory learning. We want other forms of communication. Reminds me of the illustration of this in India. I've told many times before, I'm speaking in India at the, let's see, a family camp, I think.

It wasn't the Expositors Conference yet. And there's a man sitting on the front row, and MacArthur's preaching via Skype video. And so there's a projector screen up there, and there's a projector. I'm sitting in the front row, and there's a camera toward me.

So John can see, not just me, but everybody, including me. And we can see John. And so it's live. I don't know, 6 a .m., John gets there to preach or something. And he's talking about the exclusivity of Christ or something like that.

And a guy gets up. I don't know who he was. I don't know if he was a leader or what he was. But a guy in the audience gets up in India with the YMCA in Pune. And he walks over to the screen where John is.

Of course, it's not John's real body because he's projected onto the screen. And the guy knocks down the screen and starts stomping on it. Now, of course, you can still see the lights of John MacArthur's image still projected, but now it's on the curtains in the back of the auditorium.

And he's stomping on that thing. Now, some people said, well, he had epilepsy and he was drawn to lights. I think not. That's what many people think about preaching today. But since you're listening to the show, I know you love preaching.

And can you imagine we used to hate preaching and now we love it. That's one of the signs we're Christians. And so I want to start off by saying on No Compromise Radio that Jesus put a priority on preaching and Jesus, the expositor, emphasized the supremacy of preaching.

But did he actually do exposition? That's the question you probably ask me. Mike, I think exposition is verse by verse teaching. Sequential verse by verse teaching. Now, I like sequential verse by verse teaching.

I regularly and often do it. But is that the definition of exposition? Is it true to call Jesus an expositor or is it right to call him the expositor? And I think the answer is yes, because whatever our definitions of preaching are, I hope they flow from Christ Jesus, the Prince of Preachers.

Jesus Reads Isaiah in the Synagogue

Luke chapter four, verse 14. And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit and news about him spread through all the surrounding district. And he began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.

And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as was his custom, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read. The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him and he opened the book and found the place where it was written.

Now there are many things that are recorded in the Bible, many, you know, little, many episodes, events. I wish I could have been there, right, for the sea being split, the Red Sea, so the Israelites could walk through it.

But I'm thinking this would be pretty great. I wish I could be there. The scenario here is stunning, what Jesus does. Now the Lord Jesus returns to Galilee, news is spreading about him, he, the Holy Spirit impels Jesus to Galilee for public ministry.

That's where his family was from and news is spreading about Jesus. We get the word fame, the Greek word is fame, and that's where we get our fame and he is becoming famous and he is a significant figure and the grapevine is graping and the grapevine is vining and people are understanding who he is and they want to come out to hear him.

And the Spirit draws, or pushes rather, him into this ministry and he began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. And so he would regularly teach, often would teach, matter of fact, you can see teaching as one of the themes in Luke chapter 4 in verses 31 and 32, he was teaching them on the Sabbath.

Verses 43 and 44, I must preach the good news of the kingdom to other towns as well. And Jesus, his main ministry is not of healing, it's teaching, that's what Luke is stressing. And he is praised by God, wonderfully, in that passage in Luke chapter 4, the word praised by all, that word to be glorified, is usually reserved for God.

And only here Luke uses it for Jesus. And he's in the synagogues and he is preaching. And so the account, Luke, wants you to be drawn in. It's exciting, Jesus is in town, he's teaching and he's preaching, he's in the synagogues.

I wonder what he's saying. Boy, let's go find out, it's wonderful, it's excitement, it's interesting. Let's go find out. And by the way, when Jesus shows up at synagogues, there's usually controversy.

There's probably trouble. Six Sabbath passages in Luke end up in some kind of controversy. And so Jesus is teaching, and if he's going to teach on a Sabbath, there's going to be some no-co going on, right?

Always biblical, always provocative, always in that order. Some controversy is going to happen. And so what's the controversy here? What's the message here? Verse 16, and he came to Nazareth where he'd been brought up, as was his custom, and he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read.

And so a servant gets a box of scrolls and picks the right one and unwraps it and gives it to Jesus. And people listen to Jesus as Jesus stands in traditional reverence for God's word. He stood up to read.

That was the way they did it back then, standing, right? Now the Torah is read first in the synagogue services, if you're looking for a liturgy, and then something from the prophets follow that. And here's what happened.

The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Jesus and he opened the book and found the place where it was written. And so Jesus is in his home area. He's handed the scroll, unrolled to Isaiah. And interestingly, Luke vividly employs the Greek word unrolled or open.

And by the way, that is the doctor's word, Luke the doctor, a medical word for opening up a patient's body, getting ready for surgery. And I remember I used to work for a company that sold things like that.

Well, this is, I'm on my seat. I can't wait to know what happens, but if you'd like to know what happens, you're going to have to come back next time on No Compromise Radio to figure out what Jesus, the prince of preachers, Jesus, the expositor, Jesus, the best preacher who ever lived, Jesus, your favorite preacher, what he will have to say as he unrolls the scroll and preaches from Isaiah.

My name is Mike Abendroth.

This is No Compromise Radio. 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 10 .15 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.