Are You Sure? (Part 1)

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Thanks for tuning in to No Compromise Radio, with pastor and author, Dr. Mike Abendroth.

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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.

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

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Evangelism's so easy, isn't it? The ABCs of evangelism.

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Admit you're a sinner, believe that Jesus was raised from the dead, confess in your heart that he's

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Lord, and you're saved, right? It's easy. Memberships these days that require dues, that require anything from members, going down the tank.

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When you evangelize someone and you say it's super easy to believe, and just bow your head and pray after me,

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Lord I know I'm a sinner, Lord I know I'm a sinner, I believe that your son is the only God and he died on the cross, was raised from the dead,

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I believe that, and I confess that he's Lord, I confess that he's Lord. You're a Christian. My response to that would be, you are?

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I am? If there was a grade for Jesus' style of evangelism, most

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Bible schools would give him an F. Let's open our

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Bibles to Matthew chapter 8 and find out why. There is a cost to follow

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Christ Jesus. There's a cost. Of course

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God makes you willing, but sometimes we evangelize so poorly.

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One man said that even the non -elect don't have enough sense to reject it. The call to discipleship, the call to following Christ Jesus, is humanly impossible but it is still there.

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Christ gives the necessity of wholeheartedness in following him.

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Simply believing him as a great preacher or a wonderful teacher or a wonder worker isn't going to do.

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There is a cost to following Jesus. And of course when you see Christ as precious, when you see

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Christ as a wonderful, precious Savior, well that makes it all the easier.

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But today we're going to look at Matthew chapter 8 verses 18 through 22, the cost of following Jesus.

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What happens in evangelicalism when one train, the locomotive is coming full blast and it's the

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American dream. But on the same tracks there's another locomotive coming and it's called the cross of Christ.

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One of them has got to get off the track. One of them has to die. When I grew up there was a lot of cigarette commercials actually on TV and radio.

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I think they've had to stop a lot of that. It was Virginia Slims. You come a long way baby and you could have it all.

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In Luther's day there was the theology of the cross, self -sacrifice, self -denial, cross before crown, butting heads with the theology of glory.

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Oh yeah, the cross is fine, but it's glory first. I wonder what

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Jesus would do. I wonder how he would evangelize. Talk about an evangelism explosion.

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It's exploding all our ideas about evangelism. Christ proclaiming the cost to follow him.

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Have you lost anything for your belief in Christ Jesus? Have you lost anything?

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What has it cost you to follow Christ Jesus? Have you lost home, spouse, children, a loved one?

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What does it cost? It doesn't cost very much for Christians in America. Oh, it's going to, but right now there doesn't seem to be a large cost for most people.

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Some yes, but not all. A cursory look at church history tells me

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James the Apostle killed by Herod, that's biblical Acts 12. Peter according to Eusebius crucified head downward.

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The Apostle Andrew hanged on an olive tree. These are all according to tradition. Thomas thrust through with pine spears, tormented with red hot plates, and then burned alive.

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One wouldn't do. You'd have to do many of them. Philip, remember he said, show us the father and that'll be enough for us.

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Tortured then crucified. Matthew the tax collector beheaded at Nadavar.

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Nathanael or Bartholomew skinned alive, then crucified. James the

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Lesser beaten to death with a Fuller's club. Simon the

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Zealot crucified by the governor of Syria. Thaddeus beaten to death by pagans with sticks, pagan priests.

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Matthias, according to Eusebius, one kind of execution wasn't enough so they hung him on a cross and then stoned him.

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The Apostle John, of course, exiled to Patmos. Some traditions say that he was thrown into boiling oil but not killed although scarred for the rest of his life.

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And Paul, of course, met his death according to tradition by being beheaded by Nero. What have you lost?

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Well let's look at our passage today, Matthew chapter 8 verses 18 through 22 and Jesus is showing his credentials.

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These are the credentials of the great king. Jesus has authority over leprosy, Jesus has authority over sickness, he has authority over paralysis, he has authority soon over the ocean and the waters and the sea, he has authority over demons and he has authority over people.

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He's got authority over you. How do we know this is the Messiah? Well he has authority over everything and everyone.

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Everyone. And Jesus here is going to deal with a couple people who are running to him for the theology of glory for what's in my life now and they are going to be confronted with the words of Christ Jesus.

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Carl Truman says God achieves his intended purposes by doing the exact opposite of what humans might expect.

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The supreme example of this is the cross itself. God triumphs over sin and evil by allowing sin and evil to apparently triumph over him.

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His real strength is demonstrated though through apparent weakness. This was the way a theologian of the cross thought about God.

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I know we want security, I know we want homes and jobs and marriages and family and pleasure and popularity and no conflict but Jesus calls for loyalty, dedication, self -denial and commitment.

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If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and his children, his brothers and sisters, he cannot be my disciple.

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Let's take a look from Matthew chapter 8 verses 18 through 22. Two calls to follow Christ Jesus. Count the cost and follow at any cost.

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Those are the two outline exhortations. Count the cost, follow at any cost.

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Two men coming to Jesus wanting forgiveness, wanting to follow him. Two devastating responses from King Jesus who has power over people, not just sickness.

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He is the king and by the way when you read this passage, if Jesus isn't God, only a lunatic liar, false teacher would say such a thing.

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No one can talk this way. If you're a mere human, this is not how we do things.

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Not socially, not religiously, not culturally. This is unacceptable behavior. But if you're

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Jesus Christ the King of Kings and if you're really the Lord of Lords, this is perfectly acceptable and right behavior.

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Well the setting is found in verse 18 of Matthew 8. We're going to finish Matthew 8 as a congregation and then we'll move to Ruth.

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But for today, 18 chapter 8. And when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side.

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And at the other side, there were these two people. Let's look at the first one, the scribe. Number one, you want to follow

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Jesus? You must count the cost. This person seemed to be willing to go anywhere and Jesus said, stop, you're over eager.

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The scribe came up to him and said, teacher, I'll follow you wherever you go. This is kind of nice.

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Usually I have to go out to evangelize, right? The Great Commission, go therefore and make disciples and we want to go out.

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You walk out of the church building here and it says, welcome to your mission field and we go out. Jesus crosses the other side and now this person comes up to him and by the way, this is the catch of all catches.

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White collar, clerical, backward collar. I mean, you got a bunch of fishermen, blue collar,

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Galilean, hayseed, hicks. For every 30 of those fishermen, one scribe, that'd be about the right payoff.

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Influential, he wasn't just a lawyer. He was a scribe dealing with the law, the oral law, scriptures.

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How do I apply Moses to life? That was the job of a scribe. So this religious, perfect catch of a guy came up to Jesus, I'll follow you wherever you go.

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Now, think about it. Back in those days, no movies, no THX, no Dolby, no this, no that, no internet.

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It'd be kind of interesting to watch this Jesus guy. Miracles, he's going to make food out of nothing soon.

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He heals people. I mean, you can just see the people thronging to follow Jesus for no other reason if it was just, this is kind of interesting, it breaks up the day in the middle of Israel, that's for sure.

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The crowds, the miracles, the fame, the fortune. This guy's not stupid. The scribe knows this man,

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Jesus, has a following. It doesn't take an expert in handling written documents to realize this man needs to be investigated.

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Now, you think it's a courteous way he talks to him. Look at the passage, teacher, I'll follow you wherever you go.

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But did you know the Gospel of Matthew never uses the word teacher when someone who's really following Jesus talks?

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In other words, the Saracese, that's a new sect.

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When the scribes and the Pharisees get together, they're Saracese. The Pharisees say teacher, the scribes say teacher, the

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Sadducees say teacher, Herodians say teacher, tax collectors say teacher in Matthew, but it's never used as a form of address from somebody who really wants to follow.

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And isn't that kind of just like today too? Jesus, what do you think of Jesus? He's a very good what? Teacher.

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Matthew chapter 12, it says in verse 38, I'll just read it, then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him saying, teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.

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Jesus answered and said, an evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign. Matthew chapter 22, verse 16, it says, they sent their disciples to him along with the

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Herodians saying, teacher, we know that you're true and teach the way of God. So it's a respectful thing.

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It's actually partially true, but not fully true. It's actually accurate, but not adequate.

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Oh, you're just a good teacher. He is a good teacher. We've just seen that in Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7, but simply teacher isn't enough.

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And Jesus said to him, who talks this way? Unless your God, the eternal son, cloak with humanity, you ought not to talk this way.

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Jesus said to him, basically, I see your excitement and I'm going to show you self -sacrifice.

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You're in this for the theology of glory. I'll show you the theology of the cross. Foxes have holes.

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No, it's not a hole. It's not a great home, but they have a home. Not a lot of security, but it's some security. Foxes have a home.

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They have some possession. It's a home. It's a hole. Birds of the air have nests.

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He's already taught that birds don't have to worry about food. The Father feeds them. But the

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Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. The Son of Man has nowhere to lay

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His head. You want to follow me? You see the excitement and all the crowds and all the wonder -working miracles and signs?

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I want you to know, if you want to follow me, scribe, I have no home. Every place

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I go, I get run out of that place. Judea rejects Him, John 5. Galilee casts

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Him out, John 6. Gadara gives Him the stiff arm and said, get out of my district,

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Matthew 8. Samaria refused to give Him lodging, Luke 9. The earth won't have Him, Matthew 27.

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And one man even said, even heaven forsakes Jesus, Matthew 27, on the cross.

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You want the action, and I'm going to give you self -denial. You want the goods, and I'm going to give you self -sacrifice.

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You want all the glory first, and I'm going to give you the cross. You don't know what you're asking for.

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And, of course, Jesus knew His heart. When I was growing up, we had yuppies and we had dinks.

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Remember dinks? Double income, what? No kids, most people know that. But if you're going to follow me, be willing to lose everything.

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Now, we know as Christians that God doesn't always require us to give everything up. But if we had to,

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I mean, think about it. Jesus held possessions loosely. Did He have a job?

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Did He own much? You're going to follow Jesus?

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Be prepared to be a stranger in the world? Not fitting in? Up to and the point of being betrayed, killed, humiliated?

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I watched a YouTube, not that long ago, New York City street survey, who is

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Jesus? Here's what they said. He seems like a Gandhi type guy.

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Another man said, Jesus is some superpower. I don't know, I believe in many. I believe in many superpowers?

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I mean, I thought to myself, like some X -Men or something? Yes, there's definitely something special about Jesus.

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And I can just hear the post -modern just kind of garbage come out. The same things that are special about me and you and, well, everybody.

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Jesus is just a story made up by someone. Maybe could have been a real person, but not as the story says.

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Another one said, I don't know, I don't know Jesus very well. And that reminds me of this scribe.

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He didn't know Jesus very well. The Lord of the universe, who calls himself what here?

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Take a look at the text. The Son of Man. This is Jesus' favorite self -designation.

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This is what he loves to call himself the most. And here's going to be Jesus' point.

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Ask yourself what Son of Man means, and if you can get Son of Man down, you'll see the passage in the context here.

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Son of Man. Where's the Son of Man from in the Old Testament? This should be in every person's

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IBS class, Bible college class, Bible knowledge class. When you see

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Son of Man, and you're going to see it tons of times in the New Testament, you should have a default. And you could just do this to the middle of your

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Bible. I don't know how you do that to an iPad, but Daniel 7. Take a look at Daniel 7 with me, please.

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Turn to Daniel 7 so you can see the passage. So then you're going to get it. That if the exalted

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Jesus, the eternal Jesus, the pre -existing Jesus, who has dominion, authority, rule, sacrifices, you think you're going to get all the glory?

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It doesn't make any sense at all. Daniel chapter 7. If you love

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Daniel for the fiery furnace and love Daniel for the lion's den, you've got to get this down so you know the theme of Daniel, so you know the hero of Daniel.

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And it's not Daniel. It's the Son of Man. What did Jesus call himself?

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The most found right here. Daniel 7 verse 9. And as I look, thrones were placed, and the

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Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white as snow. You can get the idea of all the holiness and the purity.

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Hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames. Its wheels were burning fire.

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The judge, the high and exalted one who lives forever, whose name is Holy, Isaiah 7 says.

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Judicial purity, holiness. Sounds just like Revelation 1.

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His eyes were like a flame of fire. What's going around this Ancient of Days?

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Verse 10. A stream of fire, a river of fire issued, came out from before him. A thousand thousand served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.

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The court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. God's splendor,

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God's judgment on sin. These books were opened to judge the little horn, and I look then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking.

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He's still vomiting forth blasphemies. As I look, the beast was killed and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire.

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As for the rest of the beast, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season at a time. And here comes the verse.

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Log it in your mind. This is the reference that Jesus had in mind. This particular passage, the first reference of Messiah as the

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Son of Man. I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a

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Son of Man. Here's the eternal Son, Jesus Christ.

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He came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And then what does the text say?

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And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, languages should serve him.

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His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away. And his kingdom, one, that shall not be destroyed.

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The Son of Man who has dominion stoops low and sacrifices himself and denies himself.

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And you come along, scribe, and you want everything? You want the action? You want glory? You want exaltation?

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I mean, think about how crazy this is with the hyper -charismatic movement now. Come to Jesus and you get health and wealth.

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The Jesus of the Bible is the one who is the eternal Son, the Son of Man. And he stoops low and he sacrifices and he's humiliated and he's lowly.

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And you want to be exalted? Back to Matthew chapter 8, please.

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The one who calls people the Son of Man to his kingdom, to his glory, to his dominion.

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Calls people to count the cost. To count the cost.

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If you're not a Christian today, I tell you, I want you to believe. I beg you to be reconciled to God.

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I want you to trust in the risen Savior Christ Jesus who died on the cross for sinners like you. He's coming back.

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He's alive. But you better count the cost. Are you sure you want to be a Christian? Because unless forgiveness is at the highest place,

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Jesus is the wrong answer to your question. But if you want forgiveness and anything else that comes along with it, positive or negative, that's fine.

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Then you need to believe and repent right now. The Son of Man.

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The glorious Son of Man chooses to deny himself and his followers will travel the same road.

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And this guy, this scribe, was too overeager. He didn't even think about it. Follow Jesus.

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Okay, I'll go for what I get. I think this is helpful for us in evangelism.

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I know in our hearts we want the other person to repent and believe so badly we could taste it, especially if they're a loved one, because we don't want them to go to hell.

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But salvation is humanly impossible. And so why do we try to make it humanly possible?

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Our responsibility is to proclaim the truth. And the truth has high hurdles. The truth has sharp edges.

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The truth has hard sayings. But when God does the work, they get saved anyway, don't they?

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We don't have to cut the corners. Count the cost. That's why there are some people, it says in Luke 8, they believe for a little while and then go away.

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They should have counted the cost earlier. Count the cost. Number two, follow at any cost.

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If the first guy was too fast, too quick, too overeager, this person is too slow, not zealous enough, not fast enough.

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Follow at any cost. Another of the disciples said,

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Matthew 8, 21, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. Now, unless you're

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Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, the Son of Man, the Son of God, these next words are frankly stupid.

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But if you are the eternal Son, this goes perfectly with his claims.

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And Jesus said to him, follow me and leave the dead to bury their own dead. If Jesus isn't the eternal

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God, this is rude. This is not how you talk to people who have just lost a loved one.

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Go to Matthew chapter 10 if you would while I'm thinking about it. Matthew 10 intensifies this call to follow.

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Matthew 10, 34. This is just how Jesus talks. I know you want to say to me, probably in your heart, but what about that other verse, and what about this, and what about this verse?

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Well, we're not in those verses now, we're in these verses. Matthew 10, 34.

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Do not think that I have come to bring peace to earth. I have not come to bring peace but a sword.

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For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter -in -law against her mother -in -law.

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And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.

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And whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

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Whoever does not take his cross and follow me, Jesus said, is not worthy of me.

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Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

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Dropping everything to follow Jesus. Back to chapter 8, please. The cost of following Christ Jesus.

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No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

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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 8 .30 and 11 a .m. and Sunday evenings at 6 p .m.

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

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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.