Jesus is the Christ

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. Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth. It�s Saturday, January 4th, and what I try to do sometimes is come into the church building, my office, my study, and review.

I might review on that bicycle over there, or I might just try to review doing some radio shows. I think it�s been about 10 years since we started. I think this August, it�ll be our 10th year. 10 years!

Well, at least you just listen at 1 .5 speed. That�s probably the best thing you could do. I�m trying to think of what we have planned big in 2020. Nothing. That�s why our show grows so much. Friel doesn�t have me on anymore.

The more reformed I become, the fewer speaking engagements I get, but it�s all good. It�s fine. I travel around the world. I�m just thankful for that. If I don�t go anywhere else, it�s fine by me, honestly.

Plus travel is a pain these days. I think I go to Ohio in May. My friend John Tucker, he�ll be there, his church for a conference. We did the one on insurance last year, Beloit, Ohio, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

What else? I think I�ll be in Germany for the Shepherd�s Conference in German. When I used to say I�ll be there for the German Shepherd�s Conference, they thought I was back to my dog training. It�s the German Shepherd�s Conference.

What else? Oh, and maybe an expository preaching seminar here in New England, January or maybe May. I�m not exactly sure. The New England Center for Expository Preaching. It�s scheduled late January now, but I don�t know if that�s going to get pushed until May or not, kind of a more hands-on conference on Bible teaching.

I�m pausing because I keep seeing these texts from my family pop up on my phone. So anyway, my name is Mike Abendroth, No Compromise Radio. I�ve got to get Pastor Steve back on the radio show, his wife Janet, another bout with cancer, different kind of cancer this time, lung cancer, so you want to pray for Janet, Mrs. Tuesday Guy.

The Outer Self Is Wasting Away, but the Inner Self Is Renewed

The recovery has been good so far and just makes me think of our situation for all of us short of the Lord�s return. Paul says in 2 Corinthians, these verses always meant something to me, obviously because they�re in the Bible, but now that I�m getting older and seeing more people who are sick and struggling, so we do not lose heart though our outer self is wasting away.

Our inner self is being renewed day by day for this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen.

For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. And therefore, I mean, the ESV�s translation, our outer self is wasting away, and we just see that, don�t we? We see that in our bodies.

We get up in the morning. Sometimes we�re tricked because we don�t really notice because it�s a slow process, but if you just sit and think about it for a while, I began to resonate with Ecclesiastes chapter 12.

I�m trying to get into Hebrews 11 right now, but that�s okay. It says in Hebrews chapter 12, sorry, Ecclesiastes 12, �Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, �I have no pleasure in them.

Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain. In a day when the keepers of the house tremble. And then you can read and study what are all these poetic descriptions referring to.

Let's see. The keepers of the house, they tremble, legs. The conference in Germany is, I just got to ask a question. It is, I don�t know, EBTC, Germany, probably is only in German language at the moment, and I want to say it�s May, late May.

I could find more about it. You can also email me, Mike, at NoCompromiseRadio, and I�ll send you the info. The strong men are bent, kind of bent over. Grinders cease because there are few. Your teeth, you�re losing your teeth.

Those who look through the windows are dimmed. Your eyes don�t work so well. The doors of the street are shut. The sound of grinding is low. You can�t really hear very well. One rises up at the sound of a bird.

You wake up easy. The daughters of song are brought low, afraid of what�s high. You don�t want to jump off of anything. Tears in the way. Almond tree blossoms. Your hair is a gray. Grasshopper drags itself along.

Maybe something to do with sex drive. Different interpretations and desire fails because man is going to his eternal home. Mourners go about the streets before the silver cord is snapped or the golden bowl is broken or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain or the wheel broken at the cistern.

The dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Vanity of vanity, says the preacher, all is vanity. It�s amazing. Therefore we�re getting older and it�s become more difficult.

But I love the other truth. The truth is we�re inwardly being renewed day by day, and one day we�ll be glorified. Our position and practice will match. Well, anyway, we�re talking in this show about the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 11.

I tried to do that last show, except I never really� At the end of the matter is fear God and keep his commandments. That�s exactly right. I�m trying to talk about when you�re in a trial, you�re going to have to make sure you think rightly.

It�s about your mind and it�s about thinking about eternal truths and who God is and walking by faith. Remember what Hebrews 11 says, �Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

For by it people have already received their commendation. Therefore, when you think of Hebrews 11, make sure you think of faith in Jesus, the high priest, not faithfulness. It�s not by faithfulness, Abraham, by faithfulness, Sarah, by faithfulness, Samson, by faithfulness, Jephthah.

All those people and all of us, short of the last Adam, are sinful and therefore faithfulness isn�t something that is to be extolled. It is something to be called for, but we can�t live that because of Adam�s sin credited to our account by imputation, federal headship.

Consequently, then we have sinful natures. When I listened to S. Lewis Johnson a lot, I liked his definition of faith. Now, we could use the Reformation�s view of faith and he would ascribe to that knowledge, assent, and trust, right?

This receiving and resting and relying, trust, not just knowledge, not just affirmation or agreement or assent, but this trusting, this resting. But S. Lewis would say his favorite definition of biblical faith, and if you don�t get anything else on the show today, maybe you can get this, is from Acts 27, 25.

I mean, it really, really is good. You�re going to be glad you learned this. I was glad I learned it and was glad I relearned it this week when I pulled it up. Here�s Acts 27, verse 25, and it�s Paul, the apostle, talking.

Acts 27, 25. That�s good. God can be trusted. God told me, and it�s going to be true. He said it, and I will take him at his word. Taking God at face value, that�s what faith is. That�s what saving faith is, and you receive the Word of God as it has been given to you, of course, in Scripture.

So, this chapter, it�s by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith, because the end of chapter 10 is a call to walk by faith, and at the beginning of chapter 12, it�s the same thing with the focus of our faith, the Lord Jesus.

And when you ask yourself the question, �Am I a person of faith That means, �Are you trusting in the Lord Jesus Does that typify you? Does that describe you? I didn�t ask, �Do you pray a lot?

Do you go to Bible studies? Do you watch No Compromise radio I mean, that�ll get you a lot, right? No, I�m asking, �Are you a person of faith in Jesus It�s just shorthand. It�s just theological abbreviation, faith in Jesus.

So, by faith in this Messiah, Abraham. By faith in this Messiah, Abel. By faith in this Messiah, Enoch. By faith in this Messiah, Isaac. And the list goes on through the hall of faith in Hebrews chapter 11.

Remember, faith looks outside of us, and that�s a good thing when we really know who we are. And faithfulness looks at us, right? What we do and who we are on the inside. And it is the air that we breathe that we think about faithfulness as a default versus faith.

Faith points out, look at the Messiah. Faithfulness points in, how am I doing? And what does evangelicalism teach these days? You know which one it teaches and which one it drives to as an emphasis. Of course, in its proper perspective, faith in Jesus leads to a life of at least the desire to be faithful, right?

Even when we�re not faithful, we have that desire, etc. On your deathbed, when I come and visit you, do you want me to talk about your faithfulness or the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus? Should we talk about faith or faithfulness?

When you die, the way I do it, it�s the same with everybody. I hope people do it with me too. I�ll come to your bedside, I�ll put my hand on your shoulder, I�ll hold your hand. Assume there are people around.

If it�s a lady, I�ll hold her hand too. And there�s other people in the room. Have the things all legit, above board. And then I�ll say, are you afraid to die? That�s what I say to everybody, are you afraid to die?

And the unbelievers, our struggling believers, will say, yes, I�m afraid. And so therefore, which do I give them? Faithfulness or faith? Obviously, I can�t give them either, but I�m talking about what do I talk to them about?

Well, have you been praying for all the people here in the room that come and attend to you and give you chemotherapy and change your diaper and do all these other things and give you morphine? Have you prayed for all them?

Have you evangelized every one of them? Have you had a good testimony? Now, obviously, those are good things, but I�m not going to talk about those things. I�m going to talk about, let�s rehearse who Jesus is.

Let�s go anywhere. Let�s talk about how he sends them off on the boat, the disciples, and intends to pass them by and rescues them. Let�s talk about that. The language of Exodus, attending to pass by, showing them who God is with all his glory.

Let�s talk about what happens when Jesus meets a man who was born blind and the synagogue leaders, his parents, could care less about this guy because they want to save their own skin. But Jesus says in chapter 10 about this very man and about all of us, he�s a good shepherd.

He doesn�t lose one. Which one do you want me to talk about? How you pray enough or how the Lord Jesus receives sinners and that he has been delivered up for us all and that there�s nothing that can separate us from the love of God.

I mean, this is the way we read the Bible. Romans 8, nothing can separate us from the love of God. My love of God for him. No, no, no, no, no, no. Nothing can separate us from God�s love for us. He called you when you were a sinner, ungodly, enemy, and helpless, Romans 5.

And if he loved you then, now that you�re his child, he loves you less. We�re losing listeners. They all want more love. I�ve just seen how many people were viewing. The more you talk about Jesus, the fewer people listen.

But we don�t do it for ratings now, do we? I�m so thankful to get the blue checkmark on my Twitter account. What does this writer do? He does what I�m just telling you that we need to do, that I want done, that I try to do.

They�re struggling. They�re getting persecuted. They�re in a trial and he says, let me just tell you about Jesus. What�s all the Melchizedekian stuff? Even that. Let�s start talking about who Jesus is so you quit thinking about yourself.

So you quit dwelling on yourself. Remember that old phrase about the unholy trinity, me, myself, and I? That�s who I think about. And I just need to be kind of jarred into thinking, oh yeah, there is a truth.

There is a person. His name is the Lord Jesus. I am the way, the truth, and the life. And if I have to live a life of faith, that means it�s a life that�s trusting in the risen Savior. If it�s a life of faithfulness, well, that�s a different story.

And by the way, the word �faithful� is used in Hebrews chapter 11. Here it is. �By faith even Sarah herself received an ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered him faithful who had promised.

The word �faithful� is found in Hebrews 11, but it�s found of God used once and once alone. It is hard, I know, to trust the invisible God when your trials are visible. But that�s the exhortation. And the good news is, it is the biblical solution to the problems.

Faith in the Message Bible and the Call to Read Hebrews 11 Properly

Okay, so I feel like I want to do something. Let�s just find out what the Bible says here in the message. I know, you know, this is what happens when I�m losing people when I�m preaching and they start to sleep.

I change it up. Now we go from nine people watching to seven. Why are people leaving? Let�s see what Hebrews 11 says in the message. All right. Oh, a Two Popes review. My son and I started to watch it.

Fascinating to think about the two popes and their backgrounds, but I just thought the movie was� do they have a Rotten Tomatoes deal for that? Hebrews chapter 11. Now sometimes he gets it right, and I will affirm it if he does.

The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It�s our handle on what we can�t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.

By faith we see the world called into existence by God�s word, what we see created by what we don�t see. All right, now let�s read our passage for today. Hebrews 11, 8 and following. By an act of faith.

Is there something different between by faith and act of faith? Abraham said yes to God�s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left, he had no idea where he was going.

By an act� that sounds like the shows that I do sometimes. Do you know men especially like to know where they�re going? And we all in this universe, we like to have plans. It�s New Year�s. We have our resolutions, and we want to have plans.

Where are we going? Do you know where you�re going to? Do you know what life is showing? Did I actually buy the Message Bible? Of course I didn�t buy it. This stuff is given to me. This swag is given to me.

NAV Depressed gave it to me. NAV Press, I commend them for publishing Jerry Bridges. Good job. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.

By faith, Baron Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the one who made a promise would do what he said. Yes and no compromise radio. We have the Message Bible, and I actually have a Predicta pen too.

So you want to ask a question. Do I ever read the Message Bible again? Dude, no way. I didn�t buy that either. Stuff gets just sent to me, right? So therefore, we look at the Bible. We look at Hebrews chapter 11, and here�s what�s happening with Abraham.

Abraham, I know you�re going to say, �Duh. Was a patriarch. Duh. These recipients, Hebrews, want to go back. Okay, this is going to make all the sense in the world if you get this. They wanted to go back to the temple.

They wanted to go back to the sacrifices. They wanted to go back to the old days. Do you know all the people in the old days were looking forward to the day you�re in? Listeners to the book of Hebrews, you have received the promises of the Messiah.

He�s come. He�s lived. He�s died. He�s been raised. He�s ascended into heaven, and he keeps his promises. And you want to go back to the old days? Everybody back in the old days wanted this day. They wanted these days.

You can�t go back. Don�t go back. And he gives warnings. If you want to go back, there�s no hope for you because Jesus has come. And they�re not two gods. If there�s two gods and you burn your bridges with one, then there�s one left.

But there�s only one God, and he has come. And his name is the Lord Jesus. And so, don�t go back. You�ve got everything you need. You�ve got everything you need. Don�t go back. And therefore, he uses Abraham in chapter 11, verses 8, 9, and 10 to say, what did Abraham do?

When circumstances presented themselves as unknown, I don�t know what the future is going to bring. It seems like it�s going to be bad. I�m in a hard time now, and the future might get worse. What do I do?

Well, what did Abraham do? It wasn�t that he obeyed, and that�s what caused him to be a friend of God. But he was trusting in the promises of God. And that trust does, in fact, lead to obedience, does it not?

It doesn�t lead to perfect obedience because we�re not glorified. But for Abraham, it led to obedience. Listen to what it says in chapter 11, verse 8. �By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.

And he went out not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in a land of promise, in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

These words were meant to encourage the people. Listen, you don�t know the future. You don�t know how everything is going to work out. You don�t know all the details. All you know is this sovereign Savior who saved you, and you�re entrusting your life to Him, and that�s the walk of faith.

That�s the life of faith. Abraham, of course, we call him the father of the Jewish people. Yes, a father of believers. Father Abraham had many sons. Did he not? Yes, he had many sons. These Jews, both believers and unbelievers, would say to themselves, Abraham�s my father.

Father Abraham. Abraham�s faith in God said, Acts 27, �I take you at your word. Right? I take you at your word. Exactly as you told me it will be, it will be. And by the way, he never received the land.

He never received the land. What land was he looking for? That�s going to be another show. We�re going to do that maybe next week. Abraham, future unknown, still trusted in the Lord. I think that�s a good principle for us.

That�s a good way to think through the trials that we�re in now. He obeys God, leaving for a place that he did not know. Everything about it was unknown. The future is unknown. Iraq war, Iran war, health issues, the tests, the surgery.

I think I got tests on Wednesday and surgery on Thursday. I don�t know the future, but I�m just trusting in God. He said he�ll never leave me nor forsake me. He said that there�s no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.

He said that he�s gone to prepare a place for me and he will glorify me one day. I just have to take God at his word for all those things. By faith, Abraham obeyed. I think he�s in this particular passage for a couple reasons.

One, that was really taking God at his word. Two, is Abraham involved in the outworking of God�s plan, as the commentators would say? Of course. I mean, listen to Genesis 12. �Now the Lord said to Abraham, �Go from your country and your kindred and your father�s house to the land that I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So Abraham went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him.

Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. He took God at his word. The practical application is obvious. Taking God at his word. Well, I want to talk more about this land of promise, but I don�t have time.

So, it�s back to Stephen�s Two Popes Review. You know, they used to sell pope on a rope, the soap. Remember that? You know, we have Ratzinger, who was a hardline conservative. You�ve got Francis, who is a pope of the world, literally.

What does the world want and say? And that�s what he did. And I would love to know behind the scenes what happened and why one was forced out and one came into prominence. I�m trying to remember that book in God�s name, David Yalop, the pope, I think, of 33 days and some of the things he was trying to do.

And there�s a big conspiracy. Conspiracy. Did he get killed? Was he assassinated? How did that all work out? Why wasn�t there the appropriate? What do they do after they die? What�s the thing? Somebody help me here on the radio.

Autopsy. Appropriate autopsy was delayed, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, my name is Mike Ebendroth. This is No Compromise Radio. Tell your friends about the show. If your friends actually have questions, they can call and write and all that stuff.

And maybe I�ll just have Stephen and Meg so far take care of the questions and answers. God bless you. 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 1015 and in the evening at 6. We�re right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.