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Your Perfect Priest
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.
Mike Abendroth here. A little behind on the show, a little behind, that�s okay. We�ve got to feed the machine, rage against the machine. I think that�s a band. I never really liked that band. I don�t know why.
I don�t know much about it. I think they�re pretty crazy, though. Speaking of crazy, I don�t know when I�m going to say a bunch about the Gospel Coalition�s involvement with the Martin Luther King 50 stuff.
I was watching a Matt Chandler video today, �A House Divided Cannot Stand understanding and overcoming the inconsistencies in white evangelicals on racial issues. In my opinion, it was awful. It was condescending.
It was moralizing. When he did finally get to the Bible after, I think, 15 minutes, I think he said books of the Bible for the first 15 minutes, but in his 33-minute message, if you want to call it that, first 15 minutes, no Bible, and then once he got there, he went to the Good Samaritan and didn�t even teach the context of the Good Samaritan and why Jesus actually gave the parable.
I think that might have helped. If you want to talk about white privilege, white evangelicals, white pastors, white, white, white, you can go listen to Matt Chandler. To me, as an example of how not to preach.
I took it as very condescending and very, you know, if you�re going to be talking about race and ethnicity in the Bible and you�re going to just simply go to Ephesians 2, well, you�ve got another thing coming.
Oh, he did talk about kneeling NFL football players, and he lectured me about that. People are losing their minds when it comes to this. Phil Johnson has responded to Beattie, and so has Doug Wilson, although I�m not the biggest Doug Wilson fan.
So has James White, and Daryl Harrison has written some stuff about the Martin Luther King 50. I think you should just go to the site, the Gospel Coalition site, and watch some of the messages yourself.
I mean, that�s the best thing to do. And I think whatever your race is, i .e. human race, if you�re part of the human race, if you�re in the last Adam, you�re going to just look at it and think, I think more people should be reading Machen�s Christianity and Liberalism.
This is, as I said on Twitter, catnip. Race is a catnip to the social gospel, and it is coming fastly and furiously. Well, what else do we have? You can write me, info at nocompromiseradio .com. Maybe you�ve got a guest idea for me.
Brian Fairchild was on yesterday. I was glad for that. How about this? We could do it this way. If you listen regularly, and you know my theology and what we�re trying to do here at the show, and you have a like-minded pastor, and your pastor, let�s just say, is out in the middle of nowhere, but he just faithfully preaches week after week after week, high view of Christ, high view of Scripture, high view of Sola Fide, why don�t you email me his, the link to the church that he is a pastor of, and then I�ll go to the website, snoop around for myself, since it�s hard to trust No Compromise Radio listeners, and then, if I like what I see, I�ll have him on, and we will give him some, a platform as big as the Martin Luther King Jr. 50 platform.
How�s that sound? I don�t know how many people listen to No Compromise Radio, but we�re definitely up there on the celebrity, like, we�re up in the, like, E-list celebrities. There are A-list celebrities, and there are, like, E-list, or maybe it�s a little bit lower, maybe M-list.
Efren Zimlis Jr., who�s that? All right, what else are we doing here today? I have in front of me, I mean, I�m tempted to just talk about this whole craziness that�s going on in evangelicalism at the time, but I think I better not.
I guess that would get me better ratings, though, wouldn�t it? We do have a No Compromise Radio group discussion. Anyway, as I was just saying, I better delay the MLK 50 talk, and you can go listen to Matt Chambliss.
Yep, see? It stopped. I was trying to do something live here, and it just would not work. Shall I try it one more time? I think I�m going to try it one more time. I�m in the Facebook group live, and I don�t know why it�s not going live.
It says preview 3 -2 -1, and then it doesn�t go there. All right, well, it says end live video, and it says live, but I don�t think it�s live. I see my face. I don�t think it�s live, but if you have a pastor friend who�s faithful, send that in to me, his contact information, and we will move forward.
We�re in Hebrews chapter 5, and here�s what�s going on in Hebrews chapter 5. This is going to end here in about three seconds. Goodbye. All right, well, that takes care of that. We can just back up. Sorry for the last two minutes of your life.
Hebrews chapter 5 is a continuation of Jesus as high priest, and the writer is making comparisons to human priests. So you can just imagine people were saying, Jewish people were saying, �Christianity, that might be a fine religion, but you need a priest.
And remember, the two main reasons to have a priest, one, you need some priest to offer sacrifice, and two, you need a priest to intercede. And if you think of Jesus, of course, those are things that he perfectly did.
He was the perfect sacrifice, not only as priest, but as sacrifice, and he also is the perfect intercessor, making intercession for those that he has purchased, Hebrews chapter 7. Well, a while ago, I was looking at a screaming contest winner.
I don�t know if you�ve ever known that there are screaming contests. I�m not talking about John and Yoko and Paul and Hey Jude. Was Yoko screaming? I wish that was on every other album she was screaming.
My kids are like, �Who�s Yoko Ono as an ambulance siren to win Saturday night. Competition in the seaside town of Pattaya, Thailand. His effort fell short of breaking the 129 decibel Guinness Book of World Records, or Guinness World Record, for the loudest scream, which was set in 2000 in London.
I was only getting warmed up, said 33 year old Salavyaj, I wish I could pronounce his name, who said he'll be back next year to compete in the competition. Hosted by Thailand's Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum.
They gave him 900 US dollars, the equivalent thereof. It's actually 30 ,000 baht, B-A-H-T. And there were 1 ,500 competitors. Well, there's a strategy for this. You can twist your body and you can throw yourself on the ground.
How do you rev up your vocal cords? Quote, I just want to be a good actor, said so-and-so, a part-time English teacher and a beauty salon worker from Pattaya. I scream very loudly, but the acting was more fun.
So, you have screaming, and you have acting. Well, there are a couple passages that scream Jesus as High Priest, chosen by God, from among men. And this is it. This is the passage that screams the loudest, Hebrews chapter 5.
When you go there, you're going to be thinking to yourself, wow, God chose this particular priest for me. Now, here's the wonderful part. If you had to pick your own priest to go before God to intercede for you, if you pick the wrong priest, the priest would need a priest.
In other words, we're not talking about old system, Old Testament system here, old covenant system. We're talking about you, right now, having to go before God and plead your case for your life, your less-than-righteous life.
And I'm including me in the conversation. If your priest that you picked to mediate between you and God had his own sin, he then would need a mediator. And so, you'd have to step in between the mediator and then God.
That'd be another mediator in there. And now, we have another mediator, because we're never going to make it, because every mediator needs a mediator except Jesus, because Jesus is blameless and perfect and sinless.
Jesus needs to be the one to be your priest. Now, we probably wouldn't have chosen Jesus. We would have chosen Barabbas, right? Barabbas was chosen. The people chose Barabbas. Maybe we weren't there collectively, but our sin nature, our rebellion, our...why do I say our?
Our depraved state would have called for Barabbas and not Jesus. I mean, now we would pick Jesus. But would we? Because it had to be Jesus, the substitute. Well, anyway, these theological digressions are fun, but we have to get back on target.
God picked the priest for you, and he picked the perfect priest for you. And therefore, when you go to the passage, and it says in verse 16 of chapter 4, "...let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.".
If you'd like to go and find mercy and help, and if you are in the middle of a sin as a Christian, or you're struggling with sin, or you're in the middle of a temptation, or you're struggling with temptation or a trial, you need to have a priest that is chosen by God to have the proper help given to you.
I've only been on one deposition, and I didn't have a lawyer with me. I thought I had a lawyer who was representing me, but in fact, it wasn't my lawyer, and so I was there by myself, and I kept looking over at the guy, thinking, what am I going to do?
This lawyer is chosen from among men, appointed on behalf of men in relation to God. This particular priest doesn't take honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, you are my son, today I begotten you, as he says also in another place, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
It says in verse 10 of Hebrews 5, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Everywhere you go in Hebrews, verses 1 to 10, God is the one who has designated, chosen, appointed Jesus to be your high priest, and he just picks the perfect high priest.
And Jesus, of course, isn't just God, but he's also man, and therefore he can be the perfect priest to stand before you, a man slash woman, not and or but or, unless you're a kid, child, male or female, and the thrice holy God with whom we have to do.
And Jesus, therefore, can represent us and understand us and our weaknesses because he is man, currently present tense, and he's also God, has been and is God, perfect tense. What's blue perfect mean?
And this passage screams, screams, Jesus is a great high priest. He's the great high priest you need. Oh, you say your religion doesn't have a priest? Yes, our religion does, and his name is Jesus. And, of course, there's some hints here about Melchizedek because Jesus did not come from the line of the Levites.
Of course, he was from the line of Judah. But this passage here in Hebrews chapter 5, God picks the right kind of priest for you. He chose the right kind of priest, and that priest was a perfect priest, right?
His sacrifice was perfect, and he is perfect, right? Everything is leading up from that section in chapter 4, the end of the chapter. Since we have a great high priest who's passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. And then there's verse 16, and we move into chapter 5.
If you struggle, you need a go-between. If you sin, you need a go-between. I mean, this all lends itself to sin creates barriers. There are no trespassing signs when it comes to the holiness of God and sinful men.
There is the equivalent of yellow police tape around a murder scene, except it's around Sinai, and don't even let the cow come over because we're gonna have to kill the livestock. This is dangerous. God is the one who tells us how to approach Him, and all of religion is a religion of how do we approach God by our own means, by our own methods, using our own minds.
How do you like that for alliteration? How can we please this God and we make that up? That's Nadab and Abihu. I don't know if I like this coffee or not. Sometimes I've been drinking coffee without stevia and cream.
Oh, yuck. It actually tastes like coffee. I was thinking about my grandparents the other day, and I thought about them for probably a bad reason, a dumb reason. I was just thinking about how they were both German, and it was during World War II times, and they would take my grandparents' lunches and throw them down the outhouse in Nebraska.
Why? Well, there were no sewers there by school, the one-room schoolhouse, but because they were Germans, and of course Germans were the enemies. Anyway, I think there's probably a whole culture that needs to apologize to them, even though they never, they weren't there to do it.
Maybe there's some microaggressions regarding my grandparents who were Germans. But they used to drink Folgers, Folgers coffee. I mean, if I was, you know, if I was in a different country and they served me coffee in the morning and it was Folgers, I would drink it, but I wouldn't want to have it again.
Who drinks Folgers? Who orders that? The only thing Folgers is good for, in my opinion, is you take an old Folgers can, the big can. It's, you know, seven inches in radius or something, diameter, excuse me, and you can flip it upside down.
Okay, here's what you do. You make a few holes in the side of the can, which is at the top area. Now you start a little tiny fire when you're camping. Flip your Folgers can over the fire. Now you've got those little holes in there for breathing.
It's one of those kind of diagonal can opener kind of things you've got. Make some holes so the fire breathes. And then at the very top, it's perfect to put a little hamburger patty up there and cook a hamburger patty.
That reminds me of Hummel day camp back in Nebraska, and we'd have to do that. They also had slides there, suicide slide, devil slide. Why are they always named after things like that? Hades. There's a place here in Massachusetts called Purgatory Chasm.
Why would it be called that? It's scary. Real scary. When you study Hebrews, here's what you're gonna have to come face-to-face with. The Old Testament. That's so wonderful, by the way. Don't let that scare you.
Jesus didn't decide to become a priest. I mean, what happens when people do? 2 Chronicles, Uzzah, right? Or Uzziah? I think Uzzah touched the cart. Uzziah was the king who wanted to be the priest and got leprosy.
Is that correct? Boy, it's hard to do these shows. I actually have the real Bible here. Everybody keeps asking me the question, twice in two days. You know, I'm trying to read my Bible, or I don't really read my Bible every day, but it's easier for me to listen to my Bible every day, and you know, what do I think about all that?
Well, here's my answer, since I'm trying to stall and find 2 Chronicles 26, Uzziah. At least I knew where it was. Better off than most. If you never read your Bible, and you call yourself a Christian, or you struggle to read it, or, you know, this is not a lordship issue, but if you're struggling to read your Bible, and you say, well, I at least listen on the way to work for 20 minutes in my car, okay, better than nothing.
I'll take it. But there are other things that you should consider. If you are reading the Bible, you can stop, you can mull over, you can go backwards, you can draw this arrow to that spot, these words you see that are repeated.
Of course, the Old Testament, Book of Revelation, for instance, they're meant to be heard. We live in a different culture than the Bible when it was written, a very oral culture back then. I understand all the arguments about reading and everything else, but you can stop when you read and think about it more.
So if you want to read your Bible and get the most out of it, you're gonna have to sit down or stand up on the treadmill and think. If you want to hear your Bible read, thinking is going to be required, and therefore go to the lake, shut everything off, sit by the lake, and listen to the Bible being read with one of those little switches that can back up 30 seconds or 10 seconds so you can hear it over and over again.
But for the most part, people don't do that. They're in the car driving. So what I do is I get up in the morning, I read my Bible with a cup of coffee, better than this, not Folgers, and I then get some breakfast, and then I go into the bedroom to get changed, to get clothes on for the day, right?
To get out of my sweatpants, to get into my regular work clothes. And while I'm in there, most times I put the Bible on, the SV study app Bible, and then like today I was listening to First Chronicles because I'm trying to get to know the Old Testament better.
And so that's to me a supplement, that's just something extra, because at night I'll probably be at the gym and I'll listen to some podcasts and such. Anyway, when it comes to the Old Testament and the book of Hebrews, you are going to get to know the book of math...somebody's ringing the doorbell but I can't answer.
Sorry, there's just no possible way. I'm on the radio. You are going to be forced to go back to the Old Testament and look at Uzzah, Uzziah. In this particular case, Uzziah, because he is king and he decides to be the high priest on his own.
That's what he's going to do. He's just going to say, you know what, I'm going to do this on my own. And he gets leprosy, and he has it to this day. Not to this day, this day. He obviously died, but when the text says, and he has it to this day, that means for the rest of his life he had it.
Now the rest of the Acts of Uzziah, from first to last, Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos, and Uzziah slept with his fathers and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said, he is a leper.
And I think the SV study notes, if I remember correctly, have a little note there. A stone plaque was found in Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives from the second temple period that bears the inscription, here were brought the bones of Uzziah, king of Judah, do not open.
It may be that the king's bones were moved to the Mount of Olives many centuries after his death. Now I don't know if that's true or not, but it sure makes good study notes, doesn't it? Anyway, thanks for listening today.
It was fairly discombobulated. I was trying to get the NoCo group up and running and have some of the shows that I record with audio have them on video too, so I'm pretty much glad I didn't do that today.
That would have been a train wreck of a day. Today I could have shown my Joel Osteen things and I could have had some Folgers coffee. What am I having? This is actually Pete's K-cup, Sumatra, and I'm not a big K-cup guy, obviously.
Info at NoCompromiseRadio .com. You can write us. If you want to pull up one of the 2 ,000 or so shows, you can just go to the website NoCompromiseRadio .com.
Thanks for listening. 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 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbcchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.