All Of God (Part 2)

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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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Salvation is not of yourselves. Salvation is not of yourselves. This is almost a double saying.

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He's already said this, but he's trying to make it emphatic. Your salvation is not from you.

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The Greek is, and this is not of you, and this is not of you. Every aspect of our salvation, we could say, and this is not of you.

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R. Ken Hughes tells a funny story. There's a frog that fell into a large milk can. He kept paddling until it turned into a pad of butter, and then he jumped out.

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So it's like self -salvation launching pad. How do you save yourself? Salvation by grace through faith, not proceeding from yourselves.

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Not of yourself. Now sometimes it'll be translated, and this is not your own doing.

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That's the ESV. What's the this refer to? Does it refer to faith? Does it refer to grace?

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But the way, yeah, there you go, yes. It's salvation by grace through faith. It's this whole thing.

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This whole concept of salvation by Christ's finished work on Calvary, confirmed by the resurrection, is not of us.

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This refers to faith, grace, or the entire salvation process. The entire salvation process is not from us.

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We don't do any self -salvation because all our deeds are like filthy rags. That's why we say

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God did it all. Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. Number five, your salvation is a gift of God, a gift from God.

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Kind of parsing our salvation, I'm just taking one little segment, then the next, then the next.

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You could probably guess what my next few points are. Salvation is a gift from God. It's emphatic in the original,

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God and no one else. It's not from me, it's from God. Salvation not of you, of God as the gift is a good way to translate it.

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Salvation is the gift. We can't earn it, and it's a good gift.

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I don't know, does God give any bad gifts? I was reading about an American Express survey about Christmas gifts.

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Some of you are very kind and give me gifts of this particular thing. I still would receive with a thank you, but in my mind,

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I'm not too sure. Fruitcake, it says Christmas gifts found that the fruitcake was chosen most often, 31 % from a list of worst holiday gifts.

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It even finished ahead of no gift at all. That's pretty bad.

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Would you rather get fruitcake or no gift? Sometimes, you know, if you've got an old cinnamon roll, you could always put it in the toaster and put some butter on it or something, microwave it, make it okay.

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I don't know if you could toast fruitcake. When asked how to dispose of this bad gift fruitcake, 30 % said they would hide it in the closet.

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I would add, you could save it till next year. 21 % said they would return it, and 19 % said they would give it away.

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But this gift, think about it. I deserve it. Hell, I get to go to heaven at the basis of someone else.

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I didn't earn it. I wasn't there. I wasn't born when my salvation was accomplished.

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And neither were you before you were born. Sometimes, I talk to my kids and we'll say, well, we moved to California and Maddie and Gracie, you weren't even born yet.

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You didn't even exist. And to think in eternity past, I ask you the question, when were you saved?

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I hope when anybody asks you the question, you give them the right answer. Mike, when were you saved?

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Well, you know, my salvation is so wonderful. I don't really know what you're talking about. So do you mean in eternity past when the

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Father, Son, and the Spirit in a council of peace got together and decided to send the Son to go rescue me?

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That salvation? Or how about at Calvary when Jesus died on the cross for my sins and was raised from the dead?

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Or how about in 1989 when God regenerated me and applied that salvation?

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How about now? I'm progressively sanctifying, being sanctified. I'm progressively being saved, to use the terminology of Paul.

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Or when I get glorified, whether that's in the Czech Republic from nuts, or today, or any other day, which salvation is it?

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And it's all of God, every bit of it. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

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It's all of God. Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them.

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At the end there in Galatians, and perform them. Here's the book of the law, do it all.

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How are you doing? Christ redeemed us from the curse of that law, having become a curse for us, for it stands written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.

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I think that's a gift. One man said, a wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver.

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Number six, your salvation is not the result of works. Verse nine, not as a result of works.

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Now, is there any sense that salvation is by works? By Christ's works?

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We're saved by works, Jesus' perfect works. He's born under the law,

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He obeys the law perfectly. In summary, He loves God with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength. He loves

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His neighbors Himself. We get that credited to our account. You have to do this to live. But the context here is not our own works, not anything we did before salvation saved us.

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And I come from a world where, hey, I was baptized. I know I wasn't really cognizant of the fact that there was some water on my head.

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Confirmation, fasting, giving to the poor, I'm good. This says not as a result of works, deeds of kindness, philanthropy, religion, self -effort.

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No, it was a gift. If it was a gift earlier on, it says in Ephesians 2, 8, how can it be of works?

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Gift works, they don't go together. Romans 11, 6, if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works.

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You say, how can something so small taint everything else? How can a little bit of works taint all that grace?

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Sometimes we use this illustration with our kids when they're playing around with the world. And how close can

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I get to the world? And we've said to the kids before, and I think how much more for this illustration here.

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It's gross, but you'll understand. Kids, if we're going to make brownies, how small of a bit of dog manure could we put in the brownies and you would still eat the brownies?

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A cup, a spoonful, a thimbleful.

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You would say, hopefully, that ruins the whole thing. You guys were sleeping until I just said that.

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I should have used that on the first service. Would have woke them up. But seriously, how much poison do we put in the pitcher of water and still drink it?

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It just invades, it permeates everything. When you add any amount of works to grace, it nullifies

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Romans 11, 6, all of grace. Yeah, Jesus, here's what it says. I know you died on the cross and everything, but it wasn't good enough.

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I have to add this. And you know what? If we were left to ourselves, that's how we thought before we were saved, didn't we?

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I got to do something. You've come all this way and I got to come this way. I got to finish it.

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I've got to seal it. I've got to, I have to contribute somehow. When my contribution was sin and filthiness, that's my contribution.

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Titus 3. Now, doesn't this make more sense? He saved us, not on the basis of deeds, which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the

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Holy Spirit. Romans 4, 5. But to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.

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2 Timothy 1 .9. Who saved us and called us with the holy calling, not according to our works.

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Friends, if you're not a Christian and you think you can get to heaven by being good and being a member or being baptized or catechized or something or going on.

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I thought I got to heaven by going on youth trips down to Mexico and becoming a missionary. You don't understand your own sin, let alone what works does to grace.

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It's by grace alone. You have to repent of that kind of thinking. Number 7.

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Your salvation should cause you not to boast in yourself. Your salvation should cause you not to boast in yourself.

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It says in verse 9, as you know, so that no one should boast. On the outside, to God be the glory, great things he has done.

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And on the inside, pretty, pretty, pretty savable man, pretty good man. When it comes to salvation, we are boastless.

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Can you imagine what would heaven be like if we're all in heaven and a thousand years into praising the

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Lord Jesus Christ worthy of the lamb was slain? Excuse me, I'd like to have an announcement.

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I just want you all to know you're all praising Jesus as a sinner of heaven. But I pulled myself out of the miry clay myself.

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Someone else says, well, I didn't do it myself. Jesus gets some glory. I did like 20 % of it so that no one would boast.

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If I did do anything to make me a Christian, then I should have some credit.

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I should have some praise. I should have some boast. Stott said we will not be able to strut around heaven like peacocks.

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Heaven will be filled with the exploits of Christ and the praises of God. And I'll be glad.

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I'm pretty much sick of myself. My dad used to say I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.

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I'm sick of me. Gurnell said the gospel cuts the very comb of pride.

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When thou hast thy best suit on, Christian, remember who paid for it. Jesus Christ, God's only begotten son was sacrificed.

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That's why when we say, you know, let's have a testimony. We had a three testimony Sunday night in baptism, and it was it was wonderful.

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And I didn't have to do this on Sunday night, but regularly people will give me their testimonies. And I'll say, well, you know what? There's a lot of I, I, I, I, I believed.

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I decided I repented. I turned. I read. I studied. I prayed. And that's all true because God doesn't do those things for you.

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But wouldn't it be better to write your testimony a little bit differently? How about you are the passive one and God is the active one?

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I was going the wrong way, but God intervened. I was slaved to sin, but God rescued me.

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I was doing these things. Yes, I was doing all the sinful things. But God alone be the glory. If somebody ever asked your testimony,

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I hope the first word out of your lips is God. Here's what God did in my life. Jesus, Jesus says to that demoniac who he's cast the demons out.

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You go tell them what God has done in your life. We have this treasure in earthen vessels that the surpassing greatness of the power of God.

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Power may be of God and not ourselves. That is interesting.

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One man said your halo only has to slip a few inches to become a noose. Regarding pride, the human body is very sensitive.

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Pat a man on his back and his head swells. That was interesting. He who sings his own praises is always a soloist.

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Don't brag. It's not the whistle that pulls the train. Make sure it's

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God's trumpet you were blowing. Talk to a man about himself and he will listen for hours.

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When you sing your own praise, you always get the tune too high. And the Lord said to Gideon, The people who are with you are too many for me to give to Midian into their hands.

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Give Midian into their hands. Lest Israel become boastful, saying, My own power has delivered me.

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If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about. But not before God, Romans 4.

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Consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.

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But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, that no man should boast before the

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Lord. If you want to boast in the Lord, please do. Paul said the same thing.

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It never be that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.

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Number eight, salvation was the work of God. And so too is your good deeds.

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Salvation was the work of God. And even your good deeds after you're saved are God's work. Look at verse 10.

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Isn't this wonderful? He just doesn't save us and let us meander around. For we are his workmanship.

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For we are his workmanship. He's the one that did them, that did this.

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His workmanship. Let's look at this first and then figure out what it means. Poiema is the Greek word.

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It's where we get our word poem. We're like God's poem, his handiwork, his workmanship, a thing literally of his making.

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And the emphasis on his, he's the one who has done it. He's the one that has made us.

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What did he make? It says here, created in Christ Jesus for good works.

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So God not only saves us, but he creates good works for us ahead of time that we might walk in them.

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You know it to be true even subjectively when you think, how could, how could that all be arranged?

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I met this person and another and I preached the gospel and this happened and that happened and everything else. And it's just like God had everything arranged before my very eyes.

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That's what he's talking about here. Created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in him.

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Now turn if you would to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. I'm going to talk about a little bit more this idea that God does the work and he should get the credit.

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And then we're going to wrap this up. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verses 1 to 6.

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I get asked the question all the time. Do you believe in evolution? Do you believe in theistic evolution?

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The answer is no. Why? Because one takes more faith than the other.

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Because the law of irreducible minimums prohibits evolution.

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That is to say the mousetrap needs certain pieces. And if you've got someone who's got blood and if it's any thinner, you cut the person they die and bleed to death.

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If it's any thicker, it can't be pumped through blood. Now, those all may be true, but I believe in creationism physically because I'm an

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Augustinian. Strike that. I don't believe in evolution because I believe in Pauline doctrine of salvation.

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I don't believe in physical evolution because I believe what Jesus taught about salvation.

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You say, what are you talking about? How do these go together? Where's the symmetry? Where's the similarity?

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Let's find out. 2 Corinthians 4, therefore, verse 1, having this ministry,

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Paul says, by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful underhanded ways.

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We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word. But by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.

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And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case, the

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God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

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For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord with ourselves as your servants for Christ's sake.

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And now here it comes together. For God who said, let light shine out of darkness.

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When did God say that? When did God say, let there be light? In Genesis, didn't he?

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There's darkness and God says, let there be light. And there was what? Light created by God, his action, his doing.

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The darkness didn't cooperate with the light. Darkness didn't say, God, you're creating all this and we will have faith in what you've said.

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And your job is creating light. And our job is to believe that. I mean, it is monergistically light.

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How does Jesus make breakfast after the disciples, when the disciples see him on the beach after the resurrection? How does

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Jesus make breakfast? Breakfast. Breakfast.

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He just says it. How does God make light? Powerfully by God alone's supernatural work.

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And you know what? The exact same thing happens when it comes to salvation. By the way, if you've got an unsaved loved one, you better be praising

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God that this is the case. Because if you leave the unsaved loved one to their own devices to get saved, they'll never get saved.

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Never. You got kids in your family. You want them to be saved. You better be glad for monergistic salvation.

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So let's read it again. For God who said, let light shine out of the darkness. And now he compares the physical

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Genesis 1 monergistic creation to new creation that is salvation, has shown in our hearts, our dark hearts, our black hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

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Why do I believe evolution is faulty? For many reasons.

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But mainly because I believe salvation is all the work of God. And because when

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God says to a person who's an unbeliever, let there be light, guess what? And there's nothing they can do about it.

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Because their nature will have been changed. And then instead of hating God, they'll now love him. If I had to just wait for people,

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I just, I hope all my kids are saved. I hope my neighbors are saved. I hope all these people at church are saved. I hope the unbelieving spouses of the people that attend the church here are saved.

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What's going to happen to them? And you know what? I just hope it's in them one day to someday receive the

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Lord. And they'll see their own sins on their own. I mean, the list could go on and on. What mercy is that?

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How about this? This is the way you pray, by the way. Don't you pray 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6. God, what?

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Save my loved ones. God, make them a Christian. God, you're going to have to do the work.

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Here's a good prayer. If you've got little kids, if you've got spouses, if you've got anybody in your life who needs to be saved.

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God, would you shine the light of the glorious gospel into their hearts and make them a Christian? Let there be light.

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I saw the light, not like on the Damascus road where there was a visible light for Paul. But if you're a

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Christian, you saw it too. Because one day you were enslaved to sin, enslaved to darkness, doing all your own thing.

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And then one day it's like, I'm now a Christian. You responded to the gospel with faith and repentance and adoration.

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Ironside was talking about a new convert who gave his testimony to church service. Oh, he was happy.

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This new convert, smile on his face, join his heart. I've been delivered from a life of sin.

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Giving God all the glory, this young man didn't say anything of his own merits. Or he didn't say he deserved blessings of redemption at all.

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But there was a legalistic guy there and he was in charge. He didn't appreciate salvations by grace alone, through faith alone.

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No human works. It's a gift of God that no one should boast. Said to the young man, you seem to indicate that God did everything when he saved you.

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Didn't you do your part before God did his? The new

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Christian, according to Ironside, jumped to his feet and said, oh yes, I did. For more than 30 years,

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I ran away from God as fast as my sins could carry me. That was my part. But God took me out.

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God ran me down. God saved me. That was his part. That's why it says in Acts, and the

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Lord was adding to their number day by day, those who were being what? Saved.

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You can't save yourself. I'm surprised when people read

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John 1 12, they forget 13. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name.

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Is that a true Bible verse? Yes, you have to believe. But your belief isn't the cause of your salvation.

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It's the consequence. Verse 13. Who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

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If you're a Christian, God made you to be a Christian. If you're going to heaven, God did all the work.

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Trying to think of another verse. It's very often quoted, and it's a beautiful verse. Every verse is a beautiful verse.

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Every verse is a great verse. Sometimes we forget to say it is

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God and God alone who saves. Well, let's see if I can find the verse.

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That's going to be the part of the tough part. At that time,

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Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and reveal them to little children.

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Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my

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Father. And no one knows the Son except the Father. And no one knows the Father.

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Listen up. Except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

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Who knows God? Only those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

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And then Jesus gives the verse that we know. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden.

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God's sovereignty, man's response to the gospel. What about you? You say, well,

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I have a lot of hard trials in my life. Physical issues, financial issues. But you've been saved by grace through faith.

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Grace alone through faith alone. Shouldn't you be praising God for your weakness and praising

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God for his strength? 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.