Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God

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.

Podcasts, Man Camp, and the Show’s Opening Banter

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, ministry. If you could only listen to Pastor Steve and what he says before the recording button is hit, you would laugh.

It�s hysterical. I think he�s one of the funniest guys on the air.

Okay, Steve, like other cool podcasts, tell me what you�re listening to these days. Poddies. I guess that�s what they call podcasts in Australia? I don�t know, but I hate the name.

And if you�re listening, you Australian people, I hate the name.

You know, we actually have some Australian listeners. Yes, I know we do. My problem is they don�t contribute enough for me to really recognize them. We have, you know, D-level givers and A-level givers, and so they rise to the top, if you know what I mean.

So you�re going to call out the bearded Bereans then?

No, actually, you know, that the show could make its way down to Australia and people would listen there. I�m thankful for that.

Okay. Yeah. Yeah, you know, I�m still, I think, we�re in my lesson eight or something like that with Ligon Duncan, so I�m listening to his Covenantal Theology series.

Oh, I think that�s a pretty good series. Yeah. I don�t buy everything he says, but he�s pretty smart. I think in that series, he says at the very end he�s going to have to bring the other view in, Dan Phillips, but then it never happened.

He said it at the beginning, and I was like, oh, that�d be interesting, but he was kind of like hedging, you know, saying, well, it might not happen kind of thing. But I thought it was interesting right from the beginning when he did say that it is Covenantal Theology is necessarily a hermeneutic.

And I thought, okay, so your theology drives your hermeneutic. Interesting.

It�s an interesting way to go. Don�t we say in No Compromise Radio, �interesting Interesting. Yeah. I think my dad used to say that, �interesting. He also said �different� with only two syllables, �different.

Steve, any sign up for Man Camp or anything like that? This authentic brochure is still in front of me. It says, �Sign up for Man Camp and it�s called Camp Hammer. And I thought there was a mistake here.

I thought it was Camp MC Hammer. Here come the hammer. Now, I ask you who you�re listening to. I listen to a lot of podcasts, lots of them at 1 .5 speed, especially if I�m on the bicycle or working out at the gym.

But for music, Luke turned me on, my son Luke turned me on to Balkan Beatbox, and it�s this weird hybrid. I don�t even know how to describe it, of Indian, Asian rhythms and just it�s pretty funky. But I don�t know any lyrics.

Therefore, it can be on in the background and I don�t sing along with it. If it�s a pump it up or something, then I�m engaged with Elvis. But here I don�t really know what they�re saying. It�s just good background music.

It already sounds appalling.

Balkan Beatbox. That�s my little Pandora channel. I have this picture in my head of some beatnik-looking Bulgarians trying to do hip-hop and I�m.

Like. Honestly, I don�t know much about it and I haven�t read this is the genre or type or anything. But in my mind, if I had to describe to someone else, if you could take modest Yahoo and have him grow up in India and add in some Buddhist chants.

No, I�m just kidding.

I don�t know how to describe it. Yeah. Well, I�m going to rush right out and get the CV.

Well, all the cool kids are talking about what they listen to in the podcast and that�s why we have to as well. Steve, in front of me for today, I have a paper that I had to hand in to my seminary professor, May 2nd, 1991.

The paper is so cheap. It�s yellow. It�s yellow typewriter paper and I actually had to make some corrections.

You typed it with white-out. That�s amazing or white tape-out.

Uh-huh. Here�s some white-out there and there�s some white tape-out there. And the question is, which is our question for today and I don�t think I phrased the question very well, so we need to add a little SIC in here.

Okay. How can God be sovereign and man be responsible for evangelizing? I should have said, �Since God is sovereign, is man responsible to evangelize Yeah. That was 1991.

Wow. It�s like you were right on the cutting edge, like no one had ever raised that question before.

I think it was assigned to me and you will like no-compromise style. Well, my short answer is to say because Jesus told us to, pretty bad writer back in those days in Matthew 28, 19, but that does not fill up the two to four pages of required work.

So let us proceed.

Is that what you said? Man, I�ve given that a D-plus already, you know. You�re starting low and you�re going to have to really rock my world to get a better grade than that.

This is awful. I said the new King James uses that we may do and the NIV says that we may follow in the same verse for its ending in Deuteronomy 29, 29 because we always talk about secret things belong to the Lord, but it says at the end, �But the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever that we may observe all the works or words of this law.

In other words, �Hey, Israel, there�s lots of things you don�t get, but the stuff that you can easily get, why don�t you focus on that Wouldn�t that solve a lot of problems in evangelicalism? The amount of mental angst when we are trying to unscrew the inscrutable?

Well, the amount of mysticism, you know, kind of God told me or I feel led or whatever, you know, as opposed to just saying the Lord commands it, therefore I will do it.

How about men in the army? I guess women now in the army and Zs and Shs and Hms and Hers in the army? I don�t even use Zs. I refuse. You are welcome to do that. I will not do it. They can put me in jail.

I am not going to do that. Paul. You know, sooner or later, there�s going to be a translation of the Bible that�s going to use Zs.

Pete. And there will be, well, that�ll be great. You know what I think they should call it? In fact, what I would call it, the kindling edition. Paul. Oh, kindling edition?

And you can get that on Kindle. And I don�t know what people are thinking, but I guess people can make a buck on a Bible. At least the Zs won�t be in the ESV because there�s now the permanent edition of the ESV.

Pete. It�s locked. It�s written in stone. It�s forever done. So honestly, before we get back to Matthew 28 and evangelism and sovereignty, do you think it was wise for the ESV folks, Good News Crossway folks to say, �All right, we�ve made these other 22 changes, however many there are, and now this is locked.

We will not change anymore. This is the permanent edition. Is there some sneakage going on in there?

Pete. Well, you know, it�s hard for me to say either way, and I�m not really hedging my bets. Here�s what I�m saying. I think it�s difficult if a Bible translation is changing verses like every six months or year, right?

Because then you get a printed copy, and then they change it, and you�re like, �Well,.

Wait a second. Mark And just to interrupt you for a second, when we�re using the ESV, and it first comes out, and then there�s a kind of an update and update. I�ve had people say to me while I�m preaching, because I still preach from the ESV.

Pete It�s different. Mark Yeah. Oh, my translation says such and such, and I�ve got the ESV. Or they�ll say, �Well, what version were you using, ESV Pete Yeah.

So, I think that�s less than optimal. But what I will say is when you say we will never change it again, well, then you�re basically ruling out, you know, to paraphrase what Dr. Barak said, any advances in our understanding of the languages or any kind of better understanding of which in difficult passages, which texts are actually more supported or, you know, closer to the original.

So, I mean, overall, it�s probably not going to change much. But to just say we�ll never change it, that�s kind of, you know, that harkens to some kind of ESV-only view, you know, so.

Mark When I think of King James-only people, and I think of fundamentalism and maybe some quietism, pietism, I think of rules and legalism and brill cream. I think of brill cream a lot. Pete I never think of brill cream.

That�s weird. Sorry. Mark I mean, I have a picture, you know, a stereotypical picture of the kind of extreme King James-only guy, you know, Pensacola. Pete White shirt, tie. Mark Yeah. And I don�t know, maybe the wife�s in a jeans skirt or something.

Pete Tie bar. Right? He�s got to have a tie bar. Mark But now there�s the livery, the dress, the uniform of the ESV-only, and they have special facial hair and hipster jeans and hemp Bible covers, stuff like that.

Pete And hemp gel in their hair. Mark Would you ever, is there under any circumstance that you would sprinkle water on a baby?

Pete. You know, sure, to wash his hair.

Mark. Would you ever sprinkle water on a new believer in a hospital who can�t get dumped?

Pete If you�re talking about for baptismal purposes is what you mean, and the answer is no.

Mark. How about somebody�s in the hospital, they make a profession of faith, they can�t get unplugged, and you need to sprinkle some water on their head, baptizing them.

Pete I don�t think I could do it, no. Mark Huh.

See, I would do it. Pete Would you? Mark Yeah, I would actually probably sprinkle three times in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit just to make it work. Pete No, I�m not. Somebody recently asked, �I�m going to go to the hospital, there�s a new believer, and Mike, would you ever baptize them with some sprinkling, even though I, the person asking, am a cradle Baptist, you know, full-on Baptist and would prefer to dunk them, but they can�t get out of the hospital into the baptismal tank.

Anyway, I said, �Just make sure it�s a triple, triple-double.

I would just refer to the thief on the cross, and I�d say, �You know what? He didn�t get baptized, he�s in heaven. So I would just say, �It�s not the baptism that�s going to get you into heaven, and if the Lord was desiring your physical baptism, then he�s going to get you out of this hospital.

Mark Okay, so we were talking about that, kind of a �what if but I forgot what the first �what if� was before I went to this rabbit trail.

Pete. What if a rabbit was, no, I don�t remember.

Mark. Okay. By the way, I like Pete�s Coffee a lot, and I have my new Yeti, Y-E-T-I. What do you call these, Steve?

Pete That�s a Mark Decanter? Pete No, it�s an insulated mug.

Mark Yeah, and boy, if you pour the coffee into it while the coffee�s hot, you can�t drink it for a long time.

Pete Yeah, because the coffee in there is, what, like two days old. So, I mean, it�s really hot.

Mark. Well, I like a little Splenda in my coffee and a little cream and a little fuzz, a little green fuzz. It�s good. It�s kind of like penicillin acting. Back to topic here, sovereignty and evangelism.

Steve, does it help if we consider there�s God�s perspective and there�s man�s perspective? And in my mind, I just kind of have those categories. And of course, God intersects the human perspective, and we think of that incarnationally.

But this is God�s sovereign plan. This is what he does. And now, let me move over to what I�m responsible to do. I�m not responsible to have these things intersect so that I can completely understand how these things go together.

The Sovereignty of God and Human Responsibility in Evangelism

Steve. Yeah, I mean, there are things beyond our grasp, right? I mean, we say we understand the sovereignty of God, but I don�t think we really do. You know, I mean, we want to understand it. We want to trust it.

We want to believe it. But, you know, if we totally trusted it, we would never doubt. We would never worry. We would never fear. We would never do a lot of things that we do, right? But on the other hand, it�s from our perspective or, well, from God�s perspective, it�s just his plan, right?

I mean, this is just the way things are, and I don�t think he ever struggles with the sovereignty of God. I think that�s pretty simple for him. So, you know, how do they intersect? I don�t know, you know.

Paul Instead of asking the question, how can God be sovereign and man still responsible, don�t you think it�s better to start off, and I think I even had enough brains in 1991 to realize this, not in and of myself.

I�ve just taught that. Steve Way back then. Paul Yeah, it�s since God is sovereign, not, you know, how can God be? Because I don�t even want to go there. It�s clear in Scripture, God is sovereign. You can read Psalm 103.

You can read Isaiah 46, Isaiah 45. Since God�s sovereign, then here�s what he requires me to do.

Steve. Isn�t it amazing? Because we were talking about Romans 8 earlier today. Isn�t it amazing that people.

Paul. That was last Tuesday. It seemed like just a few minutes ago.

Steve. No, it was a few minutes ago. Isn�t it amazing that, I�ve never had a believer come up to me and say, you know what? I�ve read through Romans 8. I�ve listened to you talk about Romans 8. I just really struggled to believe that God loves me, okay?

They don�t struggle to think that, I mean, it�s a great blessing when you really understand that. You just think, no matter what I�ve done, no matter what happens to me, no matter what, no matter what, no matter what, God has set his affection upon me.

People don�t struggle with that. In fact, they rejoice in that. They, you know, they recline in it. They, you know, luxuriate in it. But when we talk about the sovereignty of God to save, the sovereignty of God to elect, to choose, you know, these kind of things, now there�s a problem.

There�s a real issue. I�ve never heard an Arminian say, I hate the sovereign love of God. I hate that when he sets his affections upon me, he won�t change his mind. Why can�t he be more like me?

What if Romans 8, because you just brought that up, read something like this? We�re more than conquerors through him who loved us. I�m sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us, will be able to separate or affect my love for God in Christ Jesus.

Pete And sometimes I think, you know, that reflects some of our songs, right? Some of the popular songs that go around, you know.

Paul. Isn�t that amazing? Yeah. I mean, nothing can separate us from God�s love for us. And even quotes from Psalm, I think, 44 earlier about for your sake we�re being killed all day long as it is written in verse 36.

There�s lots of things that seem to separate my love for God, right? My moods, my emotions, you know, my hormones, my lack of sleep, my sin. Pete. Me stubbing my toe, you know. Paul. I mean, left to us, we would definitely separate ourselves.

We got an email the other day from a lady and she said, listening to the show, and then I went to another church and the pastor said, you could lose your salvation. And, you know, it upset me. And if you could lose your salvation, you would.

Pete I�m totally, that�s the, I mean, the person who�s made that popular these days is MacArthur, and I think he�s totally, I mean, I�m sure somebody said it before him and many will say it after him, but that�s absolutely right.

If it was left to us, you know, if our salvation were in our hands, we�d be smoked. But that�s not what Jesus said. He said, no one can take you out of my hand, no one can take you out of the Father�s hand.

Pete.

It�s almost as if Paul hears the echoes of John 10 and then he writes Romans 8. Back to the topic here, sovereignty and responsibility. I have some issues with some of J .I. Packer�s theology. He�s written lots of excellent things, but the top of the list for books that I think, well, I think at the top of the list for me, his intro to the republished Banner of Truth edition of The Death of Death and the Death of Christ by John Owen, his intro, if you read one thing about that subject, you as the listener ought to read the intro, preface, whatever it�s called, to The Death of Death and the Death of Christ by John Owen.

Packer wrote that. But Packer�s second best writing is Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. It�s so good. And I think it gives you encouragement to evangelize when you know God�s sovereign. How can that be?

How can it not be in Packer�s book, but how can that truth be true, Steve, where this is a motivation and an encouragement to evangelize instead of what people might think is the opposite?

Steven Pauls. Because there�s so much pressure on you to produce results if you don�t believe in the sovereignty of God. You know, you are, in effect, a salesman and people�s fate, their eternal souls are in your hands.

You know, you have to convince them to believe. You have to sell the gospel to them in essence. You have to talk them into the kingdom. And if you fail, they�re on their way to hell. You are letting them go to hell.

How can you let that, you know, how can you let that happen?

Paul Matzko. Isn�t it nice when you say to yourself, �God�s sovereign in salvation. He�s the one that regenerates. He�s the one that completely saves. He�s the sovereign Savior. And then you can do what Packer says, �Wherever and by whatever means the gospel is communicated with a view to conversion, there you have evangelism.

It�s not evangelism. When you close the deal, they come to church, they take a starter class, a returner class, a lenter class.

Trevor Burrus. A kick returner class, whatever it is.

Paul Matzko. That�s right. Your only responsibility is to preach the gospel. God has unregenerate elect people out there. Just think about that for a second. There are unregenerate elect people, and that�s even the language of Acts 18, I think, or 19 maybe, where there�s lots of people out there.

Or Acts 13, 48, as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. Trevor Burrus.

And here�s what happens. People hear that and they go, well, you know, now you can just give the dry facts and just be boring and everything else. And I�m like, I�m with Spurgeon who, this is a paraphrase, but basically he said, �If men will go to hell, let them leap over our bodies.

You know, we want to construct, humanly speaking, every obstacle for them to or tear down every obstacle to their belief. We want to urge them and beg them and plead with them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

But after we do that, after we present the truth to them and we beg them and we urge them and we plead with them, well, then the results are up to the Holy Spirit and they�re not up to us. Paul Matzko.

Acts 18, and the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, �Do not be afraid, but go on speaking, and do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.

And you�ll read the good theologians. It�s not necessarily, you�ve got a lot of bodyguards in this city. You just keep preaching because there�s a lot of unregenerate elect people and they�re called my people and you just preach the gospel to them and I have ordained gospel preaching as the means to salvation, so preach away.

I have many people in this city.

Lots of bodyguards. Yeah, and that didn�t mean lots of people who already believe. That meant lots of people whom I�ve chosen before the foundation of the world and I will, when they hear your gospel proclamation, they will believe.

Why God’s Sovereignty Motivates Bold Evangelism

Steve, let�s approach it this way in the final few minutes of the show. If God wasn�t sovereign, could there be, to use Packer�s idea, a more fruitless endeavor in all the world? If there�s no sovereign grace, no sovereignty of God, can you imagine?

We would never see any fruit in our evangelism because nobody would get saved.

Because you�re preaching to dead people, people who don�t want to be saved, right? I mean, they�re not out there waiting going, you know, I really, I would like to believe that there�s a God. Can somebody show me that, you know, they�re not neutral.

They�re opposed to the rule, his reign. They hate his son. And then you proclaim the cross to them and they believe. Well, how does that happen? It�s because the Holy Spirit regenerates, the Holy Spirit convicts, gives them new affections, and they are drawn by the Father and they willingly then flee to the cross because they have a new will.

Would you consider yourself to be a good person? And what does the unregenerate depraved person say?

Yes. And why is that? Because they�re better than, they watch TV. They know who the really bad people are, you know? They�re the ones burning down buildings and kidnapping kids and, you know, just doing all manner of horrible things.

They know they�re not bad. So,.

Yes, they�re good people. Pete. I mean, if you ask about anybody and they have to give an honest answer, oh, do you think you�re attractive? Do you think you�re cool? Do you think you�re up on blah, blah, blah topic or whatever?

Most people are going to say, well, yeah, because if, you know, cool is such a virtue these days, if I didn�t think I was cool, I�d do something about it.

Pete. So, you almost have to say, off the record, you know, are you a liar? You know, just between me and you. You know, do you ever look at a girl.

And, you know? Jared I think Todd Friel is going to change his evangelism approach. Off the record, do you think you�re a good person? With a camera.

And a microphone right there. Pete. Just between me and you and my hundreds of thousands of viewers.

Jared That�s one of my favorite things to do with the kids is over the years, we�ll just pull up a YouTube, you know, five-minute deal and you�ve got Friel or Ray Comfort or somebody. Are you a good person talking to someone on Venice Beach?

And you think, these people, their worldview is so convoluted. Only five questions from an itinerant evangelist can wrap their worldview into a pretzel, and they don�t even know it.

Pete I thought you were going to say, one of my favorite things to do with my kids is just kind of pull them aside and go, hey, off the record.

Jared. Now, that would have been good. Off the record.

Pete. You know, just between you and me. You know, dad�s, I�ve taken off my dadly robes, you know?

If I wasn�t your dad. Now, May 2, 1991, I turned in this paper for evangelism class, and I didn�t get a grade.

Pete I don�t doubt it the way it opened up.

Jared Well, later I said, I feel the paper�s question is almost misleading.

Pete I love it. You know, he�s like, hey, let me tell you guys how you should be teaching this class, you know?

Jared. And then 25 years later, I am teaching the class. Pete. Oh, shots fired. Jared. Mike Ebendroth, Steve Cooley. Don�t forget Reformation 2017, Germany, Switzerland. Mike Gendron and I will be taking a group over to Wittenberg, Wartburg Castle.

You ever been to Wartburg Castle?

Pete No, I never have, but I�m sure you�ll be taking people over there and going, hey, off the record.

Jared Quoting Luther, you know, some Luther scud someplace. I�m going to reread another Luther biography because it�s so good, just prepping me to get there. Pete Excellent. Jared Mike Ebendroth, Steve Cooley, NOCO Radio.

We�re right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400. The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.