Jesus THE Expositor (Part 2)

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, a ministry.

The Importance of Preaching and Talking About Jesus

My name is Mike Abendroth. I�m getting the volumes here adjusted. I tend to like my headphone volume loud. I want it to reverberate. I have news for all of you who are laboring behind the scenes in the sound booth, the sound ministry, the AV room, the audio-visual room.

There�s one thing that I want to tell all those workers back there besides, �Thank you for your labor. Here�s the second thing I want to tell them. Louder. Maybe that�s because I�m deaf these days, I have to wear reading glasses, and I often have to say to my kids, �What

But it is not good to have to strain to listen to the preacher. If we�re wanting to hear from God through his word, through a fallible, frail preacher, turn up the volume. All right. We�re talking about Jesus.

And I, when I die, I�m glad I am persuaded and I know in whom I have believed. But I hope that I have several themes that would reverberate regarding the ministry the Lord has given me. One is, he talked about the sovereignty of God a lot.

Talked about the purity of God�s word a lot versus mysticism. But at the top of the list, he talked about Jesus all the time. And so, if you don�t talk about Jesus, what�s the problem? Well, then you�ve got to fill that vacuum with something or someone.

And so, if I don�t talk about Jesus, I talk about me. And I hate that about me, but that�s just true. I love to talk about me. I love to tell stories about me. I love to be the hero of my own stories.

And you know what? Here�s the thing. So don�t you. So do you. That�s a New England thing. When I was here originally, they said, you know, if I�d say, �Well, I like Cheetos. And they�d say, �So don�t I.

So don�t I? And they meant, �I do too. I like Cheetos. So don�t I? And I thought, �Well, you know, we could probably have some kind of Amy Grant song or something. So don�t I? So don�t I? Eric here, Common.

So don�t I? All right. We�re talking about Jesus, the preacher. You can write me at info at NoCompromiseRadio .com. And you can also check out some of the sites we have. We�re trying to be aggressive social media with Twitter, with Facebook, with YouTube.

I don�t know what else there is. I mean, what else do we have? Snapchat. Here�s the Snapchat for No Compromise Radio. You can also watch the NoCoTV. You know, we have No Compromise TV now. And that is via Worldview Weekend.

And the generosity of Brannon House doesn�t cost No Compromise Radio anything. And we�re thankful for that. All the production, everything else. Well, here�s what it cost me. It cost me my time to go there and putting together the shows.

But you can go to www .tv .com forward slash app. You can get the app on your phone. You can watch me on your phone, brother. All right. So we�re talking about Jesus. And he is the one that never compromised.

He is the one that certainly is the one in whom the Father said, �This is my beloved Son in whom I�m well-pleased. I mean, can you imagine? Always well-pleasing to the Father. �I always do the things that are pleasing to Him Jesus said.

And so I like to talk about Jesus. Well, last time we talked about Jesus as a preacher. Jesus the Expositor. And today I�d like to talk about that part, too. Jesus the Expositor. And we are discussing Jesus� account in Luke 4 where he opens up the scrolls.

He�s in the synagogue on the Sabbath and begins to preach. Now last time we looked at Mark chapter 1 and I was trying to show you that Jesus placed a priority on preaching. Yes, he was on his way to the cross.

Yes, there was the perfect life that he was living and the substitutionary death. But Jesus put a priority on preaching. I�m not saying it�s the ultimate priority, but it was a greater priority than healing, greater priority than the miracles, greater priority than that.

And Jesus loves preaching. And of all the preachers that exist, Jesus is the Prince of Preachers. He�s the Prince of Preachers. And I want you to love Jesus for him being a preacher. And I want you to love preaching.

And I want you to love preachers. And you pick your pastry. I got enough love. Isn�t that a new song? I got enough love. So Jesus in Luke chapter 4, the book of the prophet, Luke chapter 4 verse 17, the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.

He opened the book and found the place where it was written. And remember, Luke uses a doctor term. Luke uses a medical term. And isn�t that just like Luke? Luke the physician. And he unrolls the scroll or opens the scroll.

Opening up a patient�s body for surgery is the word used here. And I remember many of my days in the operating room, and they would, if it�s going to be open heart surgery, you�ve got a team down on the leg harvesting the saphenous vein.

I almost forgot what these are called. Where�s my Tabor�s dictionary when I need it? And then you�ve got a team who�s going to work on the heart. And so what you do is you take a scalpel and you open up the chest right through the skin down to the sternum.

And then you have a special saw. And that saw, if memory serves me, when it hits something that�s hard, it cuts. That is the sternum. And when it hits something soft, the stuff underneath the sternum, then it doesn�t cut anymore.

And so they�ve got the saw. I mean, especially in the orthopedic surgery, surgical rooms, it�s just like carpenter stuff, you know, hammers and chisels and there�s blood flying everywhere. I mean, total hips, come on.

You�re totally covered with blood. And so now you�re opening them up. There�s a special device that�s placed in the cut sternum and you just kind of crank it and it just opens right up. It�s kind of like, you know, Superman�s S is being exposed, except it�s going to be your heart.

And so that�s the word here, where you have the heart is being opened up, but no, it�s the scroll here. And Jesus was about to open up more than a scroll. He was about to open up the sluice gates of his messianic ministry.

It�s to spread out to the Old Testament, translated in Greek, the Septuagint. It�s where we get a feast is spread out. Hezekiah takes the letter and read it, took it and exposed it to the Lord. 2 Kings 19, 14.

And now Jesus is about to give the listeners a spiritual feast that they will not soon forget. Now, whether Jesus chose Isaiah 61, 1 and 2 purposely, or if it was the assigned reading for the day, the effect was still apocalyptic.

There�d be no reason for Jesus to deviate from custom, pick a different selection. So, it was likely that the next passage to be read in the synagogue was this passage, Isaiah 61, verses 1 and 2. And you can see the divine orchestration behind all this, as Jesus is going to read a passage about the messianic hope in Isaiah, which is really about himself.

And so, the citation here comes from Isaiah 61, 1 and 2, and maybe a little bit from Isaiah 58 in Luke�s account. And there�s going to be three key ideas in this citation, according to Liefeld. Jesus is the bearer of the Spirit.

Jesus is the eschatological prophet who declares good news. And Jesus is the one who brings release, a messianic function. And so, we have Jesus the prophet, Jesus the savior, Jesus the deliverer, as he quotes Isaiah 61, 1, and most likely he said some other things.

But let�s find out what the text here says in Luke 4, 18 and 19. �The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

And Jesus purposely changes the Septuagint. He hath sent me, he now says, right? He has sent me, and he is the one, the Father who has sent me. Jesus existed in eternity past, and the Father and the Son and the Spirit agree to go rescue the Church, the Bride of Christ, and he says he has sent me.

We�re talking about the pre-existence of Jesus. The incarnation of Jesus did not mean the start for the eternal Son of God, but he has been sent by God. And we see Jesus changes the verb tense to show that he himself is the one whom God has sent.

He has sent me, and what is he saying? He�s saying, I am the Messiah. I�m in your midst. This passage talks about me. I am going to grant liberty to the captives. I will release the prisoners. I will heal.

I will help the oppressed. The Messianic era starts today, and I�m going to be preaching. I will glorify the Father by preaching this good news to the poor, preaching the gospel to the poor. He�s anointed me for this very thing.

One scholar said, the totality of the deliverance that Isaiah described is now put into motion with Jesus coming. He, Jesus, is the servant par excellence. So, we have the anointed Son, and Jesus is going to do what Isaiah 58 talked about, where Israel was rebuked for not doing what Jesus is going to now do.

Isaiah 58, 1, cry aloud, do not hold back, lift up your voice like a trumpet, declare to my people their transgressions, to the house of Jacob their sins. Luke 4, 19, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.

And so, this is what God is going to do and is doing through his Son, Jesus Christ. And his proclaiming, his preaching, God�s servant gives good news to the poor, liberty to the captives, right? This release of debts, sight to the blind, physical and spiritual, liberty for those who are oppressed, and proclaims the year of the Lord�s favor.

When you put all this together, you say to yourself, Jesus is the Messiah, and he�s proclaiming Isaiah 61. It�s amazing to me that Jesus is this preacher, and he then, in chapter 4, verse 20, he closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon him.

The passage has been read, but the exposition of it remains. And so, the drama is intensifying, because we still have to have the exposition of the passage. And so, it�s rolled up, and now what would Jesus say?

How would he say it? And everyone, I�m sure, is at the edge of their proverbial seat. So, you can see the drama. He gets done reading it. He�s changed it to signify that he is the Messiah. He rolls up the scroll, gives it back to the attendant, and he sits down.

He sits down. They�re all looking to this Jewish rabbi, and according to most scholars, after the reading, there would be a discourse. And so, they�re waiting for the exposition. They�re waiting for his message, and their eyes are fixed on him.

Literally, they�re staring right at him. Verse 21 of Luke 4, �And he began to say to them, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. The bombs dropped. �Today your Messiah, predicted by the prophet Isaiah, has come, and I am your king.

Do you think he had their attention? The time of fulfillment of Isaiah 61 is right now. Look at the text in Luke 4 .21. �He began to say to them. The only thing that Luke gives us is the very beginning here, this brief declaration.

�He began to speak. So, we get the first sentence of his message. That�s it. You get the first sentence of his sermon. �Today the scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. He began to talk that.

We just get one sentence of the message. Barnes, �It is probably that he has said much more than is recorded here, but Luke has preserved only the substance of the discourse. This was the amount or sum of his sermon or explanation of the passage that it was now receiving accomplishment.

So, whether this is the summary or the start, a starting summary, Jesus drops the bomb. And whereas Mark 1 .14 and 15 puts Jesus� messages in terms of the kingdoms near, Luke now, as the scholars would teach us, stresses that the time is in the nearness of the person.

�And all, Luke 4 .22, were speaking well of him and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from his lips. And they were saying, is this not Joseph�s son? They�re speaking well of him, and then they were saying, is this not Joseph�s son?

So, at the beginning, they�ve got, you know, marveling at his words, kind of a positive response most likely to the way he said it, but not what he says. I like how he talks, but I don�t like what he has said.

What Expository Preaching Means

Now, here�s the question. Was this an exposition? Did he utilize expository preaching? Was Jesus an expositor? And so, I think the answer is obviously yes, because Jesus exposed the Jews to the proper meaning of the biblical text, and he surely did it so that they would believe him.

So, here�s the thing. We like to think of expository preaching as verse by verse, sequentially going through a passage and continuing week by week until the book�s done. 60 weeks in the book of Ephesians, or 70 weeks in the book of Daniel.

So, we don�t see that here, but we see Jesus giving the authorial intent. This is what God meant when he said this, and to me, that�s the heart of expository preaching. That is really the issue. Ephemire.

We cannot found an argument upon this single act, but it is at least significant that the Lord gave a sanction to the systematic reading and consideration of the inspired word in his earliest sermon. Our Lord was also careful to consider the text in relation to the context and the whole tenor and teaching of scripture.

The habit of taking a little snippet of a verse from any part of the Bible and making it the subject of discourse exposes the preacher to the danger of an unbalanced statement of truth, which is very prejudicial.

Nothing is more perilous, F .B. Meyer said, than the partial knowledge of God�s truth, which is based on sentences torn from their rock bed and viewed in isolation from their setting. In other words, it�s dangerous to just quote Bible verses out of context.

There�s a reason why these verses are found in chapters, which are found in book, which are found in the book. This is an exposition of Isaiah 61 verses 1 and 2. How would I define expository preaching?

A style or method of preaching God�s word, which seeks to logically expose the biblical text to the mind and will of the congregation. The man of God is to passionately open up, uncover, and lay bare the rich truths contained in holy writ, and then he must urge the people of God to both understand and obey the truth they have just learned, doing all this to the glory of Jesus Christ.

Expository preaching is essentially preaching the biblical text to people with accuracy and interpretational fidelity to the original meaning so that the hearers will be understanding of who God is and what He requires.

Expository preaching is a sermon from a man who above all else wants to glorify his Lord by studying a passage to find out what it means to God and then persuasively proclaiming the truth in context to a group of his sheep with earnestness and a desire to see God exalted.

Did Jesus preach that way? To a large degree, based on the above definitions, Jesus was an expository preacher. He�s not preaching through a book of the Old Testament sequentially verse by verse but he did expose people to the God-intended meaning of the text and implore them to obey.

To remember Luke 24, verse 25 -27,. And he said to them, O foolish man, it is low of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?

And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures. And so, Moses and the prophets, these two parts of the Hebrew Bible, he exposits them and the word to explain, he explained to them, Thayer says, means to unfold the meaning of what is said, explain, expound.

That�s what it means, to explain, to expound, to unfold the meaning. And this is what the text says and means. Green asks this question, Which text does Jesus exegete for his companions in Luke 24? We are not told of the specifics, but the implication Luke leaves us is that it does not matter.

The pattern exemplified by Moses and the prophet is consummated in a Messiah who suffers. Likewise, all the scriptures have their fulfillment in a Messiah who suffers. So, the focus is more on the exposition and not on the exact text or substance of what Jesus exactly said.

Jesus wants them to fully absorb and comprehend the significance of the Bible, so he gives them an explication. He wants them to know and recognize what the Bible really said, and he exposes the hearers to the real meaning of the Old Testament.

There�s little doubt in my mind that Jesus practiced an expository explanation of the Old Testament, and if it was not exposition, then our current definitions of expository preaching need to be redefined to include the methods of Jesus himself.

Questions About Preaching, Church Priorities, and Listening Well

Of course, I think it�s good to be a verse-by-verse teacher, but I�m more concerned about authorial intent and meaning. So far, we�ve seen Jesus places a priority on preaching. Number two, Jesus exposits the Bible.

Number three, let me give you some questions in light of what we�ve learned so we can think through expository preaching. Number one, is there any book of the Bible that you would not want preached this Sunday?

Whatever book of the Bible your pastor is preaching through, aren�t you happy? And it could be from Song of Solomon to anything else, because all scriptures God breathed in are profitable for what? Teaching.

Spurgeon said, �No truth is to be kept back. It is not true that some doctrines are only for the initiated. There is nothing in the Bible which is ashamed of the light. Cautious reticence is, in nine cases out of ten, cowardly betrayal.

The best policy is never to be politic, but to proclaim every atom of the truth so far as God has taught it to you. All revealed truth is harmonious proportion must be your theme. Question two, do you encourage your pastor as he preaches through the books of the Bible sequentially?

Can you imagine? If you have a pastor who�s preaching through the Bible sequentially, I hope you pray for him, but I hope you encourage him. Acts 20, verses 26 and 27, Paul told the Ephesians, �Discharge his duty.

Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. The International Council of Biblical Inerrancy, we affirm that the only type of preaching which sufficiently conveys the divine revelation and its proper application to life is what faithfully expounds the text of Scripture as the Word of God.

And so, be happy that you have a pastor who preaches verse by verse. Number three, whatever is done in a worship service, don�t let it cut into the sermon time. Well, after we have all these other things, now we don�t have enough time for a sermon.

Happens a lot when there�s a missionary update and the missionary says, can I have some time? You tell them you�ve got five minutes and they go for 15. And so, what�s cut? It�s the sermon. So, I�ve got a better idea for you.

Have the missionary update after the sermon. So, get the sermon in. If something has to be cut, it can�t be the sermon. Not because I�m a pastor, but because of the Word of God. Number four, when looking for a new church or you�re on vacation, call the church and ask them this question.

Here�s the diagnostic question. Ready? What book of the Bible is your pastor preaching through right now? Verse by verse. Oh, Jonah. Okay, deal. That tells me about his view of the Bible, view of sufficiency, view of preaching.

If they say, well, you know what? He�s usually going through Ephesians, but he�s doing a little detour. He�s doing a topical thing. And then he�ll be right back in Ephesians. Oh, great. No problem. That tells me a lot about a church.

Verse by verse. When I check out a church online, the first thing I go to is not to the leadership, where they go to school, where�s the pastor from, where did he get his education. I go straight to the sermons and I want to see something like this.

Philippians 1, 1 -5, Philippians 1, 6 -12, Philippians 1, 13 -14, that type of thing. Sequential exposition. Number five, have you read Be Careful How You Listen? How to Get Most Out of a Sermon by J. Adams or Ken Ramey�s Expository Listening.

Those are two good books that will help you understand my role on how to listen to a sermon. And that, in fact, is worship. Well, my name is Mike Abendroth. This is NoCompromiseRadio .com. Jesus was an expositor.

And Jesus was the Prince of Preachers. And however Jesus did it, that�s the way we want to do it in the sense of showing authorial intent. You can write me at info at NoCompromiseRadio. You can also go to the YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, et al.

Is that how to say it? Et cetera? But no, here it is, et al. Info at NoCompromiseRadio .com or Mike at NoCompromiseRadio .com.