Salvation is Necessary

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. No Compromise Radio ministry.

Conference Reflections and Bible Software at the Ligonier Conference

Steve. Cooley. Cooley? Is that how you say it? What did I just say? Uh, I prefer Coo-ah-lee. Coo-ah-lee.

Multisyllabic last name. Please tell me about the Ligonier Conference. You just got back from Seattle, Washington.

Yeah, it was short, sweet, you know, I mean, it was just a Friday and Saturday deal. It was kind of funny because we also took in, they have some extra things on the menu that you can just sit in and watch, and so there was a little Lagos demonstration, and I'm going, the guy did more in 10 minutes than I ever do with Lagos.

I was pretty embarrassed by that because mostly all I do is I just kind of get all the commentaries and, you know, some other things I want, and then I'm done with it.

I think that's all I do. I just go Hebrews, O 'Brien, cut, paste. Yeah.

And I use that, you know, I'll pull out, I don't know, five, six different commentaries, the ones that I read all the time and, you know, but I did feel a little guilty. I'm going, wow, you can do all that?

But you know, some of it, I mean, I'm kind of rambling, but some of it, I just thought word searches, stuff like that, I mean, word studies, you know, there are all kinds of fallacies involved with that.

But overall, conference was good, you know, really nice church. I should show you some pictures. I have to show you pictures. Peter. We're going to show them to the listeners. Pete. Well, we won't, but I mean, the church is always, I'm always amazed by the churches.

Now, you have to understand, this is in Redmond, right? And you know, the heart of Microsoft. So I'm just like, I'm going probably if you get like one person who's moderately involved in Microsoft, you know, or is that you can fund a lot at your church, but they had a massive, massive campus and they had, what do they call it, Kid's Town, which was decorated to the nines and it looked, you know, and I'm just like, okay, I see everything involved here except for, I don't know, the gospel, the Bible, you know.

Jared There's a deer that just ran across the parking lot. Pete Oh, yeah, I see it.

Jared See that? Pete Yeah, let me wave at him. Jared That was weird. Pete I remember when we first moved out here, we were renting a house in Sterling and I called my brother, you know, my brother Joe, and I said, hey, Joe, guess what I'm looking at right now?

And he goes, I don't know what, and I said, three deer on my property, you know.

Jared Eating that rhubarb, remember that rhubarb that was in the house? Jared That was super good. Jared Well, usually there are, he doesn't know where to go. Usually there are... Pete Should we help him out?

Jared ...turkey out there, but this time there's a deer. Our listeners write in sometimes that we're just talking about Bible things and then we'll mention animals in the parking lot, so we have ADHD or something.

I mentioned deer deaths, if it did. Pete Hey, how often?

How often does a deer run through your parking lot, right? Jared. Here it goes, up and over. Pete. Not very often is the answer. Yeah, running out on the road, that's not a good plan. Jared. Wow. That thing can leap.

As a deer panteth for the water, so my soul. Is it a heart or a deer in the original King James Version?

Pete I don't know, but what does the message say about that?

Jared You know what? We're going to find out, because this is the message that I have with Bono's version of Psalm 42, because he and Eugene Peterson are kind of friends. Pete Stop it. Jared Did you watch the interview?

Pete No. Jared Well, you should type it in, Bono and Eugene Peterson.

Pete I'm so disappointed in Bono.

Jared. Psalm 42, according to the message, a white-tailed deer drinks from the creek. I want to drink God. It doesn't say I want to drink, I'm a God. It says I want to drink God, deep draughts of God.

So give me a 42-ouncer on tap, God. I want to drink God.

I'm thirsty for God alive. Pete. For the record, they're 40-ouncers, not 42-ouncers.

Well, what about the number five. Alive drink? Pete No.

I did have a Henry Winehearts while I was in Seattle, though. Jared Root beer. Pete Yeah.

I wonder, will I ever make it, arrive, and drink in God's presence? I'm on a diet of tears. Tears for breakfast, tears for supper. All day long, people knock at my door, pestering, where is this God of yours?

Now, I want to know what it means to drink God. I've been to four theological seminaries and teach at three. I don't know what that means to drink God.

Jared. I don't know, but it makes me think of that old folk song, hang down your head. Hang down your head, Steve Cooley. I mean, hang down your head and cry. I'm not responsible for that translation, but I'm glad I'm not.

Conferences, Family Vacations, and Topical Versus Expositional Teaching

Steve, just generally regarding conferences, what would you say to those people who are listening and every year for family vacations, they go to Disneyland or Disney World or something like that. Are there some suggestions, some wisdom to maybe make it a family thing?

Family vacation at, I don't know, Camp of the Woods, the Ligonier. I don't know, what do you do? I guess there's no kid things up in Ligonier conferences.

Well, except, you know, if you go to the National one in Orlando, you come for the sermons, you'll stay for the pie. I mean, you can go to Disney World, you can do Sea World, you can do Universal Studios.

You know, you don't have to only do one or the other. I think it's good to kind of emphasize some sort of spiritual lesson with your kids rather than vacation.

It's just where we have fun. Steve, what if I went to the National Ligonier Conference in Orlando and would go to Bible teaching one day and then I could go to Universal Studios Harry Potter segment the next day?

That work out okay?

Well, I mean, I'm not a big Harry Potter fan, but then again, I'm not totally legalistic about it either. But I would just say you will probably get more out of the Ligonier, you know, more impact for your spiritual life, more eternal impact than you will at Harry Potter.

I will say though that, you know, a lot of the Ligonier messages tend to be, you know, topical and theological in nature rather than expositional, meaning you don't leave there going, okay, what was the text and what was the point of the text?

That's not typically, you know, I mean, they'll use scripture and stuff, but they don't really, they don't preach expositionally. They don't really expose the text. They don't get to the meaning of the text and just preach the text.

Do you think that's okay to do at a conference versus Sunday morning? Yeah, I do.

I mean, I do. And I think topical things are fine for that. I just, I would prefer something more, again, tied to a text because I'm just like that. You know, I want to know that what the speaker is saying is actually based on the Bible.

Jesus Brings Division, Not a Feel-Good Message

Steve, when Jesus said in Luke 12, I came to cast fire on the earth and would that it were already kindled, I have a baptism to be baptized with and how great is my distress until it is accomplished. Do you think that I came, have come to give peace on earth?

No, I tell you, but rather division. Why don't we ever hear about that kind of passage? I've always liked peace on earth, Bing Crosby and David Bowie singing. I think there's, of course, Jesus comes and he brings peace with God.

And of course he is God, but he brings peace with the Father because of his atoning work. What's it mean when he's bringing the sword?

Well, he divides. And it's something that is not very popular these days because we like to just set up Jesus as the ultimate hangout guy, right? He just sort of hangs out with people and makes people feel better about themselves.

And that is not the Jesus of scripture. The Jesus of scripture confronts sin. Does he hang out with sinners? I mean, there's a country song, you know, that basically says that Jesus hangs out with sinners and that's why he would like me because I'm a sinner.

And I'm like, oh, no. I think what he did was call people to repentance. And, you know, he certainly just by his own presence made people uncomfortable, right? I mean, because here's the sinless lamb of God and not somebody that you like to just sit around and go, so, Jesus, what's new with you?

And he goes, well, I'm just doing the Father's work. What about you?

When he hung out with sinners, he called them to repentance is what he did. Steve, the text goes on to say in Luke chapter 12, No, I tell you, but rather division for from now on in one house, there will be five divided, three against two and two against three.

They will be divided father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.

In other words, the gospel comes to a family and it might divide the family because now you have people that love Jesus and other people that hate Jesus.

Wait, hate Jesus? Who could hate Jesus?

Well, I'm trying to think of something funny. When I just said, well, I could have said it like Ronald Reagan or something.

Well, and actually, I'll answer my own question. Who could hate Jesus? Every unbeliever.

Self-Examination, Self-Loathing, and the Poison of Self-Love

What about the person who's got high self-esteem? Does he have any need for Jesus? I was thinking about this the other day, Steve. You've got Puritans focused on sanctification through self-loathing, essentially, and they would even call it that.

And now you've got self-talk about today, but not so much self-loathing. Are there any people on earth that are loathing themselves?

Well, maybe some Reformed Baptists. I mean, you're talking to the wrong guy, right? Because I'm always beating myself up. I mean, the truth is, I mean, if you, I think if you don't have a certain amount of self-loathing, then you're not at all introspective and you're, I would say that you may run afoul of 2 Corinthians 13 .5.

You know, examine yourselves and see if you're in the faith. I mean, there's a principle there. I think it's good, especially when we sin, you know, it's easy to say, well, that sin's covered because it is.

But I think it's also right to just say, how could I do that? How could I possibly sit against God like that? I know better. You know, so how could I even, how could I think that? How could I say that?

How could I do that? I think those are good things to contemplate and then just say, okay, you know, apart from, well, what can I do that I won't commit that sin again? How can I push that sin off? What can I put into my life and get rid of it?

So, you know, I think a certain amount of self-loathing is very helpful and that's why churches today that just want to teach you how to love yourself, how to be more in love with yourself, who want to, you know, teach the Whitney song, Whitney Houston song, you know, the greatest love of all, those things are really spiritually poisoned.

They're killing you.

Why did love me do just come into my mind?

I don't know, but that has to do with, you know, another person loving you. Steve, I regularly say, even out loud,.

That was stupid. You're an idiot. And the thing is, I'm talking about myself. That was dumb. Don't do that stupid thing again, Mike. That was idiotic to think that way. That was sinful. Steve, today, mainly I want to talk about this because you have many years in the criminal justice system.

Is that fair to say?

Is that part of the system? I was recently released on parole. Okay.

Repentance Before God's Judgment Seat

So, when I watch Law Order back in the old days, there's law part, you would be part of the law enforcement and then there's the order. I guess that's the lawyer kind of... Judicial part of the show.

Or if you watch Blue Bloods, I guess if you have one family, you have some of both. Some of the lawyers and some of the cops. All right, here's what Jesus says in Luke chapter 12. And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?

As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way lest he drag you to the judge and the judge hand you over to the officer and the officer puts you in prison.

I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the very last penny and then he talks about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled and the response of Jesus was hey, it's not because they were bad but unless you repent you'll all likewise perish.

Then he talks about the tower that fell, Salome Tower and the response again is unless you repent you'll all likewise perish. Here's my point at the end of Luke chapter 12. Steve, with your background, wax a little bit of court before you have to go to court with God.

In other words, you're going to die one day and stand before the bar of God's justice. So while you're alive now settle out of court is better before you go into court.

Yeah, it's really in our system it almost doesn't. The analogy almost fails because you can get a plea bargain plead to a lesser crime or take just plead guilty. You don't fight it you don't go to the jury you don't push for a trial or whatever.

But when it comes to God there is no lesser penalty you can pay. You're either all in with Jesus Christ so that all of your sin is transferred to him and all of his righteousness is credited to you so that when you stand before the judge there's nothing for you to pay.

And you enter into his kingdom empty. You have nothing. You're bereft of hope. You have no excuse. You stand before the judge and you just say I'm guilty. Nobody's going to be able to say I didn't know any better.

I was drunk. We were talking about this case out in California earlier off the air. But nobody's going to have an excuse. You're going to stand before God. You're going to stand apart from me. You are going to hell.

Eternal punishment if you try to go to court with God.

What are the odds that you're going to win your case. My sin really wasn't as bad as you say it is God. I didn't commit as many sins as you say I did. Your holiness really isn't that holy. Are you ever going to win?

No there's no loophole there's no jury notification.

You can't tie off a jury member like John Gotti allegedly did no and you can't nullify the jury.

Like they did in the OJ case convincing them that the police department framed OJ. You can't do anything like that. You're just going to stand there. And you know I've spoken with people before who say when I get before God or when I get to heaven I'm going to ask him such and such or I'm going to say whatever.

And the truth is you're going to have no defense. Nobody's going to intercede for you apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. No one can intercede for you. What kind of defense is there. Because Romans 1 tells us that just by looking around we know that there's a God we know the nature of God.

Romans further tells us that we have the law of God written in our hearts. And then we're going to stand before him and say. But I didn't know. I didn't know better. You know my conscience was afflicted.

But I didn't know. Yes you did. You knew exactly what right and wrong were. And you did wrong.

To use this earthly illustration now put in the spiritual realm God has given you. If you're listening today and you're not a Christian he has given you an opportunity to lay down your arms as it were and repent and believe in the gospel.

And you can make things right because of the Lord Jesus. Even in 1 John 2 called an advocate you could think of it as a lawyer in your defense where Jesus takes your punishment. As Pastor Steve just said you get Jesus's righteousness and now God's holy law has no claim against you Jesus said on the cross paid in full it is finished.

He's been raised from the dead. But if you are waiting eventually you're saying I'm going to stand before God's bar of justice and we'll see what happens. I'm going to bamboozle God.

You know I mean I'm going to stand up and I'm going to give him. If the glove does not fit you must acquit.

But if you're thinking that way doesn't that show you the insanity and the lunacy of sin and how sin deceives with God. I'll stand before him. I'm going to win that day. I'm going to be Johnny Cochran that day.

I don't even know. Well let me just say that people talk about going to Vegas and they're going to do this and that because the odds are in their favor. Well we know that that's a fallacy because we look around at the buildings all these lush lavish buildings that they build there and you go well.

If the odds were so good they couldn't do that Steve. Slot payouts are 97 .4

But the odds with God it's 100 to 0 I mean what could be more certain. You're guilty. You are 100 guilty. And guess what God knows that because God knows everything he knows every thought everything that you've ever done every even like pre-thought that you've ever had I mean whatever he knows everything.

And so you're going to stand there and say what? Well I'm really not as bad as you think I am. And isn't it interesting Steve.

In Luke chapter 13 where the people essentially thinking like the Jewish people of the day who would be Indians in their thinking regarding caste system these people did something bad therefore God punished them.

That's a similar thought in the east today. Putting it off on other people. Well here's how God deals with other people. Let's think about them. And I'm more righteous. It didn't fall on my head. And I must be more righteous than them.

Comparative righteousness. Could there be a bigger lie. My righteousness is better than these other people. No there could be no bigger lie. Jesus straightens it right out. He says I tell you unless you repent the same will happen to you.

So.

They don't have any any better claim. The problem is everybody presumes even if they don't like think of it as a sliding scale. That's kind of what they're doing. And what they're saying is you know well even if I have done things that are as bad as other people I've done a lot of good too you know.

And certainly God will look at the good things I've done and think you know what overall I'd have to say.

He's a pretty good guy or she's a pretty good gal. You go to the judge even today and say okay. I know I'm here for murdering somebody. I did murder them. I'm 40 years old and for 39 years 364 days. I never murdered anybody.

I did murder that one person the other day but I didn't murder anybody else.

And when you look at it you know I've never stolen anything. I don't even park illegally. I mean I'm straight as an arrow. You know come on. It's one murder. I mean come on. What are we talking about.

It's just one little murder one violation of the you know of the code here in the same passage Luke chapter 13 Jesus tells a parable about a fig tree that's planted and that fig tree didn't have any fruit on it and it should have had fruit on it.

And so then it says cut it down. Why should it use up the ground. And I think it's fair to say in a fair application if you're listening today and you're not a believer why are you existing on this earth.

You're made to worship Jesus and honor God with your body and your mind and your soul. And you don't. What's the difference between you and the fig tree. It's the mercy of God that he just doesn't strike you down for taking up God's air.

You should be bearing fruit. And that you're alive is indicative of the mercy of God. You know giving you more time to settle out of court before judgment day. God is gracious indeed. I mean just think about our own lives and what he you know brought us through how he changed our hearts and our minds.

And you know to anybody out there today who's not saved. I would just say again on that judgment day what will you do. What can you possibly say. How can you justify yourself. And if you're thinking well I don't even know if there is a God well yes you do.

You look around and you see the order of things. You see the power of God. You can't really deny it. I mean you can hope that there's no God. You can hope that you'll die. And there's nothing afterward.

But God has said eternity in your heart. You know that there's something more. You know that you will stand before a God one day. And the only hope you have is to put your faith completely and fully in Jesus Christ his perfect life his substitutionary death his resurrection.

That's all the hope there is. And I would encourage you to read the gospel of John the gospel of Luke. I mean any of the gospels I prefer you know for first timers to read the gospel of John. And just really look at the claims that Jesus makes about himself over and over again.

He claims to be God he is man he is God. He was sinless fully obeyed the law never did anything that he wasn't supposed to do he in other words he's everything that we are not. And that is why his death had infinite value and why it can be applied to us.

Later in Luke 13 Jesus said strive to enter through the narrow door for many I tell you will seek to enter and will not be able. And we would with Jesus call you if you're not a believer to strive to enter.

And we know that striving culminates in faith. Believing in what God said about the son. Believing in what God says about your sin and death and hell and eternity.

What must I do to be saved. The response is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's what Steve and I want all our listeners to do. Like the Pharisee or like the sorry the tax gather. Just say be merciful to me oh God be in that Bible read it read about Jesus Christ.

You can write us info at no compromise radio dot com and we'd be glad to answer you. See you next time. 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 10 .15 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. The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE its staff or management.