Death and Desk Cleaning

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Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.
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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
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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."
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In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you.
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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
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King. Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. Mike Abendroth here, your host.
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I have not recorded a show in, I don't know, a week. Today, real time, it is,
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I don't know, January 3rd -ish, something like that, January 3rd.
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And in no -co time, it's probably February 2013. All right.
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Well, what I'm doing today is I'm in my office slash study, trying to pick up and clean up.
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The no -co area is the worst. There's all kinds of stuff stacked. I think it's over on Steve's part of the microphone area.
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And so I had to clean all this stuff up. And when I clean things up, that means I say to myself, hmm, could
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I use that in a sermon? Well, you know, could I use that for no -co? And then we just get a stack of stuff.
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So today is a potpourri, but I try to type that in the
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FileZilla to send up to the station. But then I never know how to spell potpourri because I don't get a spell check in this digital age.
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So what do I have here in front of me? The first thing I have in front of me is something from our friend,
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Rick Phillips, and I appreciate Rick Phillips and his ministry. And he has an article posted.
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If you don't read Reformation21 .org, you should. Truman writes for them, Rick Phillips, in an article entitled,
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Four Reasons Why Public Critique Does Not Invoke Matthew 18. So here's what happens.
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I know I would never critique anyone publicly or on the radio or anything like that. But if anybody would, then often there is the rebuttal from others.
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Have you talked to the person? Because Matthew 18 says that you're supposed to go to this person and then set it straight with them, reconcile with them.
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And so I'd like to read a little bit of Matthew 18 and then discuss that in fact. If I ever say something about Francis Chan's new book on hell and how he needs to have more oomph in his emphasis and he needs to be more dogmatic and not write about certain things with such a laissez -faire attitude of uncertainty, then you might say, well, have you talked to Francis Chan?
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Matthew 18 does say this. If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
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If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. And so, you know, the rest of the verses in verses 16 and following,
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I don't know why I'm losing my breath here. I don't know. I've been sick and so therefore
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I'm not in the shape that I'd like to be in. Actually, today is a juice day. Today is carrot juice with lemon, with jalapeno, with ginger, and it doesn't taste very good.
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I just feel weird. I just said to my secretary that I'm going to tape some no -co shows because when
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I juice, I feel weird. And so if I say something that I shouldn't say, then what I'll do is
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I'll just blame it on the juice. Rick Phillips, why public critique does not invoke
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Matthew 18. Number one, he says Matthew 18 establishes a procedure for dealing with personal sins, not public debate.
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Isn't that good? So for debating something in public, and by the way, I have to take my shots because I'm on the radio.
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I listened to part of a show the other day, and I said everything is God, and I meant to say everything is
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God's. He owns it all. He's the creator of everything, and I thought everything is
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God. I sound like a pantheist. So I mean, we all are on the radio, and therefore—we're not all on the radio, that's not true.
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We who are all on the radio, all of us who are on the radio, et cetera, all of us who are on the radio, we have to make sure to teach the
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Bible properly and to say right, wholesome, good things. We need to teach sound doctrine.
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We need to contradict those who don't. We have a higher standard. You can look at James chapter 3 verse 2 to find out that standard, and we receive and incur the stricter judgment as one translation would rightly translate.
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But if you're on the TV, if you write books, if you're on the radio, if you have a blog, then you need to be able to receive criticism, and there should be open debate when needed.
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So Rick says at the beginning, this establishes a procedure, Matthew 18, for dealing with personal sins, not public debate.
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The context is easily seen in Matthew 18 about a brother sinning against you.
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This has nothing to do with public debate regarding disagreement, Philip says.
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In contrast, disagreement with a public figure in his published writings falls into a completely different category.
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As the author of many books, I have received a good number of negative reviews. In none of these cases did
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I think I was being accused of a sin, and even if it was, not a sin committed privately against the person who criticized me.
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But you know, the thing is, Rick is manly, and if you meet Rick, you'll realize that he's a man of God, and I think he's even written a book on biblical masculinity, hasn't he?
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Yes, he has a very good book, and by the way, if you've written a book on masculinity and you're not very masculine, what would that mean?
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I want to say that Rick was a submariner. I think he was in the Navy, a long line of Navy folks.
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And so, number two, Rick Phillips, just as private matters should be handled privately, public matters should be handled publicly.
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Isn't that true? He says, this entails the responsibility of welcoming public criticism for that book or article.
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So I know I'm on the radio, and I say things, and I want to be true and right and doctrinally sound and edifying the church, which sometimes means saying, you know, you shouldn't read that Burpo book.
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I finally remembered the kid's name, and the dad's name, last name is Burpo, heaven for real. And if I say that is a hogwash filled book, and it's not true, it's not biblical, it's not edifying, it's not good, heaven is for real, but the book is really bad, well, do
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I have to call up the Burpos? I'm not sure they'd even take my call. But if they would, what would
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I say? Well, he can call me and say, you misrepresented me and you shouldn't say that, something you said was not true.
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Well, then it's a different colored horse. A different color.
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Oh. Number three, Rick Phillips says, when an author happens to be an officer under confessional vows to the church, writings that impact the application of those standards are a public, not a private matter.
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Well, now we get into all kinds of issues with Genesis, and there was a certain case here with Belcher Collins about Adam and Eve -ism, and so you can read that on your own if you want to pull up his article.
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Number four, we must realize that teaching and publishing entails a public responsibility that invokes public scrutiny and criticism.
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And see here, even now, I made a mistake because he quotes James 3 .1, and I thought it was
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James 3 .2. Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
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And Phillips is right. Part of this greater strictness is the public criticism that accompanies the privilege of public teaching.
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So today on No Compromise Radio Ministry, some have emailed, not very many lately. I get a few negative zingers, but I don't really get the zingers anymore of, have you talked to that person before you made a comment?
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Have you talked to Eugene Peterson before you had a message moment? So number two on my potpourri here for desk cleaning, listen to Charles Spurgeon, the venerable
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Spurgeon. If I have any message to give from my own bed of sickness, it would be this.
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If you do not wish to be full of regrets when you are obliged to lie still, work while you can.
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Now see, this is hitting home because for about a week or eight days, I've been sick for the holidays, during the holidays and on antibiotics and that kind of stuff, etc.
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And I started getting antsy. I've got a lot of work to do and of course can't really do much work when you're sick.
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You can get a few things done, but you're achy and tired and listless and just can't get much done.
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And so now that I'm finally feeling better, I've got a huge stack. I've always got a huge stack of things to do.
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Then it's compounded by the days that I didn't get anything done. So here Spurgeon says, if you desire to make a sick bed as soft as it can be, do not stuff it with mournful reflections that you wasted time when you were in health and strength.
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Isn't that so true? If you have been given a body that is a good body and healthy and you are well and you are young, certainly some of us who are older as well can have bodies that seem to hold up pretty well, even though they're getting tired quicker, then work now while you can.
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For 29 years, I was a pagan and I loved myself and the world with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.
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Then when the Lord saved me in the fall of 1989, I figured
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I had a lot of catching up to do. So if I threw myself into sin and debauchery and licentiousness and to entertainment and into the world, then
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I should throw myself into the Lord's work with the same amount of verve and fervor and vigor and energy and enthusiasm.
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One day, unless I die by what they call an accident,
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I'm going to be laying in a sick bed and I don't want to lay there in my sick bed thinking to myself, you know,
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I wish I would have done something else while I felt better. Spurgeon says, people said to me years ago, you will break your constitution down with preaching 10 times a week and the like.
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Well, if I have done so, I'm glad of it. I would do the same again.
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If I had 50 constitutions, I would rejoice to break them down in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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You young men that are strong, overcome the wicked one and fight for the Lord while you can.
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You will never regret having done all that lies in you for our blessed
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Lord and Master. Crowd as much as you can into every day and postpone no work until tomorrow.
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Spurgeon. See, he was a good spiritual capitalist and capitalists invest.
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And so we make investments now. The Bible says in Revelation 22 verse 12, behold,
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I'm coming soon. My reward is with me and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.
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Of course, we're not saved by our works. We're saved by the works of Christ Jesus, the
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God man. But after God saves us for motives to serve the
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Lord Jesus out of gratitude and love and duty, there will be rewards.
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Proverbs 19, 17, it says, he who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord and he will reward him for what he has done.
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See the Lord notices. First Samuel 26, 23, the
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Lord Yahweh rewards every man for his righteousness and faithfulness. So as one psychiatrist said, the best way to prevent a nervous breakdown is to work hard.
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I think too, in Christian living, what you want to do is you want to be a hard worker.
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And if you'd like to be on your deathbed with fewer regrets, work while you can. I know some older saints and they can still have wonderful ministries on their sickbed and they can pray for the saints and encourage and be an encouragement.
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But while you've got your energy now, serve and work hard while you can.
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Mike Abendroth here, No Compromise Radio. Don't forget Pastor Steve has his Tuesday show on Saturdays.
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I would say he has about two or three Saturday shows every month. And I'm sure once he gets feeling better, he'll be in the saddle once a week for Saturday's show with Tuesday Guy.
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John Bunyan in his book, The Barren Fig Tree, actually I think that's the article, it's in Bunyan's works, volume three,
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The Fearful State of the Hardened Sinner. Now see what happens here on this potpourri going through my desk cleaning day,
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I just have these things and I don't know what to do with them. So if I don't know what to do with them, you get them. You in No Compromise Radio Landville.
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John Bunyan, to some men that have grievously sinned under a profession of the gospel,
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God giveth this token of his displeasure. They are denied the power of repentance. Their heart is bound.
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They cannot repent. We would call this judicial hardening. You can read about judicial hardening in the scriptures.
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I think of the Old Testament, God says, let Ephraim alone.
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We've talked about this in No Compromise Radio. What would be the worst thing to have happen to you?
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Well, it certainly ranks right up there where God judicially hardens you.
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God does something that John Bunyan describes here as it is impossible that they should ever repent should they live a thousand years.
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It is impossible for those fallaways to be renewed again under repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the
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Son of God afresh and put him to open shame. This man sees what he hath done, what should help him, and what will become of him, yet he cannot repent.
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He pulled away his shoulder before, he shut up his eyes before, and in that very posture
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God left him. And so he stands to this very day. I have had a fancy that Lot's wife, when she was turned into a pillar of salt, stood yet looking over her shoulder or else with her face toward Sodom as the judgment caught her so it bound her and left her a monument of God's anger to after generations.
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So what's the point? The point is that's pretty spooky. That's pretty scary. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living
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God in hell forever, yes, of course. But it's also fearful that when you have opportunities to repent, if you're listening today and you're not a believer, and you understand biblical truths about salvation and sin and substitution and guilt and punishment and God's holiness and His graciousness and His mercy, what happened at Calvary, and yet you will not believe, you will not repent, you're not guaranteed another day of repentance because A, you might die today, and B, God might prevent you from ever believing.
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That's what John Bunyan says. And so there's an urgency. There's lots of reasons to repent today.
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One of the reasons not to wait another day is, haven't you had enough of sin already?
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See, what people like to do is this, well, if I come to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith alone, then
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I'm not going to be able to do some of those fun things that I love doing because I know they're sinful and I don't want to stop doing those fun sinful things.
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Sexual sin or drunkenness or loving the world or loving the things in the world.
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And so people say no to repentance. I found it most often in life, people that I know, they'll say no to repentance because most likely it's some selfish, sensual sin.
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Listen to 1 Peter chapter 4. Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking.
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For whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God.
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Now listen, for the time that is past suffices for doing what the
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Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.
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Haven't you done enough of that in other words? Haven't you had yourself filled to the gills with that kind of living?
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So today on No Compromise Radio, if you're not a Christian, we would implore you to believe on the
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Lord Jesus Christ. Well what else do we have here? Oh, this is interesting.
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Lots of people, and I've talked about this here before on the show, but lots of people think that the only thing you have to do to go to heaven is die.
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Isn't that true? Think about the funerals that you have gone to, that you will go to.
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Almost inevitably, the pastor, the priest, the reverend, the minister, the leader, immediately preaches that person into heaven.
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Of course, we know they're either in heaven or in hell, either awaiting the final eternal state or awaiting the lake of fire.
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But it's basically salvation by death, salvation by being good more than they're bad, salvation by being baptized either as an infant or as an adult, salvation by going to church, salvation by they were a good son.
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It's the grace of God, the common mercy of God that unbelieving sons can take care of their mothers, and I'm glad for when they do.
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But you're saved by grace and by grace alone. You're saved by the work of the eternal son who cloaked himself with humanity and did what men couldn't do, live a perfect life, who undid by being punished in our place, by undoing what man did.
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The son of man did suffer on our behalf, even though he was not a sinner.
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And so you're not saved by yourself, you're not saved by death, you're saved by Christ and Christ alone.
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And faith doesn't merit anything. Faith isn't credited to you as a work that you get credit for, that you take an attaboy for.
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It recognizes that you can't do anything and you trust what God says in his word. And so when you go to a funeral, of course isn't it wonderful when you go to a funeral of a
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Christian person who's walked with the Lord for many years? I've said many times, that's a rare thing for me.
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Sometimes people ask me to do a funeral and I don't know the person and so that's not really fair.
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Sometimes I get asked to do a funeral of a Christian's loved one who did not make any profession of faith and on their deathbed, could they have believed in the
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Lord Jesus Christ? Well absolutely, like the thief on the cross. It could happen. But see, I don't know that.
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So when you go to a funeral, it's good to just remember the Lord Jesus Christ and how he raises people from the dead, how he has raised himself from the dead and how he offers eternal life to all those who believe.
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What else do I have here in no -compromise radio land? Well, let's see.
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How about Anselm talking to a dying man? Do you confess that your life has been so evil that you deserve eternal punishment?
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So if you go visit somebody in the hospital, is this the way you talk? Do you confess that your life has been so evil that you deserve eternal punishment?
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Answer, I confess it. Question, do you repent of this? Answer, I repent.
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Question, do you believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for you? Answer, I believe it. Question, are you thankful to him?
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Answer, I am. Do you believe that you cannot be saved except through his death?
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I do believe this. And here's the last question. Pretty amazing.
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Anselm, in counseling one near to death, this is how he encouraged pastors who are faithful to talk to people on their deathbed.
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Then do this while the soul remains in you. Place your whole trust in this death alone and have no trust in any other thing.
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Commit yourself wholly to this death. Cover yourself wholly, the
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W, with it alone. Wrap yourself wholly in this death and if the
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Lord should wish to judge you, say, Lord, I interpose the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and your judgment.
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In no other way do I argue with you. And if he should say to you, it is because you deserve condemnation, say,
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Lord, I place the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between you and my demerits.
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And I offer his merit in place of the merit which I owe and do not have.
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If he should say that he is angry with you, say, Lord, I place the death of our Lord Jesus Christ between me and your anger.
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Anselm's advice to pastors who talk to people on their deathbed. Now, listen, Anselm is not trying to say there's going to be this kind of talk after you die because there's going to be judgment.
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It's appointed for man once to die, then the judgment. But getting the sinner who's on their deathbed to think through the issues about the adequacy and the supremacy and the sufficiency of Christ's once and for all death.
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This is good language, isn't it? Jesus Christ is the advocate. Jesus Christ, the righteous one who makes propitiation for all of his people's sins.
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Not just Jews, but those Gentiles as well. He is the one that you have to trust in.
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And while your soul remains, trust in this one, in this death alone and have no trust in any other thing.
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That's good advice for those who are listening today, probably driving down the street and listening.
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Maybe you just came to the show by accident, quote, end quote. If you're listening today, that's your only hope while you're alive and when you're dead.
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That Jesus stands between you and condemnation. Between you and your demerits.
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Between you and God's anger. So we have a great substitute.
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Jesus Christ, our representative and our sin -bearing substitute who was raised from the dead. It's hard to trust a dead person, but you can trust a live person.
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And Jesus Christ is the resurrection and he is the life. And to know him is to know eternal life.
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So believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.
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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 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.
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You can check us out online at bbcchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.
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The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.