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Mike and Mike reflect upon the Lord’s goodness and His gospel of free grace.
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. My name is Mike Abendroth. And maybe over the years we�ve created some foes to the ministry, but we�ve also gained some friends, by the grace of God, to partner along with men and women who are zealous for the Lord�s glory and for the gospel of Jesus Christ, the risen Savior.
That�s been a great side benefit here at No Compromise Radio, to get to know especially some dear men who want to stand up for the truth and will proclaim the gospel no matter what. And so today we talked to one of those men, Mike Gendron.
Welcome to No Compromise Radio. I love you and the ministry the Lord has given you.
Well, there�s a mutual admiration. We praise God for your stay. The attack is against the exclusivity of the gospel and of our Savior.
Well, one of the things that I have been so encouraged by, Mike, is as we spent some time at Worldview Weekend the last couple years in Branson. I think Branson�s a Christian city, by the way, a small city, but I�ve been so encouraged to see the way you treat your wife and to see the concern you have for people behind the scenes as you minister to them.
Many folks come to you and say, �I have a Catholic mom or a Catholic husband. Please help me. And so I just wanted to encourage you as you serve with your wife behind the scenes and then when you get up and proclaim the truth from the pulpit that I think to myself, �I want to treat my wife the way Mike treats Jane.
So thank you for that.
Well, that�s a nice compliment. I often say that outside of my salvation, which of course is the number one gift in my life, the second most precious gift is the wife that the Lord has blessed me with.
She truly is a helpmate. She�s working hand-in-hand with me in the ministry, creating slides for my PowerPoint shows.
I mean this in all sincerity. If you ever see me slip in any area in terms of gospel ministry or the way I treat my wife, I�d like you to pull me to the side and help me, set me straight, rebuke me. I�d appreciate it if you do that.
Amen, brother, and I ask the same of you.
Well, let�s talk a little bit about Rome, not only the city but Roman Catholicism. First Mike, for those folks that don�t know you and your ministry, give me a brief background and how God saved you and then how you have the ministry that you have now, then we�ll talk about Roman Catholicism.
Sure.
Well, I was a very devout Catholic for over 34 years of my life, including being an altar boy for seven years and later on teaching high school Catholic Christian at First Little Rock Roman Catholic Church in 1981.
It was that time the Lord was beginning to teach me. I didn�t have anybody witnessing to me or discipling me. It was the crisis of faith as I was teaching in tradition. I�m a proud Catholic, Mike, and I think that spirit that I had was really a tool of the devil to keep me blinded from the truth.
The more I studied the Bible, the more I began to see the truth, all of my punishment, and then he gave me his righteousness in return. My life has never been the same in eternity or has never been asked for eternity.
I went to a theological seminary, studied the Bible, a former Catholic, and we had a great compassion. There were people who were believing that they were in the one true church but yet destined for the fires of hell unless someone could reach them with the truth.
That was 25 years ago that we began this work and the Lord has taken us all over the world. We�re excited to equip the body of Christ for the work of ministry. We�ve developed a lot of good gospel, the word of God, and it really forces Roman Catholics to make a choice, the same choice I did, �Am I going to trust my eternal destiny
Mike, as I was reading your book �Preparing for Eternity�, I was just thankful for the.
Obvious contrast between �this is what the Bible says� and �this is what Rome teaches. The style that you have is, I would say, kind with people because you really are concerned about their souls, but you�re firm.
That is, you want to stand on biblical truth and you won�t back down from it. That�s a hard balance to maintain. When I look at evangelicals, many of them will try to be so kind that they�ll change the Bible or they�ll compromise some.
Do you have any suggestions for some of our listeners, as they want to be nice to their relatives who are Roman Catholic, but they need to stand firm on what the Bible says about grace alone through Christ alone?
Yeah, Mike, that�s really the point. We need to speak the truth in love. We cannot argue anyone into heaven. For the Lord Jesus Christ, we are to sow the seed of His Word in people�s hearts. As Catholics, it�s to ask them questions, to challenge them and their faith, such as �Why do you continue to do what Jesus did
�Why do you believe in purgatory if the Bible says the blood of Jesus purifies us When people begin abiding in the Word of God, they will know that it�s deception. As Catholics, it�s to challenge them, ask them, �What is God saying to you
�What is God speaking to your heart
Mike, I just started last Sunday morning probably a three-year series in the book of Hebrews, the epistle to the Hebrews. And when I was thinking about the summary of Hebrews, the writer even gives us what he�s been talking about, chapter 8, verse 1.
Now the point in which we are saying is this, we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven. Tell some of our listeners, some of them are certainly Roman Catholic, how critical is it for them to understand that Jesus Christ did everything that was required of the Father, it is finished, and then he sat down.
In the Old Testament, you go to the Holy of Holies, there�s furniture there, there�s a table, there�s the altar, there�s the ark, but there�s no seat, yet Jesus sat down. What�s the significance of the finished work of Christ, especially for a Roman Catholic?
Well, it�s of utmost importance because if we don�t proclaim the sufficiency and finished work of our Lord, and continue to hold on to what they�ve been told, they must receive the sacrament of Christ as sufficient, and the Bible does a wonderful job at that.
You�re beginning to go in 10, it clearly destroys being sanctified, and that Jesus offered himself to the great miracles that took place, the Father tearing open the shed blood of Jesus Christ, offering sacrifices for sin, because the one perfect high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, died out, it is finished.
This is the message we need to perform, it�s unnecessary. For our listeners who�d like to get to know Mike better, or get some of his excellent.
Tracks on the book �Preparing for Eternity proclaimingthegospel .org, proclaimingthegospel .org. Mike, you and I have, we weren�t there together, but I�ve come back from Rome, Italy, and you�ve been in, you just were in Rome.
When you walk through the streets of Rome, or you go to one of the Catholic churches there, what goes through your mind and through your heart as you see the domination of Roman Catholicism in that city?
Well, you�re just overwhelmed by the idolatry that goes on in the Vatican, especially in St. Peter�s. You know, when I was walking through St. Peter�s, that this basilica was built from people to get their love, the forgiveness of God, through the concept of indulgences, and as I saw this enormous basilica of St. Peter�s, to think how much money was generated by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone.
Your thoughts as you went through? When I saw on the La Scala Sancta, the people going up those steps on their knees, supposedly pilot steps that Jesus was on, and then Luther, before he got converted, goes up those steps, 28 steps, praying the Pater Nostra on each of those, and he gets to the top, and if these things are true, he asks himself, I wonder if they are.
I just thought, Mike, these folks are so blinded. How could you explain the sheer weight of blindness that they have, unless we factor in what the Bible says about Satan is blind in their minds? Because it�s almost too ludicrous.
We go up these steps, we get people out of purgatory, there were so many people. I personally didn�t go up on my knees, not because I was afraid to do it, I kind of wanted to follow the, not the footsteps, but where Luther went, but there were too many people on those steps, crying and weeping, and I thought, you know, this is the masterpiece of Satan, that is the Roman Catholic Church.
So close, I mean, they would believe in the literal resurrection, and the Trinity, and the deity of Christ, and many of those things, it�s the same that they would believe, but they believe, and I want you to talk about this too for our listeners, Mike, they believe in those things, but how do they receive the benefits of Christ?
And Galatians is a good book to tell us that it must be, they must be received through faith alone, and no works at all.
Well, that�s so true, it�s the imputation of Christ�s righteousness, it�s a legal forensic decision by God in heaven, declaring it teaches that righteousness is infused as people do good works and receive sacraments, and Roman Catholics are told that they must expiate or make satisfaction for their own sins, which is why you saw so many people going up those stairs on their knees.
Mike, we just got back from the Philippines, where I did two major conferences there, and once a year during Holy Week, they have Filipino men come forward to be scourged and beaten, and nailed to a cross, not to die, but to expiate their own sins, to make satisfaction for their sins.
And so, this is how powerful religious indoctrination is, and you mentioned how there�s supernatural blindness on those lost in indoctrination as a powerful tool to blind people from the Lord. In 2 Corinthians 3, it�s what we do as evangelists, we point people to the Word that�s available.
Mike, one time toward the end of our trip, we went to the Church of Jesus, I can�t pronounce the Italian name, and it has a very large marble statue of Mary with a cross, and I believe the title of the statue is �The Faithful Crushing the Heretics�, and here we have Mary�s foot on the Reformers� necks, and a little demon imp, I think they mean it to be an angel, ripping the pages out of a Luther book.
Have you been to that particular church? Mike�s I have. Me, so I can understand it better, we have, for instance, Pope Francis, and he wants to say, �Well, sorry Protestants, for people we�ve killed, and they try to be very ecumenical, and let�s all, you know, we�re all one, you know, creation of God, even the Muslims, etc
Yet, these churches still exist. I mean, this is, the trend has not ever been revoked, in other words, and I think that church that had the Mary statue there, I�m not so sure a lot of people who are in the upper echelons of Roman Catholicism want people to know such a church exists, exists.
Mike�Yeah, you�re probably right, I don�t know that, this Pope is an amazing figure because many Roman Catholics are protesting against him because he doesn�t even line himself up with historic Roman Catholic theology, when he says that atheists can follow their conscience into heaven as long as they�re sincere, well, that�s not even Roman Catholic theology.
And, we also know that yesterday, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door, you probably saw it when you were in St. Peter�s, it was, it�s been shut since the year 2000, and goes through the Holy Door in St. Peter�s, will get a plen
So the Pope is pointing people to a door, rather than to the cross of Jesus Christ, that this man is truly leading people to an eternity that punishment and hell pointed to Christ on it, you know, they deny that his work of redemption is finished, that�s why the Mass continues on Catholic altars every day, because that�s the work that breaks my heart to see so many people, many which are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge, it�s very similar to zeal for God, but not based on knowledge and they sought to obtain their own righteousness rather than receive the righteousness that comes from God, and so that�s where Roman Catholicism is today, it�s really placing people under the law, and you know, just as the religious people either the Gospel because of it.
We went to St. Peter�s Square for the papal audience, so you could just get tickets for free and so I wanted to go because I thought it was interesting, and I thought to myself, if I have 40 ,000 people and I get to preach to them for 20 minutes, what would I say?
Well, I think Paul is clear, even in 1 Corinthians 2, I made a determination to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, the crucified one, and I thought to myself, here he gets up and talks about you should spend more time with your family, and I thought to myself, even if I was a Roman Catholic, I would want to get up and speak Catholic doctrine, not moralistic, therapeutic, deist type of thing, so I was thinking the Catholics must even be let down.
Mike, I�ve got to.
Oh, you�re so right. Yeah. And Mike, I often wonder too, his Holy Father, he came as a religious figure, the name above all names, the Lord Jesus, he never once referred to Scripture, but instead he referred to the many people admire them, he�s just an empty suit.
Sometimes I�ll talk to my son, Luke is 19, and I�ll say, yes, it�s difficult in the sense that there are pressures put upon us for political correctness and other things, but just to say to people, I mean, it�s not that hard to actually say the words, you have no righteousness, you have sin, God is holy, God has just laws, you�ve broken those, you need to have a perfect righteousness, and religious righteousness won�t do.
God has provided righteousness in the personal work of Jesus Christ, he dies on behalf of the unrighteous like you, he perfectly obeyed the law to gain righteousness that he gives freely, was raised from the dead, and in light of that you need to repent and believe.
But there are people that just cannot get that out of their mouths.
And you know, you just recited a very simple, that religion comes along and essentials away from, I�ve often said that the Bible is what God says, religion is what man says God says, and we want to point people directly to the source for truth, the Bible is this, he has revealed himself, final court of appeals, teaching error.
Amen, well we�ve got about three minutes left with Mike Gendron, you can pull his information up at proclaimingthegospel .org. Mike, in front of me I have a website, catholicbible101 .com, and they are going after the solas, and they quote James 2 .24, and then they say, see, the Bible teaches exactly opposite faith alone.
So James 2 .24, let me read it to you, and then in a couple minutes could you just tell us what it actually means. It means, you see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And so the Catholic would say, see, Protestants, you believe in sola fide, faith alone, and the Bible says right here, you�re not, and not by faith alone.
What is the writer James actually saying?
Well Mike, as you know, context is everything, and James chapter 2, James is not teaching us how to be justified in two different types of faith. During faith that comes from God, he also contrasts that with a dead, spurious faith which has no works.
And so James is, show me your faith by your works, because faith is invisible to someone. And so what James is saying is, if you have been born again, if you have truth, you will begin to do the works.
First you must be justified, first you must be born again, and that is by faith alone. But faith that is only by works, there will be evidence of saving faith, and if there is no evidence, James is simply saying, your faith is worthless.
The key here is that James is not teaching justification, he�s contrasting dead and living faith.
Great answer, I almost want to call you the Catholic Answer Man. But I don�t know if that would be a compliment or not.
I�m not sure, unless it means universal. Yeah, that�s right.
Well, we don�t have very much time left, but as I was in Rome teaching the book of Romans, I just kept thinking of Romans chapter 4 with circumcision and when was Abraham circumcised and how important faith is.
Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. And that�s what we want our Roman Catholic friends to do, is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. It�s faith alone in Him, taking God at His word, that Jesus is the sufficient Savior once and for all.
He was sacrificed and then God raised Him from the dead. Mike, I appreciate you and your ministry. Glad we get to see each other throughout the year at World View Weekend events. People can go to ProclaimingtheGospel .org if they want to get some more of your information.
Thanks for being on No Compromise Radio. Well, thanks for having me, Mike. God bless you. Keep standing for the truth. Of God.