Monkey See, Monkey Do (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 ministry.

Mike Abendroth, you're your host. It's actually a couple of days, no, one day before Thanksgiving as I record this show, but it's gonna be played later. So I kind of want to talk about Harvest Bible Fellowship, James MacDonald, Franklin Graham, cult of Mormonism is no longer a cult.

There's all kinds of things like that I maybe wanna think about or talk about, but I better not because I don't want to stir up any controversy. Aren't you glad this show is free and clear of controversy?

We stay above the fray. We don't delve into any other subjects. We mind our own business. We keep to it. And that is No Compromise Radio ministry. Okay, or is it? Well, today I wanna continue a little bit talking about imitating God from Ephesians chapter five.

I think the show has evolved into that is No Compromise Radio ministry. I think I did a lot of Bible teaching at the very beginning and then I went into a few more current events. And so once in a while, I revert back to my old Bible teaching self.

By the way, the last few weeks, we've had a lot of visitors to Bethlehem Bible Church coming from No Compromise land. And that is to say people listen and they live locally and then come and visit the church.

We're happy for that. Some live a little farther away. A couple of guys from the Coast Guard. I think they were from Virginia. I think Mike, right? Mike, is that your name? Visited when they were up here on business.

I was happy for that. And so welcome to NoCo world, right? NoCo a day keeps the confusion away, as Ray says. Imitating God. Well, last time we looked at this, it is a fascinating thing to think that Paul told the church at Ephesus and the other churches in his circular letter to imitate God.

And he, I mean, just if you stop and let that sink in, say la, that's Dwight Pentecost would say, say la. I'm not exactly sure what it means, but maybe it's stop and let that sink in. I also like Dwight Pentecost when he would say, people don't go jogging, they go jiggling.

So if you're gonna go jiggling today, make sure you dress warmly. It's about probably 40 degrees today, 38. I'm gonna have to go bicycling later today, but man, that's cold, brr. Speaking of bicycling, I was in Czech Republic and borrowed my friend Lance's mountain bike.

And I have ridden that mountain bike south of Prague before. This was in a different place, north of Bruno. And I had got my teaching done, asked him if I could borrow the bike. Sun was going down. He said, yes.

And then he took his family to go trick or treating. Trick or treating or something. No, to go to a harvest festival. They even have those. Actually in Berlin and Vienna and in the Czech Republic, Halloween is on its way in.

There are pumpkins outside, there are trick or treat costumes. The subway in Berlin was chocked full of all kinds of, no, no, excuse me, in Vienna, was chocked full of all kinds of people dressed up. We have imported that holiday to the European countries.

They didn't used to celebrate it, but they do now. Anyway, I was riding Lance's bike and I have no idea where I am. I actually stopped and took a picture of a sign of a city. So in case I got lost, I would point to that and then they would redirect me because I don't even know how to say.

Well, I do know a couple of words in Czech. I think one is shnell, which comes from the neighboring country, fast. And pusa, I know pusa. So that means kiss. So greet one another with a holy pusa. That is it.

So I'm riding the bike and the pedal comes off, the bolt that attaches the pedal. Oh man. And so I couldn't figure out what to do. So I stopped and saw what would be an equivalent to a red bowl can, empty, and took the top off, the pop top, and used a rock and the can's lid top to try to fix the bicycle.

And that didn't work. So every three to four minutes I'd have to stop, screw the bolt back in, hand tighten it. I needed a ratchet. I don't know how to say ratchet in Czech. So I just walked up to a guy, well, rode the bike up to a guy, coasted, and he was working on his car, kind of an old area that looked fairly communistic.

And so I thought, I don't even know how to say, do you speak English in Czech? So I just said, do you speak English? And he looked at me and he said, un poquito. So I thought, oh, okay, maybe he speaks a little Espanol.

Donde esta el rancho? Ratchet. He didn't speak any. He had like a needle nose or something like that. That's how they fix their cars there. So if you look at Ephesians chapter five, verses four and following, Paul is in the context of imitating God by your speech.

And since God is a very giving God, you should imitate God by the way you talk. And so you shouldn't talk sexually in a sinful way, because that is all take. That is all get. And if God is a self-sacrificial God, and especially if you think of Christ Jesus who sacrificed himself, then we should be self-sacrificial people as well.

We should watch our tongues when it comes to speaking about things in an inappropriate fashion. And so he flips it and it says in chapter, instead in chapter five, verse four, it says, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

And so there's a lot of things that you could say along the sexual sin line in a vice fashion, but then he replaces all those, that dirtiness and that filthy talk and the innuendos and the crass speaking about what God has made for good, that is sex in the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman.

And he gets rid of the coarse jesting and the joking, the innuendo, the double entendre, the dirty talk by one thing. And remember in Christianity, because of who we are in Christ, we live it out, we live out our position in the practice.

And when it comes in the practice of putting off and putting on. And so what a good clothing metaphor is used often by Paul and actually Peter, you stop doing one thing, but you start doing another, you replace it with the good thing.

So quit talking selfishly about sex, that would not imitate God. If you want to imitate God, Ephesians chapter five, it wouldn't be that, that you would never think of Christ Jesus talking in an inappropriate fashion about anything, let alone sex.

And certainly in our culture today, we need to make sure we talk about things the right way. And when the passage says in Ephesians chapter five, therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

But sexual immorality and all impurity, our covetousness must not even be named among you as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.

So that's the passage we're looking at today. And I think this is an important topic because it just hits us where we live. We're influenced by people at work and copier room discussions, proverbially.

We are people who listen to a lot of folks. And I don't know, when I hang out with my unbelieving friends and they swear all the time, I don't really swear, but those words pop into my mind. And so I don't even like that.

So when it comes to imitating God, if I were to ask you, how do you imitate God? Well, Paul, in this particular context says, I want you to walk in self-sacrificial love, which includes watching what you say.

And the way you get rid of all the bad stuff is to be a thankful person. Now, how can thanksgiving and being thankful be the opposite or the antonym of the idea of... Is that actually proper antonym of an idea?

Okay, let's just choose it. That sounds good to me. Do you speak English? Un poquito, an antonym of an idea, et cetera. Irregardless. And since tomorrow is actually Thanksgiving, for you that will have been a few weeks ago, this seems like it's appropriate.

But how can thanksgiving, our gratitude, our thankfulness be the opposite of sexual sin talk? Well, Paul is using a wordplay here and he uses the word for Thanksgiving, Eucharista. We know the word Eucharist, don't we?

And instead of sexual sin talk, Eutropalia, now I want you to Eucharistia. Thanksgiving, it doesn't seem like it's a substitute for vulgarity since the latter is essentially self-centered and the former God-centered.

Stott says it's not an obvious substitute. Express the opposite of selfishness, recognize the goodness and generosity of God. So what's the opposite of all these negatives? We have the positive that appears like an oasis in the middle of all these negatives, the commentator Lincoln said.

MacArthur said, do you know why you are to give thanks? Because it is the most unselfish thing you can do. Instead of seeking selfish things like sexual fulfillment, uncleanness and coveting, you are to be thankful.

Be characterized by saying thanks. Instead of wanting everything from everybody, instead of wanting to take, why don't you love in a way that says thanks? Remember, God's love is unselfish and thankful, but the world's love is thankless and selfish.

Well, on No Compromise Radio today, we are talking about thanksgiving because thanksgiving shows that you are thankful. Thanksgiving shows that you're actually doing what God designed you to do, to bless the Lord.

My favorite commentary on Ephesians is O 'Brien, and so if you don't have commentaries, you might want to start trying to buy one commentary for every book of the Bible. First, you could probably buy one commentary that has every book of the Bible in it, but there's not going to be a lot of detail because otherwise the book would be too big to bench press.

Oh, two bikers just rode by. Do you speak English? So O 'Brien is the one to get for Ephesians. He says, in striking contrast to all forms of sexual immorality and obscene language, thanksgiving, the distinctive mark of Christian speech, is enjoined on the readers.

Whereas sexual impurity and covetousness both express self-centered, I can't say the word, to acquire something, that's the root word, acquisitiveness. Thanksgiving is the exact opposite, and so the antidote required is the recognition of God's generosity.

Thanksgiving is almost a synonym for the Christian life. It is a response of gratitude to God's saving activity in creation and redemption, and thus a recognition that he is the ultimate source of every blessing.

Isn't that good? What a great virtue Thanksgiving is. I hope you teach your children to say thank you. Now, I wasn't taught for the right reasons, I don't think, but my father said it doesn't cost you anything to say thank you, and so when a policeman gives me a speeding ticket, I have to stop myself from saying thank you because if somebody does something for me, I say thank you.

Someone calls me on the phone and wants biblical counsel, and I give that to them, I usually say thank you. I don't know why, I just always say thank you to people because it was burnt into my brain, and so it's not a bad thing.

It'd be better if we say think about Christ Jesus and his work for you, a sinner. Think about how God does things and how he gives wonderful special grace and also amazing common grace, and our response should be thankfulness.

We didn't earn common grace, we didn't earn special grace, we didn't earn the love of God, we didn't earn salvation, we didn't earn the sun, we didn't earn the moon and our breath and our taste buds, we didn't earn any of that, and so we should be thankful people.

In everything, 1 Thessalonians 5 .18, give what? Thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. How about Colossians chapter two? Being thankful imitates God, as you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed and overflowing with gratitude, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which you indeed were called in one body, and be thankful.

How about you, are you a thankful person? And here the context is, instead of being selfish with your talk, show that you're sacrificially giving God what he deserves and that is thankfulness. The context here again is all this sexual sin stuff, the way to overcome it is to talk about God and his generosity, and even if you'd like to make it more specific to the context, you could say how good God is for the gift of sex in marriage, to be thankful for that instead of perverting that idea with your thoughts and with your words.

Ephesians five goes on to say in verse five, for this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man who is an idolater has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. You know this, you have been educated, you are informed, you should know this with crystal clarity.

Covetous people, sexually sinning people who do this as a lifestyle, this is first Corinthians six kind of language, people who are idolaters. Can you imagine, here Paul has sexual immorality presented as equal to idolatry?

And for many, sex is idolatry, isn't it? Today, it certainly seems the case. And we know how angry God gets with idolatry. He will not give his glory to another. You weren't even supposed to talk about certain idols and let them come from your lips because they were so bad.

Fornicators, adulterers, homosexuals, they are idolaters at the core. Colossians 3 .5, therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to what?

Idolatry. And Paul says, you know this, you recognize this. These people don't have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. That's exactly what it means. What it says is what it means. You say, well, I'm a Christian because I walked the aisle, I prayed the prayer, I signed the card, I went to the conference, I went to the crusade.

No, what does the text say right here? Here we have Christ and God co-equal, isn't that amazing? And you are fooling yourself if you can think you can call yourself a Christian and engage in sexual activity outside of marriage.

You can rationalize it away all you'd like. First John 2 .4 says, I have come to know him. When one says that and does not keep his commandments, he is a liar and the truth is not in him. Let marriage be held in honor among all and let the marriage bed be undefiled for fornicators and adulterers, God will judge.

Hebrews 13. Revelation 21, but for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Revelation 22, blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices lying.

Galatians 5, now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outburst of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

And of course, Christians can't sin, but here we are talking about lifestyle characteristics and traits. My point is today, and especially this part of the passage, there are sin apologists out there today.

There are especially sexual sin apologists out there who pander a truth, and that truth is really a lie cloaked in the livery of truth, and that is you can be a sexual sinner as a lifestyle. Say you're born that way, say you've got a disease or a syndrome or you have a sexual addiction, and you're fine.

That's not what this text says. These sins, Lenski says, and vices have their apologists. What does Ephesians 5 say? Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedient.

Don't rationalize sin and don't rationalize sexual sin. Don't be tolerant of those who wink at sexual sins and hide underneath the garb of my spouse doesn't meet my needs, et cetera, et cetera. Think about God and his love that is self-sacrificial and how you are to imitate God, Ephesians chapter five.

We live in a society today, it just cloaks itself with all kinds of stuff, and you have two people who aren't married, and they, what does society say? They make love. Is that what they really do? Now, I'm glad they don't use a grosser word, but that's pretty much a gross idea when you think these people make love.

Well, maybe if it's eros love, they might make that, but they're not making agape love that's found in Ephesians chapter five, verse two. Walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

They're not making that kind of love. Making love between two unbelievers in marriage, that's not the issue. Making love with two people who aren't married in the covenant of marriage, that's a lie. One man said, immorality is never the expression of love, it is the expression of lust.

Immorality is not the work of the spirit, but the fruit of the flesh. Immorality is not to be practiced by the saints and it is not to be tolerated among the saints either. Love is defined in terms of sacrifice and is to emulate the love which our Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated in his sacrifice for sinners at Calvary.

Do you notice that in our text, sexual morality is not advocated because it is the cure for AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. While sexual purity does protect one from some of the physical consequences of sin, this is not the motive which Paul seeks to promote.

We are to avoid immorality because we are beloved children of God and because we must seek to imitate him in our conduct. We avoid immorality because it is not love and because it satisfies our physical desires at the expense of others.

In the final analysis, sexual immorality is to be shunned because we love God and seek to bring glory to his name. Let us leave this text with a clear grasp of what Christian love is about. It is not about sexual gratification, but about self-sacrifice and the glory of God.

May God make the goal of this instruction love to his glory and for our good, Robert Deffenbaugh. I think he's got it right. So don't let anybody deceive you with empty words. Regardless of their reputation and their education and how long they've been a pastor, how long they've been on TV, no, we're going to do what the Bible says and think the way the Bible teaches us to think.

My name's Mike Gabendroth. It's No Compromise Radio Ministry today. We have one minute and 30 seconds left to go. So I will say this. If you are in sexual sin now, then flee. That's 1 Corinthians, run.

Like Joseph ran, run. You need to run. You don't, if you're living with somebody, don't go home tonight, run. So you say, well, I have to live with my boyfriend because we can't afford to move out separately, run.

If you've got a computer and it's down in the basement and there's sexual immorality that you're watching, run. Well, I have to have a computer for my job, run. And the good news is there is forgiveness for sexual sin.

Can you imagine? What if there wasn't? What if there was no forgiveness for sexual sin? The problem is some people haven't committed sexual sin with their bodies, but the mind and how society through advertisement just promotes that and laces the mind for more temptation.

But in Christ Jesus, every single sin can be forgiven. So why don't you repent of those sins? Ask God to forgive you and cleanse you and guard you and keep you and ask him to help you walk in love and be imitators of God as beloved children and run from sexual sin, talking about it, run from sexual sin with your body and be thankful.

My name is Mike Abendroth, info at nocompromiseradio .com.

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 1015 and in the evening at six. We're right on route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE its staff or management.