Divine DEI

Welcome to No Compromise Radio Ministry. My name is Mike Cabe Androth. It is August 27th in real time. In noco time, who knows, it's September. My daughter's already married by now. Is it God's will for her to marry?

If she's already married, the answer is yes. You can write me, Mike, at NoCompromiseRadio .com. Don't forget, Wednesdays we've got the YouTube channel up and going, and on Wednesdays you get new shows, most the time.

Maybe in summer we don't, or something like that. We're trying to ramp things up again, and trying to think what else I could say. I got a royalty check from Zondra and Harper Collins the other day, I guess, discovering Romans, the S. Lewis Johnson commentary on Romans is on Lagos now, and a bunch of people ordered them.

So I don't know if a home Bible study was going through it or something, but it was...I mean, we're not talking thousands at all, we're talking three figures. But still, I thought, wow, that's amazing.

So I'm glad some of the chapters in that commentary are better than others. I had 150 ,000 words in my original text, and I had to whittle it down to 90 for Zondra's sake, and so chapters Romans 1, 2, and 3 I think are the best.

Some great stuff in 5, and in chapter 8. Chapter 6, I think, is light. But anyway, I think it's helpful. Discovering Colossians isn't through Harper Collins. They passed on that, but you can get Discovering Colossians, which I think is a better work, and it's all...chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4 of Colossians, all excellent.

So when I was preaching through Colossians, I just read that and thought, man, he really nails it. And I believe the journal articles from where that commentary came were, I think, 1960s, maybe 62, 64, something like that, if memory serves.

Anyway, there are books. You can go to Amazon if you want books, that's fine. Pactum coming up, Justin Bice coming up, and all kinds of stuff. Thanksgiving coming up, Christmas is coming up. Today, the topic is Jesus, and the topic is Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, and if I could summarize it maybe in three—.

Jesus Cannot Be Stopped on His Way to Jerusalem

I'm not supposed to have points on everything—three encouragements is nothing's going to stop Jesus, whether that's his first coming, his date with destiny at Calvary, or his second coming. So you should be encouraged, nothing is going to stop Jesus' return, because obviously his first coming and the cross is in history past.

It's already happened. I was gonna say background, but that's not the best way to say it. And number two, in terms of exhortations and encouragements, more encouragements—I don't know why I can't talk today, I just did a show with Austin, everything was great—is Jesus is going to fulfill his mission that the Father gave him.

So negatively, number one, the world can't stop him, nothing can stop him. Two, he's going to do it, so there's a negative side, the positive side. And third, he was compassionate on his way to destiny.

And so, since God doesn't change, Jesus is compassionate, and you can see the mercy and kindness of God in the Incarnation. And so, of course, God is merciful and kind, and off we go. Luke chapter 13, verse 31.

At that very hour, some Pharisees came and said to him, Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you. And he said to them, Go and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.

Now, the Pharisees warn him and say, Get away from here, Herod wants to kill you. Some say, even some good Bible commentators. You know, there's some good Pharisees, John 1, Nicodemus. Okay, that part I believe.

But, I mean, what has just happened? Jesus has just said to these religious leaders, If you don't repent, there's going to be weeping and gnashing of teeth, and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. You're going to see them, and you're just going to be crying in pain and, as Hendrickson says, unmitigated rage, gnashing your teeth.

And at that same hour, at that very hour, these Pharisees come. And so, I don't think this is positive. I think these Pharisees want to get rid of Jesus, get Him out of here. We don't want to talk to Him anymore.

So say, Hey, Herod wants to kill you. And by the way, this is not Herod the Great that wanted to kill the babies back in Luke. He wanted to kill the king, Jesus. But this is Herod Antipas, and this Herod is the one that killed John the Baptist.

So if you want to call him a killing machine, you can, and you better run. You better get out of here. Now, I actually have met a Pharisee. His name was Dr. Pharisee, spelled with an F, not like a PH.

And he was the one, he was the doctor that delivered my third-born, Maddie, because the other doctor, Dr. Alberts, was, he actually went to the wrong hospital. Two hospitals here in Worcester that were close.

Went to the wrong hospital, so the other doctor on standby was Dr. Pharisee. So my daughter was delivered by a Pharisee. I don't think these Pharisees are bringing anything to Jesus except, Hey, get out of here.

I don't think they're kind. I don't think they're friendly. Do you think Jesus is afraid of Herod? Do you think Herod controls the destiny of Jesus? Do you think Herod could stop the plan of God? Do you think CNN can stop the plan of God?

Let's just fast-forward to the Second Coming. Do you think Satan can stop the plan of God and the certain hour that's been ordained for Jesus to come back? Do you think the world systems, and do you think America could?

Do you think nuclear bombs could? I want you to be hopeful, dear Christian, because nothing can stop the Lord Jesus. He sets His face towards Jerusalem, and He's not afraid. He is going to accomplish His mission, and we're going to see in just a little bit as He goes and accomplishes His mission.

He teaches, He's compassionate, He heals, but He is not afraid. He is going to cure people, He's going to proclaim the truth, He's going to proclaim the gospel, He's going to heal, cast out demons, trust the Lord who will take care of Him, trust the Father, and Herod, John the Baptist's, you know, murderer, isn't going to stop Jesus.

And by the way, He's going to get to Jerusalem, and He's going to die, not at the hands only of Herod, but of a lot of leaders. Jesus knows that He's going to fulfill the ministry that the Father has given Him.

The Pharisees’ Opposition and Jesus’ Determined Mission

Another reason why I think these guys don't like Jesus, it says in Luke 11, 53 and 54, and He went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press Him hard and to provoke Him to speak about many things, lying in wait for Him to catch Him in something He might say.

So, they're after Jesus, they don't like Jesus, maybe there's some friendly ones in there, but I just, in light of the context and how Jesus excoriated them just previous, I don't see how this is some friendly thing.

He told them to strive into the narrow door, and many are going to say, you know what, open to us, and He's going to say, I don't know where you come from. And yeah, that's true for Gentiles who might say that they know Jesus, but specifically in context with Jews.

And you can imagine how mad they were, and how disgusted they are with Jesus. These are the people that are controlling the religious deal, and I don't think the Pharisees like Him at all. He has said in chapter 11, woe to you Pharisees, you tithe mint and rue and every herb, you love the best seats in the synagogues, woe to you, woe to you, woe to you.

And so, they want Jesus out of there. They say, hey Herod, by the way, technically not a king, he's what we call a Tetrarch, and ruling over Galilee and Perea, and they just want to get rid of him. Maybe he's going to be afraid, as we say, kids say, maybe he's going to be a-scared.

Why do we say that? Afraid and scared, a-scared. And Jesus said to them, go tell that fox, behold, I cast out demons, perform cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day, and the third day I finish my course.

Now, he doesn't say, oh, thanks a lot, boys, for warning me. Oh, I better get going. I better skedaddle. I've got to go. There are accounts in Mark chapter 3, the Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against him as to how they might destroy him.

Mark chapter 12, they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to him in order to trap him in a statement. So, even when Jesus stands before Herod later, does Jesus say anything? I don't think he even says anything.

Leon Morris said, when Jesus has nothing to say to a man, that man's position is hopeless. So he calls him a fox. Why fox? Well, one man said, the proclivity of a fox is for malicious destructiveness.

If you want to say, as commentators do, cunning, dangerous, crafty, behold that fox. This is not a commendation. By the way, some have said that foxes aren't that strong, right? I'm sure you don't want a fox biting you.

I'm sure foxes can sneak around and get the hens in the hen house, and, I don't know, rabid foxes, you don't want them to bite you. Maybe 500 foxes can come after you and, I don't know, gang up on you.

I just saw a guy walking through Yellowstone, and a wolf came up to get him, and he just sprayed him with the bear spray, and it ran off. I mean, ever since I've been to Yellowstone this summer, you know, the bison knocked that 64-year-old guy way up into the air.

I saw other people running around by Old Faithful or some of the geothermal things. They could fall through, but they want the selfie. Yellowstone is in the news. Jesus says, I'm on my way, and there's nothing this fox can do.

You go back and report to him. It's almost like, hey, he just sent you, and now you go tell him. And I'm going to reach my goal. And on the third day, this is going to happen. Now, sometimes it's third day, just basically in Hebrew, Semitic culture means, I'm gonna finish what I'm gonna start.

It's this thing that's in the future that I'm going to do. But, you know, I think you can...it comes to your mind, does it not? The third day, the third day, the third day, the third day. What happens on the third day?

You know exactly what happens on the third day regarding the resurrection. Go and tell that fox. He might be sly, he might be crafty, but I'm nonplussed. Is that what you're saying? Satan's not gonna stop me in the wilderness.

In Luke chapter 4, the date with destiny is going to happen, and we know it did, right? Death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and nothing is going to stop his second coming. Matthew 24, Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Acts chapter 1, the angel said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who has taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, I'm losing my voice, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

And Titus chapter 2, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-control, upright and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glorious Jesus, to use my words at the end.

He's coming back. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Nothing can stop Jesus from coming back. Aren't you glad? Well, second encouragement, Jesus is going to fulfill the Father's mission, and so you can be thankful for that, because your salvation depended on that.

Jesus Fulfills the Father’s Mission

Jesus said, on the third day, I finish my course. And then he says in verse 33, nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.

So, I'm gonna finish my course, and I must go, because this is why I came to earth. The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and give his life for ransom for many. That's why he came. For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to be served, and to give his life for ransom for many.

That's Matthew 20 and Mark chapter 10. This is why I've come. I mean, Herod predatory, Herod a fox, Herod is after him, but I'm not going to, as they say, run from danger. I'm running to it, because this is what I've been called to do.

I do not think Jesus was afraid of Herod in any way, shape, or form, and he's going to keep going until his work is done. John chapter 4, Jesus said, my food is to do the will of him who sent me. Right?

It's to accomplish his work. There are a lot of things that are left undone in this life, and if you think about your own life, and things left undone, things that are half done...I looked online, things that are half done, things that were not finished, famous things that weren't finished.

Leonardo da Vinci, the Adoration of the Magi, commissioned it in 1481, left it unfinished when he moved to Milan. Beethoven's Symphony No. 10, he was working on another symphony when he died in 1827, only sketches survive, never completed.

Mozart's Requiem, died in 1791 while composing it, left portions unfinished, and his student finally completed the work. Charles Dickens, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, I've never heard of that in my life.

Dickens died in 1870 before finishing his final novel. The mystery of what happened to the characters has never been definitively resolved. Half-baked, half-finished. But that's not going to be Jesus.

That's not going to be our Savior. He is going to do the work, today and tomorrow, and the third day. It's a definite amount of time, with allusions to the third day he's going to be raised from the dead.

I think Luke probably wants you to see that, because Luke talks about that the third day all the time. You have heard that phrase, that you are immortal till your work is done, and if that's true for you, it's certainly true for Jesus.

He is going to do what he needs to do. Regularly, like I said in Luke, the Son of Man must suffer many things, rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised on the third day.

And on the third day he will rise, Luke 18. Luke 24, and third day rise again. Luke 24, it is the third day since these things happened. A lot of the third days, and that could very well be a little mental cue for the readers of Luke, so you could think about that.

But in general, it just meant there's a definite time, I've got to do this, staying on target, I'm on my timetable, I'm going to reach my goal. John chapter 5, but the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John for the works which the Father has given me to accomplish, to do the very works that I do.

They testify about me that the Father has sent me. John 17, I glorified you, Father on earth, having accomplished the work that you have given me to do. Accomplishing the work. And he did. He died for our sins, was raised, ascended, praying for us, and that language there in verse 33, I must go.

This is like a divine must. I must. It's D-E-I in Greek, and it's the only D-E-I I like. I must. It's necessary. It's divinely necessary. It's going to happen. I'm determined to do it. This is a divine D-E-I.

It's going to happen because God's sovereign purpose and plan. I must do this. Some have said Jesus is under a holy obligation, because he wants to do what the Father says, and he has come to do that.

The salvation of men and women is Trinitarian, and so the Father wants it, the Son wants it, the Spirit wants it, and he has come to save. And he's going to save, not make it possible, but he's going to accomplish salvation.

And he's going to have to suffer, he's going to have to die, he's going to suffer at the hands of men, but it must happen. Luke talks about this divine D-E-I often. I did not...did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?

Luke 2. Luke chapter 4. I must preach the gospel of good news, for I was sent for this purpose. The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected, killed, and on the third day be raised. Luke 9. Luke chapter 13.

I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the following day. Luke 19. I must stage your house today, Zacchaeus. Luke chapter 22. And I tell you that this Scripture must be fulfilled in me, and he was numbered with the transgressors, for what is written about me has its fulfillment.

Luke 24. That the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and rise on the third day. Divine must. Divine D-E-I. Divine decree. It has to happen. It doesn't mean I must and I don't want to.

It means I must and I'm willing, and it's important. No one takes my life from me, Jesus said in John 10, but I lay it down of my own accord. Some have said the cross was necessary and his obedience was voluntary.

Yes, if he wasn't, like, somehow negatively coerced, he, along with the Father, perfectly wanted to go, along with the Son, wanted him to go. So this is a divine must. Jesus is going to finish work of salvation, and that ought to give you, dear Christian, great assurance, great hope.

What do you need to do to finish Jesus's salvation? What do you need to contribute? He did 99%, you do 1%. He did most, you do some. No, no, he did it all, and you receive that by faith and by faith alone, freely, graciously, trusting in the Lord Jesus, his perfect obedience, his perfect suffering.

When it comes to the law, positively he kept it, and regarding negatively, penalty, he paid for it, and it's a finished work. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

And Jesus says, hey, by the way, that's where prophets die, that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem. That can't be. There's just something there about what's happening in Jerusalem, and it had to be there.

It had to be there, it had to be Jesus, and it was going to happen. His hour is going to come soon. Well, my name is Mike Abendroth, this is No Compromise Radio Ministry. If you want to think big-picture, you want to think theologically, you should be thinking Covenant of Redemption, C-O-R.

The Covenant of Redemption and the Eternal Mission of the Son

That the inter-trinitarian promise, a counsel, eternal counsel—not just a counsel like they're trying to figure it out, so we call it eternal counsel, so you don't think it's in time. By the way, there's no time in eternity past, so it's just eternity.

We don't have to say past and future, or past and eternity future, but that's what we say just because we have to have accommodating words. God is eternal. God is everlasting. I am who I am. He is the great I am.

He's the Alpha and Omega, who is and who was and is to come. And we have the Father and the Son and the Spirit existing at once, one being, existing as a triune God, and we have the eternal counsel. And the eternal counsel, before Genesis 1 -1, there's the Son going to be sent by the Father.

And people ask the question, what was God doing before he created the world? Augustine said, creating hell for curious souls, allegedly. No, the covenant of redemption. What was God doing before he created the world?

Well, time is part of creation, as Augustine said, so there's no before. He just is. That'll blow your mind. And so, the when of the covenant is before Genesis 1. I don't even know how to describe it.

It's just this mind-blowing eternal counsel, the eternal decree of God. Makes me want to say, oh, the depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways.

In eternity past, Jesus received from the Father the mission, the commission. This is the commandment I received from my Father. I have authority to lay it down, I have authority to take it up again. And the question is, when did He receive that?

In time? When He was baptized? When He was born? No, in eternity past. In hope of eternal life, Titus chapter 1 verse 2, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began. To whom did He make the promise?

Angels weren't there, people weren't there, I wasn't there, Abraham wasn't there. It's an eternal promise. On an island, Paul writes to Titus that there's a bunch of liars on Lyre Island, Crete. Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.

This testimony is true. God made a promise, because God doesn't lie. It doesn't say God promised to them, it just says He promised. And so it is a promise within the Trinity. That is amazing. Determined to go rescue people like you and me.

He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, so He chose us in time and then said, Jesus, I want you to go in time and rescue them. Martin Lloyd-Jones says, God's great plan is suggested in this verse.

There's a great eternal counsel held between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Do you realize that our salvation was planned before the world was planned or created? It is the realization of this fact that man should stand tiptoe and shout out praise to God, chosen before the foundation of the world.

And when you read Hebrews chapter 10, it's as if we're overhearing. I mean, not as if. We're overhearing the Son talking to the Father. It's O 'Brien that says, as if, but I just think it is. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me.

In burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, behold, I've come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book. The willing obedience of Jesus, determined in eternity past.

You say, well, it's a plan of salvation. When was that plan hatched? When was that plan planned? Well, it's in eternity past. I love what Spurgeon said about this. Jesus said, My Father, on my part I covenant that in the fullness of time I will become man.

I will take upon myself the form and nature of the fallen race. I will live in their wretched world, and for my people will I keep perfectly the law. I will work out a spotless righteousness which shall be acceptable to the demands of thy just and holy law.

In due time I will bear the sins of all my people. Thou shalt exact their debts on me. The chastisement of their peace I will endure, and by my stripes they shall be healed. My Father, I covenant and promise that I will be obedient unto death, even death on the cross.

I will magnify your law and make it honorable. I will suffer all that they ought to have suffered. I will endure the curse of the law, and all the vials of your wrath shall be emptied and spit upon my head.

I will then rise again. I will ascend into heaven. I will intercede for them at the right hand, and I will make myself responsible for every one of their surety, that not one of those that you have given me shall ever be lost.

That I will bring all my sheep, of whom thy blood thou hast constituted me shepherd. I will bring everyone safe to thee at last.". Wow. When you read that God sent his Son into the world, this is the work of God.

You believe in Him who He has sent. You need to be thinking eternal sending. When did they decide to send? When did Jesus decide to go? And it has to be in eternity past. When was the plan of salvation planned?

In eternity. And then lastly, number three—we don't have time, I have to do this another time—the compassion of Jesus as He goes. Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it.

Jesus’ Compassion for Jerusalem

How often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you are not willing. You can just see the compassion, sovereignty, responsibility, compassion. We see it all there.

Well, my name's Mike Ebenroth, this is No Compromised Radio Ministry. Of course you know my name's Mike Ebenroth, otherwise you're just listening to some rando guy. You can write me, Mike, at NoCompromisedRadio .com.

Don't forget, Law Gospel Primer, Chosen, King, Discovering Colossians and Romans, all on Amazon .com.