Authority (Part 2)

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No Compromise Radio Thanks for tuning in to No Compromise Radio with pastor and author,

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Dr. Mike Avendroff. Today on No Compromise Radio, we'll be hearing Pastor Mike open the

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Word of God in a recent message he preached at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston, Massachusetts.

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Now let's join Pastor Mike in progress as he preaches through the Scriptures, verse by verse with no compromise.

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See Paul is saying this so -called brother isn't a Christian because Christian is a word of characterization.

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He says this person in 1 Corinthians chapter 5, he's not a Christian, he's a fornicator.

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This person isn't a Christian, they're an adulterer. They're not a Christian, they're a drunk.

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And the Christian church is for Christians, not those who still act the same way they did before they were saved.

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You say, well yeah, but if you go down this line, you're going to have a bunch of people in the church who become prideful, arrogant, hypocritical, they're going to look down their nose on people.

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I guess that could happen, but that's the chance we have to take because you have to obey the

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Scriptures. One man called this, don't eat with someone, kind of an electric fence that warns about the limits of admissible conduct.

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This is the fence, we're putting up a fence. Listen to what

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Jonathan Edwards said, he preached a sermon, listen to the name of the sermon, here in Massachusetts, 1749,

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The Nature and End of Excommunication. And he preached this sermon, it says, on the occasion of the excommunication of John Bridgman's wife.

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His theme was, quote, those members of the visible Christian church who become visibly wicked ought not to be tolerated in the church and should be excommunicated.

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Edwards goes on to say, we are forbidden such a degree of associating ourselves with them as there is in making them our guests at our tables, or in being their guests at their tables, as is manifest in the text.

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We are to have no company with them, not even to eat. Christ's meaning must be that we should treat an excommunicated person as the

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Jews were wont to treat the heathens and publicans. Edwards asked the question, what kindness and respect may and ought to be shown to such persons?

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I answer, to pray for them and to admonish them. The duties of natural and civil relations are still to be performed.

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Excommunication does not release children from the obligation of duty to their parents, nor parents from their parental affection and care towards their children, nor husbands and wives released from their duties proper to their relation.

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Yeah, but you know, if we do this, if we just judge the people in the church, who's going to judge the world?

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The world needs to be judged. Who's going to judge the world if we don't do it? Verse 12,

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God's going to judge the world so we don't have to worry about that. Judge not actually applies to us regarding judging the world.

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Verse 12, 1 Corinthians 5, for what have I to do with judging outsiders,

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Paul asked the first rhetorical question. Then he asked another rhetorical question with a plural you.

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It is not those inside the church whom you, ye, y 'all are to judge.

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Notice this judgment that he's talking about. This is not criticizing. This is not, you know, I'm judging in my mind.

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This is judgment which includes discipline. How are we going to discipline the world? How long would services take if we had to read the role of excommunicated people who were excommunicating out of the world for being so worldly?

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I mean, we're not going to have a service. Paul says, I don't judge outsiders. It's not those, is it not those inside the church who you judge?

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Yes, we are. We're to judge insiders, not outsiders. No jurisdiction outside the church to judge.

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Look at what it says in verse 13. Somebody will judge. You've been wronged. You've seen sin in the world and you think,

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I want those people to get what's coming to them. Well, it will. But God will do it.

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God judges those outside. That's God's task. The Greek could be

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God is presently judging or God will judge. We don't know. But what we do know is this, the judge of the universe will do right, won't he?

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Abraham asked that question in Genesis 18. God's going to judge them. So what's our response?

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Verse 13, purge the evil person. Here's this leaven kind of talk again.

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Purge the evil person from among you. So Paul is clear.

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He says for the unbelievers outside the world, God will take care of them. But for the person who says they're a

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Christian who doesn't act like a Christian in your church, you've got to purge them. If I can say this as a pastor to try to encourage you or to try to exhort you, unbelievers act like unbelievers.

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We're to live in this world where we don't associate with people who have been excommunicated. But number two, we're moving to this point now.

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We are to associate with unbelieving people. I could ask you a question. Do you have any friends who are sexually immoral, greedy, swindlers, idolaters, drunkards, or revilers?

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You should. Of course you shouldn't say, oh, that's great that you do those sins.

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Let me help you do those sins more and faster and more often. Let me condone those sins. Of course you ought not to celebrate those sins, but you should love those people.

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And by the way, unbelievers are really good at being unbelievers. Matter of fact, unbelievers are better at being unbelievers than believers are being believers.

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Did you get that? Unbelievers are always 100 % acting like unbelievers all the time, with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.

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But believers sometimes act righteously, sometimes act not righteously. By the way, believer who's here today who doesn't always act like a believer, that's why we need somebody else's perfect righteousness.

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That's why we need someone else who always acted perfectly, sinlessly, because when we don't act like a believer in our practice, we've got position, we've got cover, we've got the righteousness of Christ.

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But believers sin their minds out. They sin their brains out. They're sinning all the time.

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And so what are we supposed to do? Run? No. I'll ask the question this way.

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Would Jesus's life help us analyze how we're supposed to live in this world?

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I think it would. Turn with me, if you would, to Luke chapter 5. Let me give you a series of verses to show you how it's okay and Christ -like to associate with homosexuals, pedophiles, rapists, murderers, abortion doctors, and anybody else that you can think of,

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Hamas terrorists. It's good to associate with the riffraff of the world.

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And we'll see Jesus did this. Jesus didn't compromise who He was. He didn't celebrate it.

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He didn't condone it. But He wasn't in some kind of monastery either. And so I'm going to give you a little preview of a few verses and then we're going to end in Mark chapter,

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Matthew 11, today. Luke 5, 27 to 32, I want you to hear the refrain of how

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Jesus was criticized for being around sinful people. Luke 5, 27, and this

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He went, after this He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth and He said to him, follow me.

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And leaving everything, He rose and followed him. Levi made a great feast in his house and he was thankful.

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There's a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at the table with Him. The Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at the disciples saying, why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?

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Jesus answered, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick, I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

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He eats with the immoral. Chapter 7 please, same book, Luke 7.

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There is a refrain. Jesus hangs out with sinners and I'm glad for that. Now, when the

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Pharisee, Luke 7, 39, who had invited Him saw this, He said to Himself, of course

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Jesus can hear the whole thing because Jesus is omniscient. He said to Himself, if this man were a prophet,

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He would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching

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Him, for she is a sinner. Luke 19 please,

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Luke 19, verse 7, Luke 19, 7, I think we get a good illustration found in the life of Christ, rooted in the epistles.

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We are supposed to be with sinful people. Before I read this one, I'll never forget, I was at Mount Hermon, a

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Christian conference center in California, beautiful, redwoods everywhere, and Chuck Swindoll got up to preach and it was a conference, it was summertime,

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I think he was preaching on Rurie that summer, and he had shorts on, and I remember him getting up and preaching in shorts, and the first thing he did as he got up, in Chuck Swindoll style, he said, how many people here live at Mount Hermon?

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Because you can live in the homes really close to it, Kim grew up there, and so many people raised their hand, and when you see the

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Mount Hermon crowd, people are probably rightfully proud to live there. I live there, it's a privilege,

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I get to live there. How many people here live at Mount Hermon? Tons of people, they've got their own post office, you can use the

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Mount Hermon Bible Conference facilities. How many people live here? You know what then Chuck Swindoll said, it's classic,

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I feel sorry for you. I feel sorry for you. He said, all your neighbors are

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Christians. Your post office is Christian, your gym is Christian, your cafeteria is

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Christian, all your summer visitors are Christian. You don't get to hang around any immoral, vile people,

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I feel sorry for you. I know one pastor, he said, I'm going to join the gym down the street,

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A, I like to work out he said, and B, I need to know some pagans. Of course it's good to come back to the church, yes, people that have been washed by the blood of the

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Lamb, people that have been given a mind to worship the risen Savior. But we come back and we refresh ourselves and then today we go out, entering your mission field because you're going to be around people, you know tomorrow there will probably be some people who might swear around you.

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Now if they swear around your kids, I usually say to people, excuse me, my wife and kids are here. But you've got bigger problems than people swearing in your presence.

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You say, I just don't want to hear my Lord's name in vain, I applaud you. But you've got problems that are bigger than swears in your life.

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And instead of going to them all the time and saying, can you please not say those things, I guess maybe a better approach would be,

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I'd love to have you over for dinner, I've got a gift for you. Somebody in the church just told me about, they bought this person a bunch of gifts and included with some

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Bible book and stuff so they almost feel, you know, compelled to read the Bible book because there's so many other great gifts, that's a great idea.

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Luke 19 7, I'm going to make sure I get to this, and when they saw it, they all grumbled, he has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a what?

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Sinner. Jesus, a friend of sinners. Not a friend of saints, he's a friend of sinners.

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But maybe the best, Matthew 11, let's turn there, and here's what I'm trying to do this morning. I'm trying to teach you 1

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Corinthians 5, to say when there's an unrepentant person with flagrant grievous sin that can contaminate a church, you must do church discipline on that person to the glory of God and for the good of the person.

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But I also, in the heart of Paul and in the life of Christ, we see that we're not supposed to go so far over and fall over on this side of the tightrope that we just never hang out with Christians.

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I know people that hate Christmas because all their family are coming over and all their family is pagan. I think you should be saying, great, all the pagans are coming over.

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And especially if you're the father of the house, you're going to sit down and say, let's open in prayer. Now, I don't advise preach praying on many occasions, but that's one that I do.

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Dear father, we thank you that you're the creator of the universe, the only God almighty. And off you go, talking about Jesus Christ's substitutionary death.

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But you go, you know what, pagans come over to your house, guess how they're going to act? They're probably going to act paganly.

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And I hope all your friends and neighbors go, look at all those people, they're hanging out with sinners. I loved it at our home

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Bible study back in California, Northern California, excuse me, North Hollywood. There's a bunch of ex kind of hell's angels guys that came over for Bible study.

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One guy's nickname was Bones, and he had hair down to past his knee, and he was really skinny.

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He was skinny as a skeleton or bones, and he used to be into heroin, but he'd been saved. He invited all these other motorcycle people, and I just thought, wait till the neighbors get a load of this.

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The hell's angels are coming to Pastor Mike's house. I thought, that's right, we want people to know.

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We want people to feel our love. I had to make an admission. This was about, I think it was in the summertime,

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I said to Kim, you know, I want you to know that I kissed another lady today. I said, but it was in front of everybody, it was out on the street, and we have a cul -de -sac.

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Boy, I'm trying to get myself out of this one now. Let's close in prayer. And we have some homosexual neighbors, and I hadn't seen her for a while, and I just came and gave her a big hug, and I kissed her on the cheek, and I said,

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I love you. I thought that's exactly how Jesus would act. And you know,

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I know it's the gospel working, because that's not the old Mike. That's not unredeemed Mike. That's not new

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Christian Mike. I just think, I want to receive sinners. Other people in the neighborhood might say things, might not like things, but I want them all to know the pastor's family, this is more driven by Kim than me, the

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Ebendroth house is open to receive sinners. Matthew 11, verse 16.

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But to what shall I compare this generation? It's like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to their playmates.

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You know, kids play games then like they do now. They had two games back then that they loved to play.

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Wedding was the first game. Funeral was the second game. For us, it's nothing better.

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Red Rover, Red Rover, Red Light, Green Light, I played when I was a kid. Probably the young kids don't even know games now, because it's, you know,

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Angry Chickens or whatever they play. Call of Duty and stuff.

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We played, what other games did we play growing up? Red Light, Green Light, Heads Down, Thumbs Up, Red Rover, Red Rover, charade kind of games.

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Oh, Ring Around the Rosie, Pocket Full of Posies, Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down. Well, they had two games they loved to play back then.

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Wedding and funeral. One certainly follows the other. Both were public things.

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When there was a wedding, there was a big procession, singers accompanied. There's the bridegroom, the groom, excuse me, the bridegroom, the bride, the attendants streaming down the agora of the city, the marketplace.

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And so the kids would go, hey, let's play, you know, parents are shopping, let's play wedding. I'm the, you know, dad, and I'm the bride, and I'm the groom.

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I think I used to play Batman too when I was a kid. I always wanted to be Batman. So they had another game too, funeral.

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And you would hire back in those days people to wail for you. And you can see after a while the kids, you know, become disinterested.

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And they're like, we don't want to play funeral wedding anymore. Now let's play funeral. So we've gone to, oh great, so -and -so is getting married too.

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Oh, you know, I've lost my loved one. And Jesus is going to tell a little story.

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And here's the story. The ministry of John the Baptist was like a funeral dirge from his clothes to his food, to the way he acted, to his message, to who he hung out with.

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But Jesus' message, his life, and who he hung out with was more like a what? A wedding.

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And by the way, you peevish Pharisees and false teachers, you didn't go for either one.

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You didn't like either one. Verse 17, we played the flute for you. You did not dance.

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We sang a dirge. You did not mourn. Now, John, Jesus ties into the funeral game.

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He neither came eating nor drinking. And they say, when you hear the messenger of God and he comes aesthetically preaching repentance, what do you tell?

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Other people. Messenger from God. No, he has a demon. Well, Jesus, he came and he was more like the wedding festival.

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He came eating and drinking. And to John, they said, you are demon possessed.

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What's the worst thing they could say about a person? What's worse than saying you're demon possessed? Have you ever got so mad at someone, you looked at them and said, you're demon possessed.

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I mean, that's pretty bad. I've been pretty mad at people, but I never even thought to say that. You're of your father the devil.

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I've never said it. So, they're going to one -up it because John is gone and they're going to try to get

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Jesus. What's worse than saying to someone, you're a demon possessed person? Answer. Look at him.

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A glutton and a drunkard. A friend of what? Of whom? Tax collectors and sinners.

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You can tell he's bad. He hangs out with sinners. Yet wisdom is justified by our deeds.

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I think we live in a great time. Because the more foul the world gets, the more polluted the world gets, the more corrupt the world gets, the more they need salt and the more that light shines in the darkness.

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And I never want to be the kind of person who allows sin in the church to just go unbridled.

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But I also never want to be the kind of person that says, I don't love sinful people. That I don't love sinners who act like sinners.

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Luke 15. One last passage about Jesus and how he dealt with sinful people.

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And how we should. I'm going to pray in just a minute that God's going to give you sinners this week to love on. And it's going to be sticky.

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But you're going to have the opportunity to preach and to love and to share. Wouldn't it be a compliment if somebody ever said to you, that person loves sinners.

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Luke 15. Parables have context. And you've got to know why he gives a parable before you can understand its meaning.

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Well, sometimes it's the beginning, sometimes it's the end. But here it's at the beginning. Three parables of lost things.

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Lost sheep, lost coin, lost sons. But why were they given? Verse 1 of chapter 15,

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Luke. This is the best. This could take me 50 minutes, but I'm going to try my hardest to get it done soon. Now, the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.

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Can't you imagine that? And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled. This man receives sinners and eats with them.

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Of course he wasn't saying, your sin is good. He eats with sinners because they know they're not righteous.

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And then Jesus tells them about his righteousness. How to be forgiven. Who he was, what he'll do.

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These Pharisees hated Jesus because he ate with sinners. He associated with them.

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So he tells them three stories. Have you ever lost something and then found it? You lost something, you found it, and then rejoiced.

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I'm sorry to give you this example, but this is the latest thing I could think of that I lost. I have a special card, a gun card, so I can carry firearms with me while I preach.

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This right here is just the microphone, that's all it is. And I lost the card.

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You can't buy ammo, you can't have a used round, you can't have mace, you can't do anything. You can't even make a gun out of bread or you get thrown into jail.

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I lost that card. It cost a lot, like re -fingerprinting, all these things. I lost the card. But you know,

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I found that card. Right where I left it, by the way. You know what I did? I was happy.

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Something's lost, you find it, you rejoice. So Jesus gives three parables. When you lose something and you find it, you rejoice.

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And he says, you know what? The lost sheep, there's a lost sheep, the person found it, and what did they do?

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Verse 7, there'll be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99.

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The sheep was lost, I found the sheep, rejoice. Lost, found, rejoice.

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Situation 2, the parable of the lost coin. She loses the coin, verse 8. Verse 9, she found it.

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She says in verse 9, rejoice with me. Verse 10, so I tell you, there's joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

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I lost a sheep, I found it, I rejoice. I lost a coin, I found it, I rejoice. When you lose something and it's found, what do you do?

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Then he gives the knife. And this is the parable of prodigal son. And he says, you know what? This son is lost.

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This son is going to be found. And that other son isn't going to rejoice.

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He's going to be mad. And you Pharisees are that other son. And he talks about the son who's lost.

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Prodigal son goes out, eating the pig stuff, spends all the money.

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Maybe with prostitutes and everything else. He is lost. He comes home. He's found. The dad runs out to forgive him.

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And what should that other son be doing? What's the paradigm? Lost, found, rejoice. Lost, found, rejoice.

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Here the paradigm is lost, found, what? Mad. He says in verse 32, it was fitting to celebrate and be glad.

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For this your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found. The key to Luke chapter 15 is lost, found, rejoice.

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Lost, found, rejoice. Lost, found, mad. And you should have rejoiced. And Jesus says, when there are sinners, who by the grace of God have been found, and God regenerates them and gives them new life, and breathes

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His Spirit into them, what should be the response of other people?

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I'm glad. I'm happy. Jesus associates with sinners and He gives them the

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Gospel. We associate with sinners. We give them the Gospel. But those who have heard the Gospel and stay in the church and refuse to repent, we have to kick out.

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That's the message of 1 Corinthians chapter 5. It's hard to tightrope walk on this kind of truth.

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What about sin in the church? What about those outside the church? So what do you do? I hate watching tightrope walkers in the circus unless they have a net.

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I hate it when they don't have a net because I've seen people fall off of things before and the sound of a human body hitting the cement,

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I'm telling you, isn't very good. So I'm always worried about the net. Are they going to fall off or not?

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It's like in the Golden Gate Bridge. Work went up after they put the safety nets under.

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And I'm thinking, I've got to tightrope walk this as your pastor and as a fellow Christian. Can you be too hard on sin?

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Yes. Can you be too lax on sin? Yes. What do you do? Do you know what I say to close? I've got the net.

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I've got Christ Jesus, His righteousness, His obedience, His wisdom, His sovereignty. And so we're going to do what we've been called to do because we've got a safety net under us.

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And so therefore in Him I rest. And you should too. 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 10 .15 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 bbchurch .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.