Robin Williams, ISIL, and Compassion

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.

Compassion in the Wake of Robin Williams' Death

Welcome to No Compromise Radio. My name is Steve Cooley. I'm the Tuesday Guy. It's Tuesday. Pastor Mike is on Martha's Vineyard. No, he's back from vacation. I know that because his coffee mug is gone.

But he's not feeling well and won't be joining me today, sadly. But I have a few things to talk about today. And the first one, I wanted to just mention the passing of Robin Williams, the death of Robin Williams.

Many Christians have made comments about it. I've read things. I mean, there have been worldly people who have, for example, they were so vicious in some of the comments they made. I heard that Robin Williams' daughter actually left Twitter.

She closed her Twitter account because she received such vile comments, even some blaming her for her father's depression and death. And, you know, of course, now we know that he had Parkinson's disease.

Now, I heard a doctor, I thought this was interesting, I heard a doctor say that Parkinson's and depression are often treated by the same drugs because they have overlapping symptoms. And they think that the two, that Parkinson's can actually be manifested by depression, that it can be like a symptom of it.

And so I thought that was interesting. And, you know, that would be a case where I would say, well, perhaps this is an actual demonstrable example of depression. I think often depression is kind of over-diagnosed.

Too much medication is prescribed. We've talked about that ad nauseum. But I wanted to just address one thing that really just, it bothered me so much. Even before the dust had settled, the smoke had cleared, however, you know, whatever trite saying you want to use.

But before even 12, 24 hours had passed, people were saying things like, you know, this just kind of demonstrates the emptiness of life apart from Christ. That's true. I mean, you can look at Ecclesiastes, you can look at other scriptures, and you can say, okay, now intellectually, biblically, that is true.

I just wonder if going to Twitter, going to Facebook, you know, going to social media and posting that kind of thing is really the face you want to put on Christianity. Now, is it a time to proclaim Christ?

Yes. But just like at a funeral, there are things that we say and things that we don't say. There are things that are appropriate. There are things that are not appropriate. I think it's right to quote another passage of scripture, you know, to everything there is a season, right?

There's a season kind of to say, gee, life apart from Christ sure is empty, isn't it? And a time to weep with those who weep, you know, Romans 12, 15 kind of language. How should we be thinking about death?

Well, we minister to the living. And the one thing I just cannot, I cannot like get out of my head is this idea that somehow because a celebrity committed suicide, that it makes it okay to somehow mock a life apart from Christ.

And I don't even know that that's always the intention. But I don't want to belittle anybody's death. I think we need to be filled with compassion for what he went through and also understanding that people are hurt.

They're hurting. They're looking for answers. And his family is hurting and, you know, may be looking for answers. But I think there is a time for everything. And in the immediate aftermath of a death like that where so many people and, you know, me personally, I was affected.

You know, did I think, I think I posted something like, you know, I had the feeling because I grew up. I mean, one of the earlier shows I can remember watching was, you know, Happy Days. I mean, going back to shows that weren't rerun or whatever.

And then Mork Mindy was a spinoff from Happy Days. And so, you know, Robin Williams and I, he is not quite 10 years older than me. But we almost grew up, so to speak, together. You know, him on television being famous, you know, and starting his career that way.

And me just watching him. And, you know, you almost feel like you know somebody having been to a number of his movies, you know, in Aladdin and all these kind of things over the years. And, you know, obviously I didn't know him.

But it just strikes me as being an odd response. You know, there was a, I've done a few funerals where I haven't been convinced or even thought there was remotely a chance that the person who died was saved.

Now, imagine me standing up in front of all the people there, you know, probably many care deeply about this person. And saying, you know, I got to be honest with you guys, there's not a chance this person was saved.

There's not a chance that this person's in heaven. There's not a chance that this person escaped the wrath of God for eternity. Why would I do that? Weep with those who weep. Have compassion on them. Understand that they have a need.

And not only do they have a need in Christ, an eternal need, but they also have a need to know that they're going to be cared for. That somebody else, you know, cares about them and cares about their plight and understands and identifies with them.

And I think it's so key to minister to people in that situation that we try to think, okay, how would I want to be talked to? Now, understanding that I want to hear the gospel, even though they may not want to hear it, I want to hear the gospel.

But how can I approach it? How can I not remove any truth from the gospel? But how can I tailor it in such a way where I make my compassion for them known at the same time I'm telling them that they're en route for a Christless eternity in hell.

If they don't repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever happened to their dear departed person or their loved one, and whatever happened, whatever Robin Williams' belief was, I don't know.

And the Lord only knows. But that's not the issue after Robin Williams dies. We should just have compassion. We need to have empathy. We need to think, how would I feel if it was my loved one? That's the mindset we ought to have.

And I don't know. It's beyond my comprehension. The Christians who profess to love people and to care for them and to care about their ultimate destiny can say things like that in a situation like that.

We need to be the most compassionate, the most loving, the most caring people. Now, do I fail? Yes. I will readily admit that. In fact, maybe at some point in the future, I'll do a whole 24-and-a-half-minute show about all my failures.

Well, okay, 24-and-a-half minutes wouldn't quite do it. We'd have to do about a 10-part series. That's not my point. My point is simply, it's a simple one. It's if somebody dies, I don't care if that person's famous or infamous.

I don't care if somebody is put to death for committing a horrible crime. It's not the time to crow about it. It's a time to think about there are people who care even for the worst people in the world.

And Robin Williams certainly was not that. But I wanted to address another issue and something that I spoke about to our church a few Sunday mornings ago. And I just think it's just so it just it's something that Christians, I think that it's something that the world is now paying attention to.

The Islamic State, Persecution, and the Christian Response

I think even though it was interesting to me, you know, the pope is calling for action over there in Iraq with ISIL, this Islamic state in Iraq and the Levant. Meaning, you know, they just want to establish this caliphate, this large place where Sharia is the rule of law.

And I don't know if you've seen this, but over the last few years, they started in Syria. They expanded. They were very successful against the Syrian government of Assad. And then they spread out over the border into Iraq.

And they've had a great success against Iraq. And just even in the last few weeks, putting dozens, scores, hundreds maybe of Christians to death and pictures on the internet of Christians being crucified in horrific ways.

Children being buried alive. I mean, all these pictures are there and available because they're quite proud of what they're doing, these Islamists, these Islamic terrorists and what they're doing. They think it's the right thing.

They're giving people the opportunity to either profess their belief in Islam or be put to death. Now, for some other people who are not Christians, they've given them the option of converting to Islam or paying a tax.

Well, actually, the Christians have been given the option of paying a tax because they do have some respect, some minor respect for Jews and for Christians because they are known as people of the book.

But for the other religious minorities, the Yazidis and other groups, they get no respect. And they either convert or die. But my point is to just think about, and I've had discussions with unbelievers about this, and they just say, you know what?

Christianity has done this in the past. All religions do this. And Steve, you don't get it. Well, on No Compromise Radio, here's the no compromise truth. The no compromise truth is there is one religion right now in this world that says believe in our religion or die.

And that is Islam. And there is nothing more satanic than that. But you know what? Because here's what I would say to anybody, including a terrorist if he was sitting across the table from me right now, which is a scary thought.

But I would say you need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or you will spend eternity in hell. Now, that's the truth. Okay? And I'm going to explain to them what it means to believe. I'm going to explain to them why they need to believe because they have a sin problem.

That is that by nature and by action, they defy God. They violate his law. They break God's perfect standard of holiness. They fail to even love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength and love their neighbor as their self.

There isn't one moment of one day where they do that perfectly. And because of that, they need someone to pay the price for them. They can't pay the price themselves and be forgiven because they can't give up their life.

They don't have a flawless, sinless life to sacrifice for themselves. And so, they need a substitute. And that substitute is the Lord Jesus Christ. Fully man, fully God, came to earth, lived a perfect life, the life that we ought to live, then was put to a death he did not die.

Or he, sorry, he did not deserve in our place and then was raised on the third day. You must believe that in order to gain entrance to heaven. It's his perfection, his righteousness that merits heaven for us, nothing that we can do.

But these Islamists, these Muslim fanatics are running around putting people to death because they will not say there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet, you know, three times to become a Muslim.

And I think it is just so, well, first of all, I'm just reminded of the words of Jesus in John chapter 15. When he says, remember the word I've said to you, a servant is not greater than his master. This is verse 20.

If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will keep yours also. Why do they persecute Christians? Because they hate Christianity. They hate Christ. They say that they love him.

They say that they view him as a prophet. But Jesus didn't come as a prophet. He came as a sin bearer, as a sacrifice, as a substitute for all who would ever believe. But they, if you listen to Islam, if you listen to Muslim apologists, if you read the Quran, they will tell you that Jesus did not even die, that he only appeared to die, that it was a mirage as it were.

But they hate Christ. They hate the true Christ just as those of Jesus' day did. Now, when I mentioned this in our church a few weeks ago, I read this passage and this is just so poignant. Romans chapter 8, Paul writing, beginning in verse 31.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies, who is to condemn. Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who is interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Listen, as it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long.

We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. That's the situation in Iraq today. Paul goes on, he says, No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, and may I add, including Islam, will be able to separate us from the love of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Now listen, I'm sure some of you are probably, you can picture having a gun put to your head and said, You know what, either say there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his prophet three times, or I'm going to shoot you in the head, or I'm going to shoot your wife, or I'm going to take your wife off into captivity, or I'm going to take your kids off into captivity.

And you think, well, maybe I would just say, I would just say that three times, but I wouldn't really mean it. So in other words, you would deny Christ before men and then expect him to save you. I don't know what the answer to that is.

What I know is if there are true Christians over there, and many are not, I mean, who knows what the percentages are. But I know that in that part of the world, you are not irreligious. There's nobody who's born over in that part of the world who's an atheist.

Now they may not actually believe in any religion, but on your birth certificate, there's some kind of religion, and it's the religion of your father. That's how that whole part of the world works. So people are born, quote unquote, Christians.

Now whether they get saved or not, I don't know. And again, as with Robin Williams, it's not my job. I don't pass judgment on that. What I do know is that many are Roman Catholics, there are many Orthodox Christians over there, and there may be some true believers, and I think there really are.

And I think the Lord is probably also using this to drive many who have not believed to faith, and not to say that I condone any part of it because I hate it. I mean, again, every single one of these people, again, like Robin Williams, is an image bearer.

That is, the imprint of God is on each and every human being, so that each and every death should offend us. And when they're taking life wrongly, when they're murdering people for failing to convert to a false religion like Islam, well, yeah, we ought to be offended.

Prayer, Evangelism, and Compassion for the Persecuted

What can we do about all these things? Well, I think, first of all, we ought to be praying for the persecuted church. We ought to be praying for the repentance even of these terrorists, these murderers.

There's no one whom God cannot save, right? I mean, what was Paul before he got saved? Persecutor of the church. And he didn't just persecute them. He wasn't just saying bad things about them and, you know, taking spray paint and out there marking up the church buildings, of which there were none, by the way.

But he was actually persecuting them in that he participated in the murder of Stephen. He was out to go out and catch Christians because they were seen as heretics, throw them into jail and do whatever it took to make that happen.

So, if God can change, that was Saul of Tarsus. If he can change Saul of Tarsus into Paul the apostle, Paul the evangelist, Paul the one who was willing to, you know, undergo shipwreck and all these other horrible things, beatings, you know, running for his life for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of Christ, then he can also save some of these terrorists.

And I pray that it is so. But we ought to, our hearts ought to be breaking as we see fathers separated from their families. We see mothers raped, sold off into slavery. Children sold off into slavery.

You know, families slaughtered, killed, all the horrific things that they're doing over there. It ought to move us to want to do something. And, you know, we can't, we're not going to form the, you know, the new crusade and go over there and put the infidels to death.

That's from a different era. What we can do, because we know that God rules the hearts of kings, presidents, rulers, he can change things. But we ought to be praying for these people. We ought to be praying for the Yazidis, all these people, because they are image bearers.

Each and every one of them is going to stand before a holy God one day. And they're going to have to answer for their lives. They're going to have to answer for what they did with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Did they believe in him? And if they rejected him, I don't care what they went through in this lifetime. They're going to hell. We need to pray that the Lord would, by his grace and his mercy, save lives, but more importantly, save souls.

Because if everyone over there gets their life saved and everyone lives a life of opulence from now on, and they die outside of Christ, not knowing him, then this life has been futile indeed. And then we can invoke the themes of Ecclesiastes and everything that I was talking about in the beginning.

But I think our lives, and my message to you today on NoCompromisedRadio .com, WVNE, is we ought to be a compassionate people. We ought to be moved. If you can watch the things that are happening, or if you want to stay blissfully ignorant of the things that are happening, then you have to ask yourself, well, how does the love of Christ indwell me?

How can I not be moved? How can I not be disturbed? How can I not be weeping with those who are weeping? There are people around the world today weeping over what's going on. How can I not be one of them?

How can I call myself a follower of Christ and not be concerned for other followers of Christ? How can I not hope that the Holy Spirit will so work throughout this horrific situation to save people, to save souls, to bring the gospel to light?

I know that there's a movement, I think it's called Unified Christians. You know, they're looking to raise money, again, not for an armed response, but they're hoping at some point that things will settle down, they'll be able to send foodstuffs, clothes, other supplies to these people.

And I think that's the right response. We want people who've even been through all this to have hope, and that hope is not fixed in the things of this world. I've said it many times. If I could take care of your every physical need, if I could feed you, clothe you, house you, take care of everything that you will ever need, and for your kids and your grandkids and everything else, you might think, oh, that'd be so great.

But if I don't tell you the truth, that you are a sinner in need of the forgiveness that God so freely offers in the person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ, then I've done nothing for you. You might think I've done everything for you, but the truth is I've done nothing.

I might as well have spit in your face as giving you all that stuff. You need a Savior. The terrorists need a Savior. Robin Williams' family, every single person outside the walls of this church, because there's nobody here right now, everyone needs a Savior.

If you have one, praise the Lord. If you don't, pray to Him. And if you do, pray for others. Pray that the word would go forth, even in the midst of carnage and sadness and death and destruction, and just images that I would not even encourage you to go looking for them on the internet.

I've seen some of them, and I'm like, I don't want to see anymore. They're heartbreaking. They make you want to throw up, is what they make you want to do. But friends, whether it's whatever the situation is, death ought to give us one response.

Death is the enemy, and our response to it is compassion for the people afflicted, compassion for the survivors, and a desire to lift Christ up, even in the most difficult circumstances, and to do so in a way that lets the person know we care about them, and our number one goal is to see them one day in heaven.

No Compromise Radio.

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 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbcchurch .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.