Church Survival (Part 1)

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. My name is Mike Abendroth.

I'm still suffering from this cold. Why is that? Because I had it two hours ago when

I started these four shows recording. So I was out last week and doing a little bit of radio stuff and Southern Seminary teaching.

And so I was behind. I thought, I gotta do four shows. It's Friday, it's 5 .15 p .m.,

and still here I sit recording No Compromise Radio shows. But glad to do it, glad to be able to serve,

I don't know how many shows we've done, a thousand something, drinking out of my

Hebrews coffee mug. Come on. Not. Oh, man.

Think about how churches survive. How do churches survive? What do they need to do in response to the gospel to make it?

If you have a Bible, you might wanna think about 2 Timothy chapter three. And I'm gonna give you some survival tactics for your local church, especially if you're an elder or pastor, but even if you're not, this is what a church needs to do to survive.

Churches go south, churches become liberal, churches compromise, churches capitulate, churches begin to do sweater vest preaching, and then everything's downhill from there.

And so how does a church not do what most churches sadly end up doing?

Universal Unitarian churches started off as congregational churches, federated churches, right?

They were mixtures of Unitarian, congregational, Baptist churches, and that always struck me as odd here in New England.

You've got a federated church and it's Unitarians, Baptists, and Congregationalists all get together. Yeah, I know you don't believe in the same

God, but let's get together because we can save electrical bills, save on firewood.

Yeah, that'll work, that sounds good to me. So survival tips for local churches from 2

Timothy 3 -4, obviously, you know, it's a pastoral epistle and Timothy is being charged by Paul through the

Spirit of God, right? And the first thing that the church should do to survive is to realize, this is the first must,

I think I have seven musts. This is not like must that grows on stuff, this is a must like imperatives for survival, seven musts,

M -U -S -T, apostrophe S, must number one. You must realize that perilous times will come, 2

Timothy 3 -1, but realize this, that in the last days, difficult times, hard times, hard to bear times, troublesome times, dangerous times, ruthless times, savage ages will come, it's gonna be bad.

In these last days between Christ's first coming and second coming, you need to know this, realize this, ignorance isn't bliss, this is a reality, this is not the

Y2K gimmick deal, we can never make a pencil again and every computer will crash in 1999's rollover to 2000.

Satan is real, the world's system is real, but the focus of Paul in 2

Timothy 3 is not Satan or the world's system, it's men.

The perilous times that will come, it's because of how bad people are.

Verse two, for men will be lovers of self, it's only used here in the

New Testament, selfish. Phil, a toy, Phil, love, auto, self, they love themselves.

Lovers of money, Phil, argyroy, this is used also in Luke 16, they love money,

Philadelphia money, they're boastful, they're braggarts, they're arrogant, this means literally to show oneself above others.

Thayer lexicon says, with an over weaning estimate of one's means or merits, despising others or even treating them with contempt, comma, haughty.

These are the days in which we live, gotta know this, Timothy better watch out, churches better watch out.

What's the next thing say? 2 Timothy 3, verse two, the NAS goes on to say, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, acharis, and then the ending, charis, to give thanks, not thankful, ungrateful, ingrates,

I think we used to call them back in Nebraska. Unholy, used also in 1

Timothy chapter one, nine, only those two places, no fellowship with God, super secular, secular humanists, they're unholy.

Verse three, unloving, literally a storgegoi, which is without family affection, irreconcilable.

It means unforgiving, I don't really have a, without a treaty, without a covenant, and so it means

I'm not gonna reconcile, that's how people are, irreconcilable. Malicious gossips are slanderous, it's diaboloi.

It means the devil, diabolos, and he's a slander, and these people accuse people falsely, they're prone to slander, without self -control.

That's a general word, but specifically, probably, as Bernard said, in regard to bodily lusts.

So easily led into sin. Well, what does the text go on to say?

Brutal, this is a word only used here, it means not tame, fierce, savage.

When you use it of an animal, it's an untamed beast, wild animal, just wild, people are wild.

Haters of good, literally not lovers of the good. You put an

A in front of a word, it's an alpha privative, alpha negative. Philos, agathos, not lover of good.

Treacherous, people are traitors, they're betrayers, they're Judas's, reckless, oh, they're rash, they just fall forward, they fall headlong, it's like they're so hasty, so rash to do things, they don't think about it, no consequences thought of, running into it, pell -mell, hither -thither.

Conceited, lovers of pleasure, rather than lovers of God.

They're philedoni versus philotheoi, kind of a word play.

They have pleasure in the center, not God. Holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.

First thing you better do, Timothy, first thing you better do, listener, is realize what the landscape is, what's going on around you.

If you're gonna go into battle, you better take a look with eyes wide open, don't kid yourself, what's going on, how do people act?

What's a church gonna be like? Well, you better realize that perilous times are gonna come if you're gonna survive. If you just think everybody's, you know, okie -dokie, then you're gonna be in big trouble.

Secondly, survival skills for a church. One, the first must, realize perilous times will come.

Number two, the second must, turn away from false teachers. You know, it's one thing to have a bunch of bad people that we just described, it's another thing to have bad people who are false teachers.

The text says in verse five, these people hold to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power and avoid such man's ease.

People that prey on the weak, remember 2 Timothy 3, verse six, for among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women, weighed down with sins led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Avoid people like this who prey on the weak, who resist the truth, verse eight, and just as Janice and Jambres opposed

Moses, so these men also oppose the truth. We didn't really know their names in the

Old Testament or from the Old Testament, these Egyptians who were against Moses, but now we know their names.

We know these are the kind of people that 2 Timothy, excuse me, 2 Peter chapter two talks about for speaking out arrogant words of vanity, they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves to corruption.

For by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. Men of depraved minds, rejected as regards of faith, turn away from these kinds of people.

You know, it's interesting to me when you read the Old Testament, I think if we read the Old Testament more, we'd understand who

God is better, we'd understand ourselves better. Even looking at Israel as a nation and people there in the

Old Covenant, we'd figure a lot of things out, but just the clarity, the precision, the preciseness, the awful weight of some of the declarations by God, this is not a game we're playing.

And so when you read the Old Testament, it just sometimes knocks the wind out of you, you just go, Deuteronomy 13, for instance, if a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true concerning what you spoke to you saying, let us go after other gods whom you've not known and let us serve them, you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams.

For the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

You shall follow the Lord your God and fear him. You shall keep his commandments, listen to his voice, serve him, cling to him.

But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death because he has counseled rebellion against the

Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery to seduce you from the way in which the

Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.

Now, listen, if your brother, your mother's son, or your son or daughter, or your wife you cherish,

I mean, what a spike to the heart. Or your husband or the wife you cherish or your friend who is as your soul.

If they entice you secretly saying, let us go and serve other gods whom neither you nor your forefathers have known.

The gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end.

What if your brother comes? What if your sister comes? What if your wife comes? What if your son comes, your daughter comes and says some of these things that they ought not to?

Correct them, tell them never to do it again. Tell them that's not the way we talk around here.

Deuteronomy 13, eight. You shall not yield to him or listen to him.

And your eye shall not pity him nor shall you spare or conceal him.

But you shall surely kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death.

And afterwards, the hand of all the people. So you shall stone him to death because he sought to seduce you from the

Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Then all Israel will hear and be afraid. You bet they will. And will never again do such a wicked thing among you.

If you hear in one of your cities which the Lord your God has given you to live in, anyone saying that some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, let us go and serve other gods whom you have not known.

Then you shall investigate and search out and inquire thoroughly. And if it is true in the matter established that this abomination has been done among you, you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it and all that is in it, its cattle with the edge of the sword.

Then you shall gather all its booty into the middle of its open square and burn the city and all its booty with fire as a whole burnt offering to the

Lord your God. And it shall be a ruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt.

And nothing from that which is put under the band shall cling to your hand. In order that the

Lord may turn from his burning anger and show mercy to you, have compassion on you and make you increase, just as he has sworn to your fathers.

If you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments, which I'm commanding you today, commanding you today and doing what is right in the sight of the

Lord your God. You wanna know why many churches don't make it in these last days?

It's because the leadership, they don't have the courage to kick out the false teachers.

They call Joyce Meyer a great Bible teacher like Ravi does. It's that kind of thing in my opinion.

You have to teach sound doctrine and refute those who contradict. That's what an elder is supposed to do.

You've got an end times church between the first and the second advent of the Lord and there's all kinds of crazy, wild, sinful people running around and then false teachers to boot.

Second Timothy 3 .13 says evil men and imposters will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

So open up your word so you're not deceived, young man. First John chapter two. Second Timothy 3 .9

says, but they will not make further progress for their folly will be obvious to all. As also that of those two came to be, talking of Janice and Jambers.

You better pay attention church. Through good marketing schemes, nice website, kind sales reps on the other end of the phone, damning stuff comes into churches.

Little by little, inch by inch. Third must, you must remain a church centered on the word of God.

Must remain a church centered on the word of God. You continue in it and you preach it.

That's what you do. Focused on the word. You, however,

Timothy, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you've learned them and that from childhood, you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

All scripture is inspired by God. It's breathed out, profitable for teaching, for proof, for correction, for training in righteousness that the man of God, that the preacher, that the

Old Testament designation of the preacher, prophet, the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

You continue in that word young Timothy and then you preach it. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word.

Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction.

The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

Timothy, you've got to continue in the word and preach the word. How does a church survive?

Show me a church that has capitulated and I'll push it right back to the pulpit.

It all goes straight back to the pulpit. What's happening there in the pulpit?

You've got to preach the word because of what's going on these days. What's earlier described in chapter three and in chapter four, verse three, these people will not endure sound doctrine.

It's not that they dislike it or despise it, but they hate it. They want unhealthy things.

They don't want sound doctrine, they want unsound. Truth boxes ears, it makes them burn and they want their ears to be tickled.

Something new, something novel, something that'll please, something that'll soothe. I've had a rough week this week and I go to church to feel good and they'll accumulate heaps of people, piles of people, tons of people,

TBN kind of people. Calvin said, we should note the word heap by which he means that their madness will be so great that they will not be content with a few imposters but will want a great crowd as there is always an insatiable desire for vain and harmful things.

The world seeks on every side and without limit all the means of its own destruction it can devise and imagine.

And the devil always has available as many teachers of this kind as the world requires.

There has always been a plenteous harvest of wicked men as there is today.

And Satan has never any lack of helpers or of means for deceiving men.

The commentator Vincent said, his word study book, teachers of all kinds swarm like the flies in Egypt that a man creates the supply.

The hearers invite and shape their own preachers. If the people desire a calf to worship, a ministerial calf maker is readily found.

My name is Mike Ebenroth. This is No Compromise Radio Ministry. How does a church survive?

You're surrounded by these people who turn their ears from the truth and turn aside to myths.

They're turning aside, wrenching things out of a proper socket.

When the gospel doesn't satisfy people, when the good news of Jesus Christ and him crucified, the risen savior, doesn't quench the thirst of people's souls, nothing will.

And so they'll turn aside to myths. They'll turn aside to human made up stories.

They'll turn aside to spirituality. They'll turn aside to my own private Idaho religion.

It's empty, it's useless. That's why the

Bible has to be taught. That's why doctrine has to be taught, to give a skeleton to what we know, to give a backbone to what we know.

That's why he says in 2 Timothy 4, to preach with doctrine, teaching. That's what the word teaching means, to preach with doctrine.

So you can work through all these things and so you don't buy into the fact that the statement, well, you know,

I need doctrine, then practical. Doctrine is practical. Practical is doctrine. Heidelberg Catechism at the end of every doctrinal section.

How does this comfort you? Weak doctrines are no match for powerful temptations.

You can mark that quote down from Plummer. Weak doctrines are no match for powerful temptations.

Abendroth would say weak doctrines are no match for powerful enemies. Weak doctrines are no match for sinful end times people.

Weak doctrines are no match for false teachers who wrench, who take an arm and pull it out of the socket.

Remember when I used to swing my brother around when I was a kid? A round, roundy ghost, centripetal force at work.

And what happens? His arm would come up limp and he'd cry and I didn't know how to put it back in.

Turn the elbow the right way to get it in there and off we'd go to mom. Then we'd have to go to dad or I'd have to go to dad.

How does a church survive? Well, we'll look at the few more next time. If you'd like to write me and ask me questions or give me some show ideas,

I'm still working on a few of those. If it requires a lot of work, I usually don't do it. Why?

Because I'm lazy? No, I don't know. I'm guessing I work 60, 70, 80 hours a week.

I'm always working. And I just try to teach things on the radio show that I've already done because I have a job.

Just think if this was my day job though and all the bells and whistles we would have, we'd give Wretched Radio a run for their money, wouldn't we?

Allegedly. If you'd like to go to Israel with us, we're going in 2015, No Compromise Radio in Bethlehem Bible Church.

You can go to our website and find some information or email me at info at nocompromiseradio .com.

A couple of people in the last month have said, we try to donate to the radio show, we don't know how to do it.

Well, if you go to Bethlehem Bible Church's website, find the address there, No Compromise Radio, send it to the address of Bethlehem Bible Church, it'll go straight into the

No Compromise Radio ministry kitty. Is that proper to say, put it in the kitty? I don't think it's proper to say, it'll go for ministry, okay?

Mike Abendroth here, 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.