Apostasy

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. Is this a ministry? Is it a show? Is it a radio show? Well, you can always write us, mike at nocompromiseradio .com, if you like, sermoncritique .com, you can go to.

You can go to the YouTube station. I think we�ve got over 20 ,000 downloads now on �Where�s Beth Moore�s Husband I heard Phil Johnson the other day talking, interview, said, �The real question is, where�s her husband

And I thought, I think I�ve copyrighted that. Isn�t that patented, isn�t that trademarked or something, Taco Tuesday, �Where�s Beth Moore�s Husband He�s probably home cashing the checks, probably what he�s doing, in my opinion.

What else is happening in the news today? Tomorrow, in real time, September, no, November 17th, Kanye West is going to be at Joe Osteen�s church, Small C, and I don�t know what�s going to happen. So this is actually 5 .33 p .m. Eastern Standard Time, Saturday, November 16th.

So I don�t know what�s going to happen. By the time this plays, though, it�ll already have happened. And I know the pastor who�s influencing Kanye, Adam Tyson, and it was a while ago Adam and I were down in New Zealand for a conference.

I was teaching the adults and he was teaching, he did the youth stuff, he was teaching Daniel. Anyway, I like Adam and I think Adam would give the right advice to Kanye. And I think this is probably how it went down, one of two options.

This is just what I think. I could be wrong. Option one, Adam expressed his concerns to Kanye and Kanye said, �I don�t care what you say. I�m Kanye West. I�ll go. And don�t hold me back. Don�t hold me down.

That�s option one. I don�t need your tutelage anymore. And I haven�t talked to Adam about this. I�m not going to call Adam and go, �Hey, yeah, you�re talking to Kanye. Now you want to talk to me again.

Option two, Adam tried to talk Kanye out of it and or they came to a mutual decision that this is your script when you go there and you don�t necessarily rebuke Joe Osteen, although you could do that, is you go there and you preach the real gospel and you talk about sin, holiness, the gravity of repentance, hell, and how Jesus is the only savior and you give the theology of the cross instead of Osteen�s theology of glory.

That�s option two. Now I�m hoping that�s the option. By the time you listen to this, you�ll already have said, �Oh, Mike, it was option five, and you just can�t predict these things. Anyway, I think that�s probably what�s going to happen.

And on my end of the deal, I know I did all kinds of things as a new believer, and I do things even now as a mature believer. I think I�ve been a Christian now for 30 years, 30 years a month ago. And I thought, �You know what?

I do all kinds of dumb things even now, and therefore for people to say, �Well, we�ll see what it�s like, and we�ll see what he does, or this is a dumb thing, or that�s dumb, or whatever. I get where you�re coming from.

But maybe I�m just getting soft in my old age. When people say to me, �I�m a believer, I say, �Thank you I say, �I�m thankful, keep believing. That�s what I say. And of course, in my mind, I�m thinking like the Puritans would talk about time and trials.

They flesh these things out. What else is happening around here? We are going to Israel, Lord willing, 2021 in February. That�s not that long to go, so you�ve got about 12, 13 months. Save up around $3 ,000.

If you want to go to Rome, it�ll probably cost you another $600 is my guess, maybe a little bit more. The Rome extensions are always more, but safer than Petra. The Petra extension, I don�t think I�m ever going back.

I�ve been to Petra two times, and you cross the Allenby Bridge, and you get to Jordan, and then you stay at some hotel with all kinds of bomb barriers, and then you have a special policeman on your bus, and he�s got a 9mm, and if anybody comes by with machine guns or AKs, you�re smoked.

And he�s kind of the Politburo kind of guy. He wants to make sure that the tour guide is saying good things about the king, and you watch the thing about the King of Jordan, King Hussein, I think is his name, and his American-born wife, and blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, and then you drive all the way down to Petra, you see it the next day, spend the night again, and then drive all the way back. It�s a long, long drive from Jordan to Petra, and then you can only�there�s nothing else A day drive, a day Petra, a day drive.

Anyway, it�s cheaper, of course, it�s the Middle East, and Jordan wants the money, but I didn�t really feel that safe, and I�ve seen enough, and so you can go on your own. You can go with�who else do you know that�s going?

Anyway, if you�re listening, and you�ve got a group of people from your church, and you want to go with us, I just need to know that ahead of time, because I think the bus seats about 50, 48 to 50. That means I get 24 slots.

Since I�m going, we�re down to 23. I think Mrs. Noco is going to go, if I can swing it. So, I�ve got about 20 slots, so let�s say there�s eight people in your church that want to go, I just need to know that, so first come, first serve, right?

I guess you could start sending in your deposits, if you�d like. Probably about a $100 deposit, $200, money-back guarantee. Why? All right. Subject for the day. I want to talk a little bit more about apostasy, and deliberate turning away from Jesus, and that�s what�s going on in the book of Hebrews.

I think the topic is important, I�m not just doing this to fill my sermon time, although it�s good to talk about what I�m going to say during my sermon. He says, the preacher does, knowing there are goats there, knowing there are people who aren�t really Christians, knowing there are people that are getting persecuted and will turn back to Judaism, and for us, not turn to Jesus, turn back to anything, themselves, their own religion, some religion somebody else made up.

If we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

There�s nothing in here that tells us what that sin is. Therefore, the context, because of the word �for� in verse 26, relates it back to chapter 10, verses 19 and following, where he, the writer, essentially gives the altar call, the call to salvation.

Enter, draw near, we would say believe, trust, repent and believe, that type of thing. If you won�t do that, then there�s going to be hell to pay, because you have to pay for your own sins. That�s really the thing here.

Every sin is going to be punished. God is just, He�s righteous, and He�s not going to let sin go unpunished. Therefore, either you take the punishment, or you need to find a mediator, a substitute that He�s talked about for the first 10 chapters in Hebrews.

We all know people that say they believe, and then trouble comes, and then they say they don�t believe anymore. We talked about Kanye earlier today, Josh Harris. I didn�t really like the Josh Harris stuff.

I remember one of his books, I didn�t appreciate just what he said about his wife. I thought, �You don�t say that. It might be true, but you don�t say it. The book that I really thought was good at the time, I probably should go back and reread it before I toss it, is Stop Dating the Church.

Get involved with the church. Commit to the church. Maybe it�s still good, I don�t know. But Harris, he knows the claims of Jesus, and he�s turned his back on them and Him, the Lord Jesus. These verses would apply to him.

I don�t know the state of his soul, I only know what he says, and he says he�s not a believer anymore, and he�s not a Christian, he�s not trusting in Jesus, at least not the Jesus revealed in the Bible.

And therefore, Josh is going to have to pay for his own sins. There�s no kind of sacrifice in the Old Testament, Numbers 15, for high-handed, intentional sins. And there�s no sacrifice for sins unto eternal life if that sacrifice isn�t the Lord Jesus, who said he�s the way, the truth, and the life.

People can make professions of faith. They can write multi-million-dollar-selling books. They can be pastors. They can be on the biggest platforms. And we have seen people who have now Mark Driscoll and James MacDonald and Julianne Tevigin, they have not renounced the Lord Jesus, and I�m thankful for that.

I truly am. I would not promote their ministries, but I�m thankful that they haven�t done that. So, this is a different category. We have things to talk about when it comes to what�s gone on publicly in the news with MacDonald and Tevigin and Driscoll.

But this is of a different kind, of a different color, a different breed, a different category. This is apostasy. This is Judas was close. He knew everything about Jesus. And actually, he did miracles himself, too, and he turned his back on the Lord Jesus.

It�s the same thing with Josh. It�s not like Josh doesn�t know. Now remember back in the old days, people would say something like this, �Well, I just preached the gospel to you, and now you know, and now you�re accountable.

That is very poor theology. You�re already accountable, Romans 1. Everyone�s accountable. But now that you know about the sin bearer, and you know about the God who loves sinners, the Father who sent the Son to die on the cross for sinners, when you spit on Him, when you pull His beard out, when you punch Him, when you reject Him by not trusting in Him, then there�s no hope for you, right?

This is like a Josh Harris. You turn your back on Jesus, and there�s a warning here. Now, do you notice what the text says? After receiving the knowledge of the truth, you deliberately stiff-arm God after you�ve received the knowledge of the truth.

You�ve received God�s truth in general, and you received the gospel specifically. First Timothy 2, who desires all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Second Timothy 2, God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.

Second Timothy 3, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. They�ve come to the knowledge of the truth in terms of they�ve understood it intellectually. They may have even assented to it, but they�re not trusting in it.

You come to church, you hear, you learn, you know Buddha�s not right, you know Confucius isn�t right, you know Scientology�s not right, but you don�t believe. You�ve received the knowledge of the truth, you�ve understood the content of Christianity, you understand that it is the truth, and you reject it.

Isn�t that apostasy? I understand, and I still don�t want it. One man said, �Every apostate is an unbeliever. That�s true, but not every unbeliever is an apostate. The apostate knows the truth, he�s close to it.

And if you�re a Jew, you think, you know what, I don�t need Jesus, I�ll go back to the sacrificial system. Here there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. Ask the Jews today, what do they sacrifice and where for Yom Kippur?

It�s over, because once Titus came in 70 AD, that�s done. At least the Samaritans, I�ve seen videos, I think you can watch them on YouTube, have a time where they have the Day of Atonement. I think it�s different than the Jewish Day of Atonement, but they have either Passover lambs that they slay, goats, something, that they actually go slay those animals.

But for the Jew, no more sacrifice for sins, you turn your back on Jesus, the ultimate final sacrifice where we have his body, his flesh, the curtain is torn and you don�t want to believe in him, then there�s no hope for you, no sacrifice, no plan B.

That means you�re going to be sacrificed, you�ll pay for your own sins. Spurgeon, do you think when you�re in hell that Christ will come a second time to die for you? Will he pour out his blood again to bring you from the place of torment?

Have you so vain an imagination as to dream that there will be a second ransom offered for those who have not escaped the wrath to come, and that God the Holy Ghost will again come and strive with sinners who willfully rejected him?

All the atonement that could save me in ten years time is here now. All that I can ever rely upon if I postpone all thoughts of faith, all is here already. There will be no improvement in Christ. He has perfected his work.

Oh, poor troubled soul, rest on him now. If we could really grasp how sinful sin was, how repulsive sin is, how heinous sin is, what an atrocity it is, an abomination against God. You think about vomit of dogs, you think about mire and dung, you think about putrid smell of graves, poison.

Those are some of the words that are used regarding sin in the Bible. You think about Adam, you think about Cain killing his brother, you think about, you know, killed himself, suicide, Cain killed his own brother, fratricide, and now we have man crucifying the Son of God, deicide, I mean, God can't in fact die, the Son of Man dies.

The boastful shall not stand before your eyes, you hate all evildoers, Psalm 5 .5. Angels don't even sin, the angels rather that haven't sinned, they cover their faces. I abhor myself, Job said, woe is me, Isaiah said.

And it was because the Savior was bearing our sins that the thrice holy God would not look on him. Turned his face from him, forsook him. A .W. Pink. Now I remember once R .C. Sproul was talking about hell and cruel, unusual punishment.

Hell is no good because it's cruel and unusual punishment. But does the punishment fit the crime? Is the punishment harsher than the crime or is it commensurate? Is it commensurate? Cruelty's unjust, but God can't be unjust.

The judge of the earth shall do right. Innocent people aren't going to be punished. Curt Daniel said only sinners go to hell and all in hell are sinners. In hell, they receive what they deserve. Can God compromise with sin?

No. Sin is an act of treason against the holiness of God. And therefore God punishes sin with what the Bible calls hell. Punishment, torment, fire, destruction, second death, outer darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Those that Ryle called awful expressions, they call for reflection rather than exposition. If you won't trust in Jesus, what's left? Verse 27 of Hebrews 10, but a fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.

The terrifying, holy nature of God that Hebrews 12 says, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I tremble with fear. Here in Hebrews, the allusion is to Isaiah 26, 11, they will see your zeal for the people and are put to shame.

Indeed, fire will devour your enemies. To devour, to consume like a beast, like an animal, ripping, shredding, tearing, mauling. The father says of the son, several times, including the transfiguration mountain, this is my son, my chosen one, listen to him.

At baptism, this is my beloved son, whom I am well pleased. And the father says this of the son, and you say, he's not my beloved, I'm not pleased in him, crucify him. The father loves the son and has given all things into his hand, John 3.

John 5, for the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing, and greater works than these will be shown him so that you may marvel. And you say, I'll turn my back on him, I don't care, I reject Jesus as God's choice for mediator.

I slam the door shut in the face of God the father for trying to offer to me such a paltry sacrifice as the Lord Jesus. And what's the response? Fearful judgment. If you're here today, I don't want you to be this person.

This is your future. I know your future. The future for you, if you turn your back on Jesus, is a fearful expectation of judgment and raging fire that will be beyond what you can ever expect. The Lord is a jealous and avenging God.

The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty.

His way is a whirlwind and storm and in the clouds are the dust of his feet. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heart, the heat rather, of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.

Nahum chapter one, fury of fire consuming adversaries. Do you want to remain an adversary, unbeliever? Why don't you lay down your arms and ask for clemency through the work of the Son, the Lord Jesus, because otherwise fire is going to devour you.

What's the opposite of drawing near this spitting in the face of? This is the burning anger, the fire of his jealousy. This is language that Paul uses. The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus.

These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power when he comes to be glorified in his saints on that day and to be marveled at among all who have believed for our testimony to you was believed.

The present heavens and earth are reserved for fire being kept for the day of judgment, second Peter. Fire came forth from the Lord and consumed 250 men who were offering incense in the Old Testament.

That's just physical death. We're talking about eternal death here, blazing, raging fire, consuming enemies. Fire of judgment, zeal of fire, literally in the Greek. The Lord Jesus is offered to you by the loving Father as sin bearer, and you say no.

Then you'll remain an adversary, and how do you think God treats his adversaries? You've received this knowledge of the truth. You say no. I don't care if Jesus shares in flesh and blood, and I don't think his death destroyed the power of death that is the devil.

I don't think he delivered anyone from lifelong slavery. I don't think he's been made like me in every respect so he could be a merciful and faithful high priest. He didn't make propitiation for anybody.

Well, then you're going to pay for your own sins. That's the first ultimatum. The second ultimatum found in Hebrews chapter 10 verses 28 and 29 is going to be for next time. Dear friend, I don't know, maybe you're listening to this because your spouse has got it on and you're just overhearing me now.

You don't really believe but she really likes the show, or you don't really believe but he that your husband really likes the show, and so it's just on, or he's in the car, or you're a kid, and you're 15, you want to go your own way but you're listening to this.

Sin is going to be paid for. In God's universe, it's going to be paid for either on you, by you, or the Lord Jesus. So I offer to you the Lord Jesus as a sin bearer, as your representative, who lived the life you couldn't live, and then all the sins that you committed, he paid for.

He pays for sinners' sins on Calvary as the wrath of God is poured out and is raised from the dead, and if you'll simply trust in him and believe. You think differently about your sin, you repent, and you believe, and I offer forgiveness to you based on the word of God.

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. Saved from what? Saved from this wrathful God. That's saved from who? The wrath of God himself, God himself. 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.