Soli Deo Gloria (Part 3)

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Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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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

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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.�

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In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you.

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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

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Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King. Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

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Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth. It�s 10 to 4.

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No, no. 16 to 4. It is 344 p .m.

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1544. And we are seemingly live on No Compromise Radio.

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I�m glad you listen. You can always write us, info at nocompromiseradio .com. We try not to ask for money.

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I think there is a way, there are a way, there are a way you can do it grammarly. I�ve never tried grammar, but I probably should.

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There�s only a button on this mixer, this 10202VLZ3 premium mic line mixer, then it might work.

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Mr. Todd Friel asked me if I would do a show talking about cancer and God�s faithfulness in light of all that.

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I said yes. When? And then Todd said July, and I said

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I�m in California. So Friel, I�m still waiting for that call for the follow -up.

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And Todd was going to be in New York when I was there getting radiation.

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And then thankfully, the doctor said these seeds were placed so well, you don�t need the radiation externally, and I�m staying at some,

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I don�t know, some cancer house thing that they set up for free, Lily Squibb Foundation or something.

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I was going to be there, and Todd and Phil Johnson were going to visit me. Isn�t that nice? It would have been very nice.

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Todd, who? What else is happening?

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You can go to Israel with us, February, the last 10 days of February with Pilgrim Tour. This is my third time with Pilgrim, I believe, will be my third time, my fourth or fifth time going to Israel.

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I can�t remember. It�s kind of nice when you can�t remember how many times you�ve been. And if you want to go, I�m guessing it�s around $3 ,300.

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If we get a lot of people, the price does go down. I have 23 slots.

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I believe Pat has 23. My brother, Pat, of my Bible church, has 23 slots, and the bus has 46 total, and that means time�s ticking, tick -tock.

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We will probably rendezvous in Newark, so wherever you want to fly. If you�re listening in Atlanta, you can fly on up, and the travel agent will help you arrange all that.

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But the standard price from Boston, I believe, is about $3 ,300. And if we get 23 people, that price will go down.

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So anyway, you can go to the website, our Pilgrim Tour, pull up NOCO Bethlehem Bible Church, February 2018.

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We�ve had some church people go, some NOCO people go, and it�s really a time to sit around and talk, and we�re on the bus and behind the scenes, and special gnosis going on in all areas.

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I am doing, by the way, a purge of a lot of my books. Here�s another one. I�m not going to tell you what book this is. I�ll just toss it across my room.

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There�s a stack of books there. It�s called The Purge. I think there�s a movie called The Purge, isn�t there?

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By the way, what�s going on with movies out there? There�s like no good movies. Ain�t no good movies anymore was, had been.

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Yikes. I used to get books sent to me from Crossway, but then if you critique Gospel Coalition enough, you don�t get them.

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Speaking of critiquing coalitions and such, Together for the Gospel, to me, it�s a different category than the

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Gospel Coalition. The coalitions run its course. To me, the Gospel Coalition is similar to Christianity Today.

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In the old days, when they did studies on Christianity Today�s content, it was very biblical and a lot of good articles, similarly to Leadership Magazine.

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But over the years, then it turns into now, the Gospel Coalition, a bunch of redeeming every square inch, and how to make pumpkin pies, and the social issues, social

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Gospel issues, racial issues. I guess sometimes

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I read it, but never, �Hey, let�s read the Gospel Coalition today.� It�s always, there�s a link in the

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Twitter feed and someone�s whacking, Chortles Weekly is whacking it or something, and then I�ll take a look at it.

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But Together for the Gospel, to me, that�s a lot more credible because it�s four men who basically say, �Every two years, let�s get together and encourage people and have a preaching conference ,� versus the industrial complex of the

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Gospel Coalition and things that go along with that and salaries and everything else. I have no idea where the money goes for Together for the

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Gospel, but that would be a good question to ask or to have answered. Nobody has to tell me, but I�d just be interested to know if there�s a lot of money involved.

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This year, though, there are some good speakers and men I respect that will be there, the

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MacArthurs and the Duncans, Deborr, but there�s a lot of charismatics.

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I don�t have it in front of me, but you�ve got C .J.

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Mahaney, Piper, Chandler, Ms.

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Platt, one of them. Well, Platt�s a charismatic, but I think there�s like four or five charismatics, and then

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Tabeti, and Tabeti has a general theme to his ministry now that I�m not on par with.

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And so you think, okay, can charismatics teach me something? Yes. The answer is yes. But do

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I want to go to Louisville for that, where, you know, four out of the ten

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I would like to go hear the sessions and the other ones I�d like to hear the singing and then talk?

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It�s hard to get to Louisville, by the way, and I think you have to go through Newark. So, anyway,

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I hope it�s a live stream, because I might watch a few then.

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But the whole conference thing, maybe the internet has ruined the conferences. I speak at conferences, so I guess

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I�m whacking myself on this one, although I�m like the D -list. When you have the

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A -list people, they�re at the Gospel Coalition and T4G, you know,

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Shepherd�s Conference kind of thing, and, you know, G3 maybe, do people go to G3?

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And then there�s the B -level. And the B -level, who would be a B -level?

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Phil Johnson would be a B -level, Todd Freedman, I don�t know what level they are.

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Then there�s the C -level and then there�s the D -level. They know, you know what, we�re going to have a conference in Saskatchewan and I wonder who would go.

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Maybe Mike would. But I�m happy, believe me, I�m happy to be D -level.

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I was telling Kim the other day that when I first became a pastor, and I still think this is true, it�s the highlight of my life in terms of, you know, ministry and spiritual things, that I could be a pastor here in New England, a little town of 6 ,000, tucked in the middle of nowhere�sville, and by a little, by a town that�s a little larger,

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Worcester. That is the top, that�s the pinnacle, there�s no higher place to go. I mean, I�m not trying to go anywhere, but there�s nothing better or a higher calling than preaching the

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Bible to God�s people every single week, especially this congregation here. It�s amazing. Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, the whole, you know, the books and the speaking engagements and stuff like that.

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I�ve been around the world and D, somebody said, �Do you want to be a

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D -list celebrity ?� I�m not a celebrity, but, �Do you want to be a D -list speaker ?�

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Okay. I mean, I�m not trying to do anything. I think that there was some of that when

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I was younger. If I would be able to preach at the Shepherd�s Conference or even

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Grace Community Church, I mean, I�m not going to get asked to speak at T4G, especially after I�ve just criticized them now, but if you want me to speak someplace, all you have to do is email, and I�ll think about it,

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I�ll pray about it. I ask the elders if I�m busy, and tell you, �No.�

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$5 ,000 and Outback Steakhouse only, first -class flights. Some of you know who

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I�m talking about. There�s a person behind that. That�s the shtick, $5 ,000, Outback Steakhouse, first -class only.

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Back to topic. We were talking about the solas, soli, deo, gloria.

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Now there is sola scriptura, the foundation, the Bible alone, right? It�s not the Bible plus tradition, magisterium, subjective mysticism,

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God talking to you, Jesus calling. Sola gratia, grace alone, not grace plus your free will, grace alone.

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Solo Christo, Christ alone, he�s the only mediator, no popes, no Mary. Sola fide, received by faith alone, non -meritorious instrument, not faith plus sacraments, not faith plus works, not faith plus Richard Baxter�s evangelical obedience, or Norman Shepard�s, or N .T.

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Wright�s, or Federal Vision, or others.

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Do you know the Reformation? I think this is true. One of the things the Reformation did is it crystallized the difference between justification and sanctification.

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You want to know what moves me these days and what I study? That�s what I study. The difference between, category differences between justification and sanctification.

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Because that was the issue back in the Reformation, and it should be an issue now.

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And I think because evangelicals are so afraid of antinomianism, lawlessness, moral laxity, just do whatever, licentiousness, that instead of having the category that could lend itself to laxity, it shouldn�t, it must not.

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If there�s no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, then what? Then what do you do? I think what�s happened in evangelicalism, we�ve added law within�

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I could put it this way, we�ve added sanctification in the justification category because we�re afraid what might help happen with the crazy people out there, and we have to keep them controlled versus just preaching pure gospel and letting the proverbial chips fall where they may.

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Shall we send the grace may about? May it never be. The overarching theme then to the five solas is soli deo gloria, to God alone be the glory.

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I said two shows ago that if you only consider what�s the chief end of man, to glorify

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God and enjoy him forever, focused on the extrinsic glory, recognizing God�s intrinsic glory, you don�t add to his glory or anything like that, you�re just acknowledging it.

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If that�s the only way you think about soli deo gloria, you�ve basically turned the glory of God into something that you do, you�ve taken gospel and turned it to law, essentially.

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You have to remember the intrinsic glory of God. Why are you giving God glory? Because he is glorious. Since God is glorious, then we should give him glory.

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Since God has kept the Bible alone and preserved it and has shown us in Scripture by illumination, since God is gracious and saves, he alone saves.

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Since God�s son is the alone mediator, since people receive it by faith only as a non -meritorious instrument, then to God alone be the glory, because he�s done all that.

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This is a response, but embedded into the response of whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do all the glory of God.

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Remember why you�re doing it. I guess that would be the point. It is a response to the rest, but remembering that there is an intrinsic glory found with God.

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Oh, it�s my son, and he turns 21 today.

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Luke Jr. turns 21, and here he is. There�s a picture of him at a restaurant, and he�s got a shrimp omelette.

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How�s that? That�s pretty good. Shrimp omelette, 21, NoCo Jr. He�s at the

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Master�s University. Just got off the boat for the summer. And I like his desire to serve at the local church.

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And he, thankfully, is not one of those college students that just goes to a church because they know they have to on a

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Sunday, but wants to get involved in the ministry of the local church. So I�m thankful to the Lord for my son, 21 years ago.

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Today he was born, and the doctor said his APCAR was negative 5.

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Not true, but it wasn�t a good score. He wasn�t breathing properly. He had an infection in his lungs, and I thought, �I don�t know if this kid�s going to make it.�

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I had planned to go to Bible study that night and teach. Hey, it�s kid number two. After the first one, everything�s easy.

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All that changed. But God was more than gracious to us, protected

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Luke and his life. And 21 years later, now he�s talking to me about law gospel distinctions and Beza and Calvin and Merriman and Thomas Boston and John Calvin and the

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Apostle Paul and Galatians. Praise the Lord. He heard a message the other day and said,

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I said, �How was the message ?� And he goes, �WWMD, what would

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Moses do ?�

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Once you�re infected with law gospel paradigms, law preaching, law, law and order,

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God has intrinsic glory. And that is seen in John 12, remember, speaking of Jesus�s glory.

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The scene in Isaiah 6, we learned last time, is talking about Jesus. Remember?

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What�s going on? Isaiah 6 and the train of his robes filling the temple. These Oriental monarchs, they wanted to do everything to display just how great they were.

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They had a lot of people surrounding them. They had all kinds of, you know, the throne is exalted and high and it�s lifted up.

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You have the cherubim and they�re stretching forth their wings. A seraphim.

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It's crazy. You just do all this kind of stuff. Well here, are there cherubim or seraphim or both or neither?

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Let�s find out. It says they�re seraphim, whereas the cherubim were over. The ark, were they not, stretched their wings over.

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Here we have an encounter with the seraphim, stood above him, Isaiah 6, two, each having six wings.

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Two he covered his face, two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. I mean, they�re flying all around.

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What�s Isaiah saying? Isaiah�s not saying anything. He is seeing the glory of God himself, the second person of the

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Trinity, and my guess is he�s on his face. He�s describing things from the ground up, essentially.

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And here, like with the holy hummingbirds swirling all around with dazzling brightness and zeal, fiery, hot, burning, covering their faces even though they are not sinful creatures.

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This is the glory of God on display and the reverence and the awe that these angels give this great creator, covering their feet.

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We�re only going to go where God wants us to. We�re only going to see and do and feel and think according to the grace of God.

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Then there�s praise too. One called out to another and said, �Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.

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The whole earth is full of his glory.�

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Antiphonally singing or saying or calling out, �Holy, holy, holy.�

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To the nth degree, �Holy.� We�re talking about Jesus and his internal intrinsic glory.

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Yes, he�s full of love, love, love. He�s full of mercy, mercy, mercy. But here we have this triple, trihagon, trisagon, as one man called it, �Hallowed be thy name.�

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Isn�t that similar to Revelation 4, the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings or full of eyes around and within one day and day and night, rather, they do not cease to say, �Holy, holy, holy is the

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Lord God Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.� �Holy.�

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Ethically pure, yes. Morally pure, yes. But transcendent, different.

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Oh, yes, the Son becomes eminent as he cloaks himself with humanity to redeem.

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But by nature, he is transcendently holy. Now here�s the angel�s refrain, �The whole earth is full of his glory.�

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There�s the tie -in. This awesome holiness put on display, this worth of God.

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You can see Isaiah shifting from holiness to glory. You�ve got the glory of God all over.

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It stems from his holiness. That is amazing. The whole earth is full of his glory, reflection upon who

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God is and his heaviness and he�s the most important person in the universe, the

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God of the universe. God alone is holy. That�s why worship isn�t about us.

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That�s why it�s solely Deo Gloria. The foundations of the threshold trembled at the voice of him who called out while the temple was filling with smoke, shaking.

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The mountains saw you and quaked, Habakkuk 3. And all the smoke, woe is me,

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I�m undone, I�m ruined, because I�m a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips.

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From my eyes I�ve seen the King, the Lord of hosts.� He�s talking about Jesus. Instead of saying, �Woe, woe, woe ,� in chapter 5 to everybody else who�s sinful, he says it of himself right now.

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�I�m undone.� Remember Uzziah the leper, how he felt?

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Now Isaiah is feeling the same way, �I�m unclean, I�m unclean,

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I�m unclean.� God is so different. We�re talking about the son Jesus here. He says, �I�m a man of unclean lips.

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When you see me for who I am and I see you for who you are, I thought I had integrity, but I don�t.�

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In my eyes I�ve seen the King, the Lord of hosts.�

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I need some type of welder�s goggles to put on. I�m not good.

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I�m not seeking after God, but God�s gracious and what�s the grace of God do?

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The one of the seraphim flew to me. This is the second person in the Trinity sending the seraphim with a burning coal in his hand which he had taken from the altar with tongs, �Duck.�

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Isaiah�s not saying anything. He�s not saying, �Please give me mercy. This is all sovereignly initiated.�

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Touched my mouth and with it said, �Behold, this has touched your lips and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is covered.�

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That�s the language of your sin is atoned for. And then

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Isaiah is sent out. Then what�s quoted in the rest of Isaiah is what we find in the

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Gospel of John. Isaiah sees the second person in the

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Trinity because he saw Jesus�s glory and spoke of Jesus the

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Lord�s glory. Now what�s our response?

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Our response is, �Then to God alone be the glory.� What�s the chief end of man?

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Man�s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. And like Watson said, �Glory in God consists in appreciation, thank you, adoration, you�re great, affection,

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I love you, and subjection, I�ll do what you ask.� Wow!

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That is God -centered worship. That is not worship as entertainment and marketing.

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That is God -as -accomplished salvation. And our goal in corporate worship is to give

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God glory. When the audience is the audience of one, then you don�t have to say to yourself, �You know what?

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What will the unbelievers think ?� That�s a really bad question to ask.

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We have no glory. God is glorious. We want to recognize his glory.

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Robert Schuller said the Reformation erred because it was too man -centered. No, it�s too

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God -centered, he said. It�s too God -centered. Whether you eat or whether you drink, whatever you do, you do all to the

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Lord. The context in 1 Corinthians 10, of course, is liberty.

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But I could say maybe Colossians 3, �Whatever you do, whatever you do in word and deed, do all to the name of the

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Lord Jesus, giving thanks to the Father through.� God is glorious.

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God�s praise exists in Romans chapter 11. To God alone be the glory.

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My name is Mike Ebendroth. This is No Compromise Radio. We�ve been talking about the solas, �Soli Deo Gloria� today.

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To God alone be the glory. If you have questions about it, maybe a good book to read is

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David Van Drunen�s book, God Alone, Glory Alone, Glory of God Alone, something like that.

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There�s a little five. There are five books in the series. I don�t recommend the Faith Alone one, but I recommend this one by Van Drunen.

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It will be helpful when it comes to the solas of the Reformation. I don�t know what we�re going to do next time, but my guess is next time we�re going to talk about warning passages in the book of Hebrews.

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When you�re required to persevere, how should you think about those warning passages?

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If you want to go to Israel, let me know. If you want to have some bulk copies of Sexual Fidelity or things that go bump in the church, we have lots of copies around here.

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Lots of copies. And email me, Mike, at NoCompromiseRadio .com and we�ll make a deal.

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Let�s make a deal. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Ebendroth 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 1015 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.