Dopey Children Stories (Part 2)

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. This is

Mike Abendroth, and what do we have going on these days?

As you know, we've redone our video shoots. That is to say, you don't see me in a hoodie anymore doing the

NoCo 90s. I have a suit on, and I shave, and we try to put those online, so you can go to our

YouTube channel, NoCo90 .com. That should pull you up. There's some other ones that aren't 90 seconds as well.

And you can see our new blog, NoCompromiseRadio .com. Harry's in charge of the blog and writes once a week, and sometimes

I'll put some other writers up, maybe a guest writer who knows Aaron might be up from Do Not Be Surprised, or maybe they'll take something out of one of my books and put it up there.

Maybe Pastor Steve, Tuesday Guy. I think you can follow Steve on something like Tuesday Guy, at Tuesday Guy.

I read Twitter stuff, but I'm not on Twitter. Don't think

I'll be on anytime soon, although there's a NoCo Twitter. I know that. April is when we're airing the show probably, but I want you to know that 2015,

February 17th, is when we leave Boston to go to Israel for about nine days with an extension to Jordan.

It is first come first serve with your deposits. If you'd like to reserve a spot, I believe we have about 14 left.

So you want to send it to, if you want to just send the money, you send the money to Bethlehem Bible Church or No Compromise Radio.

Just say Israel at the bottom, $300 for Israel and $400 is the deposit for Israel slash

Jordan. So if you want to do that, that would be great. We'll have some more things up online once I figure out a couple more things, okay?

Let's see what else is happening. You know, last week I was talking about this. Jesus stops a storm and you're supposed to make a simple healthy snack to remember

Jesus cares for us when we're scared. So it's a little preschool curriculum.

I have no idea who published this because it's not listed on here. Maybe they were ashamed. And so you cut a peeled banana in half lengthwise, fill the boat,

I don't know, I guess you carve it out with bear -shaped crackers and then you munch on your snack and talk about how the disciples were scared.

And the theme here is Jesus cared when they're scared, which made me think.

First of all, when you go to a passage, be careful not to turn the passage into something all about you.

Now God is an eminent God. He's close, eminent. And he is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.

And there is a hymn that talks about he walks with me and he talks with me, a long life's narrow way.

But you ask me how he lives, I won't tell you it's because he lives within my heart. I just know what the scriptures say.

Special revelation. And I know what natural revelation says as well, as it proclaims the glory of God.

So the gospel accounts pretty much highlight the good news,

Jesus Christ incarnate, right? So if you're gonna teach anything from Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, if you talk about Jesus and his greatness,

I think you'll be right on. And then secondarily, if you wanna say, see kids, God is so powerful that if he can take care of these disciples, couldn't he take care of us as well?

There are secondary implications. I would not deny that.

But when you go to the book of Mark and you see Jesus Christ, the Messiah, God's son,

King of Kings, and the response would be fear and reverence and astonishment and worship, you'll quickly figure out that it's not about the water.

It's not about us. It's about Jesus. It's not about the storms in your life and how

Jesus can still them. Sometimes Jesus makes storms in your life. I need to write a book on that. Jesus causing storms in your life.

But if you look at Mark chapter four, from whence this Jesus stops a storm story based upon Mark 4, 35 to 41, just think about the context.

Think about the book context, the gospel of Jesus according to Mark.

And you'll quickly then see in regular context, theological history.

What does it mean to have Jesus incarnate? What does it mean to have the Messiah incarnate to be technical about it?

The God -man who cloaks himself with humanity. What does that mean? And so you're gonna see in this section of Mark, Jesus has power and lordship over the storm.

Jesus in the next chapter has power and lordship over the demon -possessed man.

Jesus in the chapter after four, in chapter five, same chapter as demons -possessed man, has authority and power and lordship over disease and death.

So Jesus is a Lord. And the key in Mark chapter four with the storm, he has power and lordship over nature, sovereignly powerful over nature.

The sea in those days, unpredictable, could be thought of as evil.

And Jesus has unlimited power over the natural world. And you need to see this power of Jesus calming the storm.

And the way Mark likes to write is as if he were an eyewitness, characteristic of being an eyewitness.

And he talks about the time of day in verse 35. He talks about details like there are other boats in the water, what was happening to the boats and they were filling up with water, that Jesus was not awake but he was sleeping on a cushion.

These are all very details of Mark so that you see in your mind's eye just how great

Jesus is. And Mark 4 .35 says on that day when evening had come, he said to them, let us go to the other side.

It's been a busy, busy, busy day. Pharisees say to Jesus, you're a blasphemer.

Basically his mom and his brothers tried to kidnap him. He teaches parables by the sea, in the house, out of the house.

And my guess is it's probably pretty hot and it could have been very sunny on that day. And evening had come and Jesus says, let's go to the other side.

Now you might say to yourself, well he probably had to go there to rest, get away from the busyness and all the people.

Maybe he's going to the other side because as he set his face toward Jerusalem, he's now setting his face to the other side of the sea to go take care of this guy who's demon possessed.

But I think you're gonna see this is a different reason. Jesus has a different reason.

Of course there's gonna be rest. Of course there's ministry on the other side. But what's the issue? The issue is, do you really trust

God? It's one thing to say you trust God. It's another thing to trust God.

P .S. I'm God. And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was and the other boats were with him.

And so they take him along, right? He's teaching the crowd and now he's in the boat.

Just like, you know, as he was, the text says, probably without going to shore, you know, he's on the boat right by the shore teaching and gets in the other boat probably without going to shore.

Great windstorm arises, verse 37 of Mark, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling up.

I mean, how bad can this be? It's just a little lake, right? That's why you should go with us.

Sorry, I was drinking some Monster Energy drink here. Like I said last week, I don't know if it's good for me or not, but I need it.

Energy drink, you need some energy. Basically, long story short, the sea is about 13 miles long, seven miles wide.

It's pear -shaped. And the way the sea level is set up and the mountains close by, there's like a wind tunnel effect and it can get very rough quickly.

Furious squall is how this storm is described. The Greek could mean hurricane.

The Arabic is sharkia, shark. That's what we get. That's Arabic for shark. It's like shark, it's like chaotic.

It's furious squall. 9 ,200 feet is Mount Hermon and the winds come down from Mount Hermon.

The winds there are cold. It collides with the warm sea air. You've got a thermal buildup and you've got a whirlwind, fierce gale.

Sounds like, and the Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so the ship was about to break up.

Jonah 1, verse four. Matthew uses the word earthquake and it's like the lake is being shaken.

And so you can just imagine if you've been in an earthquake what that feels like. Waves breaking over the boat one after another, after another.

It's the imperfect tense, meaning it just kept on breaking over and over and over.

To what degree? I mean, really, how bad could it get? So much so that the boat was already filling up.

Matthew says the ship was covered with waves. He was in the stern.

Jesus was asleep on the cushion. They woke him and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we're perishing?

Now, from what I know, this is the only place in all the gospels where Jesus is sleeping.

It's during the storm. So now what? He himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.

So I know this picture here shows him in the front, but maybe it's turned around. And here we have the stern, the rear of the boat.

I think Jonah was sleeping, wasn't he, during the storm? But for different reasons, of course.

Dramatically, the Greek language in Mark chapter four puts the word asleep at the end of the sentence so you get a punctuation there, so you get some emphasis.

He's asleep. Now, I'm sure Jesus was tired. It's been a busy day.

Preaching makes you tired. And he's got a cushion for his head, literally the thing for the head.

If you've got someone who's not a fisherman type and you want to have them as a guest in your boat, what do you do?

You give them one of these cushions. They can sit on the cushion or here you can lay down and sleep.

Certainly you see the full humanity of Jesus. A high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses, right?

He's been tempted in all things as we are yet without sin. They wake him up. Don't you care we're perishing,

Jesus? Don't you care that we're in the act of perishing? We're dying. We're dying.

Now, I'm very happy and pleased that the disciples realize that Jesus has the answers.

They know the right person to talk to. They were, on the bad side, more concerned about themselves than him, right?

Jesus, we don't want you to die. You're the Messiah. What can we do to help you? They were concerned about themselves.

Lenski said the fact that these disciples should turn to Jesus for help is astounding. A number of them were expert sailors.

Who knew all about handling a boat and who had been in many a violent storm on this lake.

They run to Jesus who had never handled boats, but had worked as a carpenter with his father in Nazareth.

Panic, stricken, doubting the love of Jesus for them. You don't care.

You don't have any concern. You're hard -hearted. Doesn't this echo

John 11, Martha therefore said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

And so now they're rebuking Jesus on the boat. Moffat said, you're gonna drown?

You're gonna let us drown for all you care? I'm sure they're yelling. I'm sure they're shouting because it's busy, panic -stricken.

And Jesus awoke and rebuked the wind. Said to the sea, peace, be still.

And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. Rebuking, hush, be still.

As we talked about last time, be silent, be muzzled. And then the thing just totally dies down, not gradually, but instantaneously.

And Jesus, fully man, sleeping in the boat, is also fully

God. He holds all things together and has created all things and is before all things,

Colossians 1, 16 and 17. Now, if you're a liberal, what do you have to do with this?

You don't want anything to do with this. And so you say it's symbolic. And Jesus is stilling the storms of fear in the disciples' hearts.

Isn't it amazing that liberals do that on purpose and evangelicals do it as well?

Kind of out of ignorance. As I said last week, what's going on here? Jesus is doing something that only

God can do. Incarnate God's in the boat. That's the whole point of Mark, is to show you the gospel of Jesus according to Mark.

Psalm 107, who else controls the ocean? Psalm 107, verse 23 and following.

Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters. They saw the deeds of the

Lord, His wondrous works in the deep, for He commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.

They mounted up to heaven. They went down to the depths. Their courage melted away in their evil plight.

They reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits' end. Then they cried to the

Lord in their trouble and He delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still.

Did you get that? Psalm 107, 29. He made the storm be still and the waves of the sea were hushed.

Then they were glad that the waters were quiet and He brought them to their desired haven. Let them thank the

Lord Yahweh for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man. Let them extol

Him in the congregation of the people and praise Him in the assembly of the elders.

Jesus does what only God can do. Jesus is

God. Now here comes the challenge from Christ and you'll see this

Lordship over things and discipleship tied together. Since Jesus is

God, you should be a disciple, a follower, a worshiper. Jesus said to them, why are you so afraid?

Have you still no faith? Well, they've got knowledge, that's for sure.

He doesn't blast them for that. But He says, you know, why are you losing heart?

Or why are you being like cowards? What's going on?

I don't think it's really a question. Why are you so timid? Jesus here though, as most commentators say, you know,

I'm expecting more from you. Why are you fearful? I'm the master,

Lord, sovereign, omnipotent, sleeping or awake. Now just think about that for a second.

While I'm sleeping, I'm still running the universe. While I'm awake, I'm still running the universe.

How is it that you have no faith? Maybe it's easy to draw messianic conclusions from things that Jesus did to other people.

You know, Jesus cast out a demon. Yeah, that's the Messiah. Jesus feeds the 5 ,000. Yeah, that's the

Messiah. Jesus heals diseases. That's the Messiah. But when your own life is hanging in the balance, you really believe now?

To what extent do you believe? Everybody gets scared.

If you're in a boat like that and you think you're gonna drown, you're gonna get scared. Matthew 8 says, why are you afraid,

O you of little faith? Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm.

Matthew's word is not no faith, but little faith, defective faith.

Have a clear view of who I am. I am

God, Mark 4 says, and they were filled with great fear and said to one another, who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?

That's it. That's the conclusion that you should reach when you make a healthy snack, cut banana peel, bear -shaped crackers, a boat, and then sing are you sick, alone, or scared?

Jesus cares, Jesus cares, to the tune of Mary had a little lamb. Now you see where these curriculums go.

It's not even really that far off in terms of, I'm God of the universe, whether I'm sleeping or not, and I'll care for you and care for the universe.

So we're close, but it's missing some essential ingredients.

They're filled with great fear, said to one another, who then is this that even the winds and the sea obey him?

Literally, they feared a great fear. Matthew 8 records it this way, and the men marveled, saying, what sort of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey him?

The holiness of God. Who is this? God is so great.

God is so powerful. Only he controls the sea. Psalm 89, verse nine, thou dost rule the swelling of the sea.

When its waves rise, thou dost still them. Yahweh has mastery over the sea.

Jesus has mastery over the sea. Jesus is Yahweh. Psalm 93, four, more than many sounds of many, excuse me, more than the sounds of many waters than the mighty breakers of the sea,

Yahweh on high is mighty. Psalm 106, verses eight and nine, nevertheless he saved them for the sake of his name, that he might make his power known.

Thus he rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up, and he led them through the deeps as through the wilderness.

Psalm 107, verse 29, he caused the storm to be still so that the waves of the sea were hushed.

I read that one earlier. Jesus, powerful son of man, son of God.

Lenski said, when asked the question, who then is this that even the wind and sea obey him, quote, there was little need to record the answers.

When you read this, you should say to yourself, I recognize Jesus as Yahweh, the omnipotent

Yahweh of the psalms, Psalm 89, Psalm 93, Psalm 106,

Psalm 107. Sinclair Ferguson writes, for a brief moment, they saw the majesty, power and glory of Jesus unveiled.

They witnessed his lordship over nature and its forces, like men in a storm who see the world momentarily illuminated by lightning and are able to get their bearings again.

The disciples saw Jesus just as he was in his glory. He made them realize that if they could answer one question, they would have their bearings both for time and eternity.

Well, my name is Mike Ebendroth. This is No Compromise Radio Ministry. You can write us at info at nocompromiseradio .com.

We'd love to have you go to our website, nocompromiseradio .com. You could also be on our

Twitter feeds, on YouTube, nocompromiseradio .com. The new book is out and you can order it,

Things That Go Bump in the Church, Mike Ebendroth, Clint Archer and Byron Yawn, Scary Doctrines for New Christians, Harvest House.

And if you wanna order that, you can. I don't know what they're getting for it, 11 bucks or something like that. You can probably get that on our website as well.

I wrote on Does God Still Speak Today, Unconditional Election, Hell and Church Discipline.

The other two guys wrote four chapters as well. And we're working on kind of a sequel and another book as well.

So it's easier if you write 1 3rd of the book, but the royalties are small.

If I only had $200 ,000 of the church's money, we could buy a bunch of the books and I could be a New York Times bestseller.

And then I could just have that forever. And always on my no -co deal. Someone asked me the question,

Mike, what do you think of Mark Driscoll these days? I thought, well, you know what? Here's what I think. He's in a world hurt from the plagiarism to the clauses.

You got to sign if you're gonna be on staff, non -disclosure to this book deal.

And the list goes on, crashing, strange fire. So anyway, my name's

Mike Ebendroth, nocompromiseradio .com. Go ahead and write me, or you can write Tuesdayguy at nocompromiseradio .com.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Ebendroth 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.

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