I Dare You Not To Laugh (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.

Hunting for Food, Church Work, and the Absurdities of Christian Bumper Stickers

Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. Mike Abendroth. It is Friday. I don�t know what the day is. March 58th. I�m here at the church building, securing down everything, the hatches, and running out of food to eat, running out of snack food.

Maybe I�ll have to be like David in the showbread soon enough and I�ll have to go have some of the communion wafers, although we�ve switched to gluten-free and therefore it doesn�t taste as good, but in the old days, if I had a packet of tuna in a little foil sleeve thing that you can buy, those thin ones are actually canned.

I could always put it on top of the matzah, but now that the matzah is gluten-free, it doesn�t taste as good, so I guess I�m down to goldfish from the nursery. I guess I need to go find those. One day I was stranded here 20 years ago.

It was too snowy to get out of the driveway and I had a two-wheel drive truck from California and I thought, �What am I going to do? Nobody can come pick me up for like four hours, walking around the nursery and the church trying to find any little oyster crackers but I figured it was of necessity, right?

What can you do on the Sabbath? This was of necessity that I had to do that very thing. I don�t know if I ever replaced those or not, but do they even give goldfish anymore to the kids because of all the different things that are going around?

What do we have here today? I came into the church to finish up my message, which I did. It�ll be Hebrews chapter 12 for this coming Sunday. A few other things that I was working on, cleaning out some of my books and shelves and all these other things, just trying to keep busy throughout the day.

I have a list, trying to get my list done, a few things done around the house and a few things done here at church. Threw a bunch of stuff away, but there was a few pieces of paper I couldn�t bear to throw away because I thought they were really helpful.

Some of these things like that, you can see on Facebook, there�s me telling people about God and it says Pastor Mick on there. I think I have five fingers. I mean, I couldn�t throw that away. Those are some of the best things that I could ever get.

The pulpit up there, I think I�d like to get a new pulpit one of these days, but I guess you don�t need them if you�re just FaceTiming live all the time. I did find something in my file cabinet, �Ten Things People Won�t Say When They See the Christian Bumper Sticker or the More Subtle Fish Symbol on Your Car.

This is by Mike Higgs, and I don�t know if you have bumper stickers on your car. I don�t have Christian bumper stickers on my car, nor do I have a fish symbol, �Ikthus, Jesus Christ, God, Son, Savior� in Greek, at the beginning of all those letters in Greek.

Make the word �Ikthus which is fish. That�s why they have the fish there. I don�t have that because I�m inevitably going to cut somebody off or do something stupid and I don�t want them to blame Christianity for my dumbness.

This is what people don�t say if you�ve got one of those bumper stickers. Oh, and by the way, my favorite bumper sticker story before I read any of these, we had some lesbian neighbors. They�ve since moved to Florida and we would try to help them and they would help us.

If they couldn�t get their snowblower fixed or something, I would try to go help them or they got their car stuck, they adopted three daughters, and then something would happen with their car and I needed to help this, that, or the other.

So anyway, and they would loan me like their riding lawnmower if my lawnmower was broken, et cetera. So we had a good relationship and preached the gospel to them and they preached the non-gospel to me.

But anyway, I didn�t have a car one day because it was in the shop and I think Kim needed the car, had to pick up the kids from school or something like that, and so I needed to come into the church and so they loaned me one of their cars.

They were super kind, gracious people. By the way, it�s hard to understand people, homosexual people for instance, that are so kind and nice and friendly and neighborly unless you have a good doctrine of common grace.

If you don�t have a good doctrine of common grace, you�re going to run into some big problems. Anyway, they loaned me the car and then I come to church, right? We don�t have pastor�s parking, but if we did, that�d be really funny.

I�ve got the equal sign in the back of the car that I drove by, right? Equal marriage. I�ve got �love makes a family with a rainbow� on the back. Obama, Biden, you know? Oh man. So here�s what people won�t say.

�Look, let�s stop that car and ask those folks how we can become Christians. Here�s one of the things they don�t say. �Don�t worry, Billy. Those people are Christians. They must have a good reason for driving 90 miles an hour.

Here�s something they won�t say. �What a joy to be sharing the highway with another car of spirit-filled brothers and sisters. Isn�t it wonderful how God blessed that Christian couple with a brand new BMW?

This may be the best one ever. Now, that�s not garbage coming out of their windows. It�s probably gospel tracts for the road workers. Stay clear of those folks, Martha. If they get raptured, that car is going to be all over the road.

�Oh, look. That Christian woman is getting a chance to share Jesus with a police officer. Remember, dear Christian, here�s the point. The gospel has to be proclaimed. The gospel isn�t lived. Are you living the gospel?

What do you do as you live the gospel? Really, the only person that lived the gospel who was a perfect, obedient example of holy living was the Lord Jesus, and He said, �You need to preach the gospel.

That�s one of the reasons why I have such great hope. I don�t want to fail on my Christian walk, but I know when I do, it doesn�t stop God�s program. I, frail, weak, sinful, proclaim the gospel, which is powerful because it�s about the Lord Jesus, He, the powerful, omnipotent one, and then God saves us as He pleases.

Romans 10, Faith Comes by Hearing, and the Gospel Must Be Preached

What does the Bible say? How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed, and how will they believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

This is Romans 10. And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, from Isaiah, �How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news. But they have not all obeyed the gospel, that is, to believe.

For Isaiah says, �Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Do I think it�s a sin to have a bumper sticker that says something about, you know, smoking heaven or hell, or whatever that dumb one is?

No, but I think it�s dumb. And a lot of times you can see brand new Christians, they�ll do things like that. They�ll have, you know, a lot of t-shirts that will say certain things, and you know, �Bench press this or whatever.

There�s nothing wrong with that t-shirt that has a Bible verse, I don�t care about that at all. Or with some blood, and it says, �No Compromise Radio. I think this has got, this has got some Bible verse on the back, from Galatians, I think.

Nothing wrong with that, right? But just the dumb ones, like, you know, the takeoff on minions, or something like that. Here�s a little ad that I saw years ago, and it�s under the title, �Expecting. So there it is right there, �Expecting.

See it? Here�s what it says, �Teach your pre-born child the Bible and establish God�s holy word in their developing spirits for life. Prenatal preschool, as seen on the 700 Club. For free brochure, call or write.

Prenatal Education Ministries, Orlando, Florida. I don�t think this number works anymore, but you could try it at home. 800 -786-BABY. All right, this is a letter that I received from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

I wrote them a letter, I was concerned, back in 1998, something Billy said, and he was very ecumenical, and it was about time, I thought, for Billy to retire, because for a long time, Billy taught that Jesus lived, died, was buried, raised, ascended, seated, and will return, responses to believe, the responses to repent, repent and believe, and I know many people got saved listening to the real gospel that Billy Graham preached.

But then he started doing these TV things, and it�s like, you know what? Too much universalism, too much inclusivism, too much pluralism was sneaking in, and so I thought, you know what? I�m going to write the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

When I first got saved, I didn�t know to give money to the church, per se. I wasn�t even a member of a church, but I knew, you know what? I should probably give them 10 of my money to ministry, and I think I gave to Chuck Swindoll, Charles Stanley, Bob Larson, of all people, and Billy Graham, and I thought I would write.

And I didn�t write in a mean fashion or anything like that, but I wanted an answer, and so to their credit, they gave me this answer. So, I�m going to read November 11th, 1998, from the Billy Graham Association, their response to me, Leonard Olson, Christian Guidance Department, and he�s the one that wrote back to me.

�Reverend Abendroth, thank you for writing to Dr. Graham. He regrets that he cannot personally read and answer the many letters that are addressed to him. However, his associates represent him, and we regard every letter as important.

I mean, that�s impressive, very impressive, because it wasn�t like I was sending him, you know, kudos. I was challenging Billy Graham. �We are grateful for your appreciation for Mr. Graham�s ministry.

I want to make sure I put that in there. �His message is always a positive one, and he constantly emphasizes the importance and necessity of a complete commitment to Christ Jesus. We thank God that the Bible says, �Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ Romans 5 .1.

In John 1 .12, we read, �But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Now, I might quibble with complete commitment and all that stuff.

I would talk more about faith in justification categories and not commitment or surrender or obedience or anything like that, but be that as it may. The letter goes on, from Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Christian Guidance Department, Leonard Olson, who signed his name too.

�We appreciate your interest in and concern with the interview with Dr. Graham, which was conducted by Rev. Robert Schuller. You can pull that up, by the way, on YouTube. �Schuller interviewing Billy Graham.

�Mr. Graham has faithfully and clearly preached the gospel for over 50 years. �Good. �And since the interview, he has reaffirmed his belief in Christ as the only way of salvation. �Good, but that doesn't mean he didn't make a mistake and should clarify it and correct it.

And if you say something stupid, or you say something sinful, you say something that contradicts 50 years of your ministry, then you'd better fall on the sword. I make mistakes all the time. And if I'm confronted by those, I need to say something, especially if I'm Billy Graham.

In all our crusades, we place a prominent banner with Jesus's words, �I am the way, the truth, and the life. We put that verse there because people live in a confused world with so many competing religious voices calling men and women to follow them, but Christ is distinctive and exclusive about the way to God.

That's true. There can be no Christianity, true Christianity, apart from Him. That's true. While some of the ethics and idealism of other religions may run parallel to Christian teachings, the fact remains, as stated by Christ, �No man cometh unto the Father but by me John 14, 6.

That's true. Over the years, I've met people with many religious and philosophical views. Many of them have had deep commitment to their beliefs, but I have become even more convinced of the uniqueness of the truth of Christ and His gospel, and I want to continue preaching it as long as possible.

We trust that you will pray that Dr. Graham will always correctly interpret God's Word and be sensitive to the Spirit's leading in every situation. May the Lord enrich your life, filling you with all joy and peace in believing sincerely.

Now, once again, I was very impressed at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association wrote back. Remember when you write to them? Billy Graham, Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, that's all the address you'll need.

Pretty good, like Santa. Just say North Pole and it somehow gets there. When you deny the exclusivity of Christ in its either proclamation or its application, and you fall prey to Schuller and the interview, you need to correct yourself.

That was my point. My point is not, do we make mistakes, and have I said something wrong over the years? That's not my point. What did I write here? I think I gave a copy of this to the elders years ago.

FYI, I wrote this letter and asked for further clarification regarding Billy's statements that good Hindus who haven't heard of Jesus go to heaven. I like the letter, but they should have admitted the error.

Do good Hindus go to heaven? Do good Pygmies go to heaven? Do good Somalians go to heaven? The answer is yes, they all go to heaven. But they're not existing because nobody's good. If you're good, that is perfect and sinless, you get to go to heaven.

Of course, that can't be. It's only hypothetical now because Adam's sin has been credited to everyone's account by immediate imputation. And therefore, consequently, we're sinful. We have sinful natures.

But if you didn't have any sin to pay for, you would go to heaven. So if you were good, why do you call me good? Jesus said when the man said, good teacher. If you're really good, then of course, good Hindus go to heaven.

But even there, we're not talking about Somalians as a country, we're talking about Hindus as believers. Hindus believe something about who God is and who God isn't and who goddesses are and who goddesses are not.

And they do not believe in the exclusivity of Jesus Christ and his penalty substitution at Calvary, the hypostatic union of Jesus' divine nature and human nature. Therefore, when you make a mistake on TV and you feel the pressure to say something because you know your audience, if you make that mistake, then you need to correct that mistake.

It's true for 50 years prior to that, Billy was saying Jesus is the only way. It's true that you have all the banners up, Jesus is the only way. But you can't say good Jews, good Muslims, good Hindus, good Americans, good Protestants all go to heaven when they die.

No, no. The ones trusting in Jesus and those that believe will not be disappointed, Romans chapter 10. And you have to, the Bible says, I'll read it right here in a very, very familiar passage, Romans 10, earlier from verse 17 reads in verse nine, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the scripture says, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. Earlier in chapters one, two, and three, Paul makes it clear.

Everybody's indicted. Nobody's good. Everybody's depraved. And whether you have good works that go along with it in society or whether you're given over to a reprobate mind lusting after flesh that is sexual lust, everybody falls short of the glory of God.

That's the point. And therefore there's only one sin bearer. There's only one who could live under God's law and perfectly obey it and merit and earn righteousness that he gives freely in a doctrine we call justification, right?

The imputation of Christ's righteousness, the imputation of our sins to Christ at Calvary confirmed by the resurrection. That's justification. When you think of justification, you think those thoughts, right?

You've got double imputation, our sins to Jesus, Jesus' righteousness to us. How do we know it worked? God raised him from the dead. Anyway, I just have saved this here and I've thought, you know, when you make a mistake, you just admit it.

And I think if he would have just said what I wanted him to say, I would have liked him even more. Okay. Do you know, my name is Mike Ebendroth. I think you know that. This is No Compromise Radio. I have a catechism in front of me and of course, you know, I like the Heidelberg Catechism.

There's a Spurgeon's Catechism. There's Westminster Shorter and Longer. And I have something here in front of me and it's called the Semi-Pelagian Narrower Catechism. And I was going through my stuff today and I thought, I cannot throw that away.

It's a narrower catechism for semi-Pelagians. Question one, what is the chief end of each individual Christian? Each individual Christian's chief end is to get saved. This is the first and great commandment.

What is the second great commandment? The second, which is like unto it, is to get as many others saved as he can. Question three, what one work is required of thee for thy salvation? Is required of me for my salvation that I make a decision for Christ.

Which meaneth to accept him into my heart to be my personal Lord and Savior. Okay, you ready? Question four, at what time must thou perform this work? I must perform this work at such a time as I have reached the age of accountability.

At what time will thou have reached this age? Response, that is a trick question. In order to determine this time, my mind must needs be sharper than any two-edged sword able to pierce even to the division of bone and marrow.

For alas, the age of accountability is different for each individual and is thus unknowable. What is the assurance of thy salvation? This one isn't so funny. The assurance of thy salvation is that I know the date on which I prayed the sinner's prayer and have duly written this date on an official decision card.

What is thy story? What is thy song? Question 10, answer, praising my Savior all the day long. Question 11, you ask me how I know he lives. Answer, he lives within my heart. And what else hast thou got down in thine heart?

Answer, I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Question 13, where? Answer, down in my heart. Question 15, what witnesses aid hath been given us as a technique by which we may win souls? Answer, the track known commonly as the four spiritual laws is the chief aid whereby we may win souls.

What does, what doth this track principally teach? Answer, the four spiritual laws principally teach that God's entire plan for history and the universe centereth on me and that I am powerful enough to thwart his divine purpose if I refuse to let him pursue his wonderful plan for my life.

What supplemental technique is given by which we may win souls? Answer, this is kind of interesting, the technique of giving our own personal testimony in the which we must always be ready to give an answer concerning the years we spent in vanity and pride and the wretched vices in which we wallowed all the days of our lives until we got saved.

Please, if you give your testimony, don't do that. Testify of who Jesus is. That's a good thing to do. Who is your boss? Question 21, answer, my boss is a Jewish carpenter. 22, hath God predestined vessels of wrath to hell?

Answer, God hath never performed such an omnipotent act for any such thing would not reflect his primary attribute, which is niceness. Been studying a lot about sanctification lately, just read Michael Horton and Pilgrim's Way or something, Pilgrim's something, Pilgrim Theology, his Doctrine of Sanctification, excellent.

Hear this question, for the narrower of catechism, centimiopelagianism, what is sanctification? Answer, sanctification is the work of my free will whereby I am renewed by having my daily quiet time. I read my Bible most every day, kind of having a quiet time, but that's not necessarily the work of my free will, and that's not how I would describe sanctification.

Which of the first books which a Christian should read to his soul's health? Answer, among the first books which the Christian should read are the books of Daniel, Revelation, and the late great planet Earth, Biology.

What are the seven deadly sins? Seven deadly sins, answer, are smoking, drinking, dancing, card playing, movie going, baptizing babies, and having any creed but Christ. Some of these I probably shouldn't read.

Who is the Holy Spirit? Answer, the Holy Spirit is a gentleman who would never barge in. Question, what can a pastor say while all heads are bowed? Answer, I see that hand. I guess that's it. My name's Mike Abendroth, this is No Compromise Radio.

There's a lot of fun stuff in there, funny, but let's make sure we don't live the gospel, we preach the gospel, and if we make a mistake, we'll just own it, and we can repent even of our repentance, as Martin Luther said.

My name's Mike Abendroth, 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 bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.