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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 back to No Compromise Radio ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, and I'm your host. Just a quick little vignette here on No Compromise Radio. If you look at my name, it looks like Abendroth, and it is from the two German words, abend, like guten abend, where you would say good evening, kind of evening, afternoon, and then rote.
Rote would be red. Now, I can't pronounce things well in German. My wife says everything I pronounce is with a Spanish accent, every foreign language. Sprechen Sie Deutsch. Geh ora eis. Anyway, it means kind of red evening, that red that you would see in the clouds when the sun's going down, that's my last name.
But my great-grandfather was killed when he was chopping down a tree. It wasn't a cherry tree, but he was chopping down a tree. It fell and killed him. And then something was going on with the obituary, and my grandfather and his mother were not put in the obituary properly by the other side of the family.
There was a huge fight, there was a huge rift, there was all kinds of friction and warring within the family, and my side of the family said, we are no longer Abendroths. From this day forward, we are the Abendroths.
And so, of course, my family was on the right side, and so I am Mike Abendroth. If you call me Mike Abendroth, I will listen, I will respond, I will turn around and look. I won't correct you if you ask me which one I prefer.
I prefer Abendroth. Sometimes people say Aben-roth. That doesn't have the D in there, I don't know why. Abendroth, yes, Abendroth. So this is Mike Abendroth, No Compromise Radio Ministry. Facts that you didn't really want to know.
I usually bust people's chops for taking away time. I think of a couple people that I listen to on the radio, and they just beg for money over and over and over and over, asking for money. And then there's another guy on the radio, and that basically he just spends, I don't know, 20 minutes of his two hours asking for money for Bibles.
Money for Bibles, money for Bibles, money for Bibles, money for Bibles. And I think, why don't you just teach the Bible, and maybe then people will send you money for the Bibles. That's what I want to do on this show.
Well, I might give you a little vignette here or there. If I have 24 minutes and 30 seconds, then I'm going to try to teach you the Bible. Oh, there are some shows that specifically look at politics from a Christian perspective, great.
Sports from a Christian perspective, great. Economics from a Christian perspective, great. There's a reason why there are shows that make you think Christianly about those things. I don't have any problem with that.
I don't always listen to them, but I don't have any problem. But for me in my house, if I've got 24 minutes and 30 seconds, I want to teach the Bible. That's what I want to do. And so same thing with preaching.
I'm not going to keep going on and on and on about money. Send us money. If you want to send us money, then I guess you'll figure out our address and find out how to do it. But I don't need to tell you times are tough, send money.
Times are always tough, but I'm still not going to say send money. I hope I never have to say, please send us money. And if the ministry doesn't work because you can't just of your own desire send money, then we're going to shut down the ministry because I think God will bless the ministry that he wants to keep going if we just are faithful.
So now it's been three minutes and 44 seconds that I haven't taught the Bible. And you're like, you're a hypocrite, get going. So today is part two about Christ and his view of the Old Testament, which should be your view of the Old and New Testament.
What I want is this. If you've got a problem with the Bible, is it true? Is it accurate? Is it trustworthy? Then I think the best thing you can do besides read it is to read it with the eyes that say, let's read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and let's see how Jesus viewed the Old Testament.
Because Jesus could have come along and said, you got it all wrong. Moses didn't really write the Pentateuch. It was a bunch of different authors, J and E and P and D and Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z.
It was different writers. Isaiah didn't really write Isaiah. There's a couple of different writers, but he affirmed the Old Testament. Sometimes by his silence, he didn't correct people's view that they had of Jonah really getting swallowed by a fish.
He didn't correct the view because it was the right view. He could have said all kinds of things about it. So what I want you to do is I want you to see how Jesus viewed the Old Testament, because that's how I think you should view the Old Testament.
And then by inference, by implication, view the New Testament. And so we've looked last time at several of these issues, and now let's move on to the next one. Jesus used regularly supernatural passages, or unbelievable passages.
Jesus corroborated the historicity and validity of the Old Testament by freely quoting passages about historical people and events. He was immersed in Moses and the prophets to the degree that F .B. Meyer said, it has been truly said that no disciples of Browning or Tennyson, Milton or Shakespeare, Dante, Virgil or Homer were ever so saturated with their master's thoughts or so steeped in their spirit as Jesus was with scripture.
He, of course, knew scripture. I think he, as a human, had to memorize it. How that all works out, that's not for today's show. But I can say this. Confirmation of the most supernatural sections of the Old Testament has confounded liberal theologians for decades.
It's like Jesus on purpose picked the wildest, the craziest, the most supernatural, quote unquote, unbelievable passages to confirm. He didn't just pick some of the, you know, it rains, God sent the rain.
He picked wild passages. It is as if the Holy Spirit impelled Jesus to use these verses for two purposes. The first purpose would be for the immediate in-context aim in the situation Jesus found himself.
The second would give all readers of the Bible confidence in the Old Testament because Jesus quoted from the most humanly unbelievable and supernatural portions of the Old Testament. For instance, the creation of Adam and Eve, Matthew 19.
Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female? And said, for this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.
Jesus believed that Adam was not found by Louis Leakey we believe that, we believe, Jesus believed that there was from the beginning, Adam and Eve made. Can you imagine that? So you say, well, I'm a Christian but I don't really have the same view of Jesus regarding Adam and Eve.
There was some kind of evolution that would go on and finally at the end, God kind of took the final humanoid and then planted a spirit within that humanoid. That would not be Jesus's view of the Old Testament.
Well, what about in the book of Daniel? Therefore, when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel, Matthew 24, standing in the holy place then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
And he quotes from Daniel. Daniel full of all these wild things. Don't you think Jesus could have just said, you know, the whole lion deal, the whole Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the other son of man floating around in that fiery furnace.
Remember all that supernatural stuff in Daniel. Yeah, it's bogus. But he's quoting from Daniel, affirming the book of Daniel. How about Cain and Abel, Luke 11, from the blood of Abel found in the book of Genesis to the blood of Zechariah found in 2 Chronicles.
So from the first book to the old last book in the New Testament canon, who perished between the altar and the house of God, yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation, Luke 11. So here he confirms historicity of things from Genesis to 2 Chronicles.
How about Noah? You know, people talk about the wrath of God today. Can you imagine the worldwide flood? Can you imagine how bad that was? That is definitely illustrative of the powerful and just holy wrath of God.
So Jesus comes along and he says, you know, that was a big myth. That was kind of Gilgamesh inspired and it wasn't really true. And it was just kind of a localized thing. It was a big fake like these fakers on error at with the Noah's Ark deal.
Listen to Luke 17. This is Mike Avendroth, No Compromise Radio Ministry. You need to have Jesus's view of the Bible. Or Luke 17, just as the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the son of man be in his day.
But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it shall be in the days of the son of man. They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Jesus affirmed, Jesus confirmed the historicity and validity of Noah and the flood. What about that bush that burned? Well, how about Mark 12? Jesus said, but regarding the fact that dead rise again, the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses?
Have you not read in the book of JPE? No, I'm just kidding. In the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him saying, I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob?
Jesus affirms that bush that wasn't burning. Say, well, what about the whole Sodom and Gomorrah and Lot and that was kind of a good little story to tell, but it's not really true, it's not accurate. And that was just this Jewish mystical myth lore folktale.
Well, you have Jesus's view of the Old Testament, you'll be in better shape. Luke 17, it was the same as happened in the days of Lot. They were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building.
But on the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let no one who is on the housetop and whose goods are in the house go down to take them away.
And likewise, let not the one who is in the field turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Luke 17, 28 to 32. Christ affirmed Sodom and Gomorrah and Lot's wife turning to salt. Can you imagine cow lick Lot's wife?
Jesus affirmed that. What about that whole deal, when Moses, hold up the serpent, look to it if you've been bitten by the snake and you'll live. John 3, Jesus said, and Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.
Even so, the Son of Man must be lifted up that whoever believes may in him have eternal life. Well, what about that whole manna deal? 40 days, 40 night, the manna comes down. What is this stuff? Just enough for the day.
If you save too much and it gets rotten with worms. And then on Friday night, you can collect double because you can't pick up things on the Sabbath. And so you get double that night and it just kind of made up.
John 6, Jesus said, our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness as it is written. He gave them bread out of heaven to eat. Jesus therefore said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who, first of all, that wasn't Jesus who said that.
Now Jesus is saying this. Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is my father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.
John 6, 31 and 32. Yeah, yeah. But how about that whole whale, fish, Jonah thing? People say, well, they found men inside the stomachs of whales and they looked all white from the acid on their face. I don't really need any of those.
If they're true, they're true. I just need Jesus's view. Matthew 12. Jesus, did you believe in the whale, the fish, literally? And he answered and said to them, an evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign, and yet no sign will be given it, but the sign of Jonah the prophet.
For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12, 39 to 40. Jesus understood the issue.
Jesus knew that Jonah and the fish were real. He confirmed the authority of the Old Testament record. No portion of the Old Testament was some kind of red letter Bible to him. He did not see the Old Testament as containing the Bible or as being written only by men.
He confirmed the veracity of the Old Testament. So much so that Jesus said, what did he say? Jesus said, for truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until all is accomplished.
That's Jesus's view of the Old Testament. Matthew 5, verse 18. With solemn importance, truly, amen, the son of God declares the Old Testament word to have eternal significance. The Bible will outlast all of God's creation, heaven and earth.
Jesus utilized the vernacular to describe the minutest components of the Hebrew letter, calling them the smallest letter or stroke. Maybe you've heard it been called one jot and tittle. To be precise, the Hebrew yod, where we get the English word jot, is the smallest stroke for the Hebrew writer.
It's the smaller than the smallest letter. And one man counted them all before computers even came about. Bengal, he counted them, 66 ,420 yods. That's not Yoda, yods. What would be the tragedy of losing just one of those 66 ,420?
I mean, if 66 ,419 were good, that'd be okay. If you just try to divide one by 66 ,420, you know what you get on a computer? An error notice because it's too small. The least important part of the Old Testament would not, according to Jesus, pass away until all was accomplished.
Think about it. Where do these yods appear in the Old Testament? They occur from Genesis to 2 Chronicles. Genesis to Malachi. Listen to what Jesus said in Luke 17. It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the law to fail.
Any small mark. Well, how about Jesus' words in Luke 24? This whole show is based on this premise. You ought to have Christ's view of the Bible. Jesus had the view of the Old Testament that you should have of the Old and New Testament.
Luke 24, verse 44 to 47. Now he said to them, these are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.
Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. And he said to them, thus it is written, that Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
Luke 24, 44 to 47. The Old Testament's reliability manifests itself by the fulfillment of messianic prophecies. The Hebrew scriptures predicted the conception, life, work, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Jesus taught his disciples these truths while he was on the earth and stressed each segment of the scriptures, law, prophets, Psalms. F .B. Meyer said, he was guided in the jots and tittles of his life and ministry by his father's will as it was expressed through scripture and mapped out there.
So, Jesus had a high view of the Old Testament. You, call yourself a Christian, I think you ought to have a high view of the Old Testament. And by the way, if you have a low view, you'll never read it.
You won't bother reading it because who wants to wade through like the Jesus seminar? Are these the words of God? Are these the words of Jesus? Here's this marble, here's this color. Who cares? I've got other things to do.
I need People Magazine or Us Magazine or Self or GQ or something like that. I don't know why it is, but whenever I'm at an airport and I see somebody buying a People Magazine and Us, I just think, what kind of life must you live?
Well, I just feel sorry for people like that. Occasionally, I'll pick one up in the office of the dentist or something like that just to give a little scan through and to see what people are thrilled to read about.
That'll cause me to be depressed. I need transcendency. I need greatness. I need someone who is not like me. I don't need other sinners. I need a God who is sinless. You need to understand that the Bible is authoritative, sufficient, true, inerrant, reliable, sufficient, comprehensive.
You need to read Psalm 119 on a regular basis until you understand that truth. And you cannot worship the God who reveals Himself in Scripture. You can't worship Him if you've got a low view of the Word.
Listen to what Calvin said. We owe to Scripture the same reverence which we owe to God. That's an amazing thought. You say, that seems a little blasphemous. Psalm 119, verse 48, and I shall lift up my hands to your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.
Lifting my hands up to your commandments. Because you see, God and His Word cannot be separated. I think if you're a Bible teacher, by the way, it should be a refrain of yours that when you get up, if you're a preacher, if you're a Sunday school teacher, if you're an evangelist, if you're a missionary, if you're a mom, if you're a dad, if you're an Awana leader, if you teach the Bible in any way, shape, or form, you ought to say repeatedly, it is written.
It is written. The Bible says, thus saith the Lord. Billy Graham, I respected him for many things. I have respect for him for many things. I think he's fallen off the deep end with some of his statements as he's gotten older, but I do love Billy Graham when he gets up and when he would preach and say, the Bible says, the Bible says, the Bible says.
I think you can learn a lot from people who preach just like that. I think what you should also do is study the New Testament, especially Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, to look at Jesus and see how he dealt with people who denied the scriptures and then see how he himself affirmed the scriptures.
What you should also do is figure out a plan so you can read through all the scriptures. If they're all God breathed, 2 Timothy 3 .16, if they're all profitable for pastors to teach and to preach through rebuking, reproving, exhorting, and you ought to say to yourself, well, then I ought to read them.
What do you do for your Bible reading? When I get done reading, today I did something a little odd. I read through all of Esther in one sitting. I probably read only half in the morning, but I decided I'd wait to go a little bit longer and read the whole thing just to see how it flowed.
And so you need to just check it off. After I read Esther, I went to the table of contents, checked off Esther. Esther read. Sometimes I like to pick a different Bible translation to read through. I don't read through the entire Bible in a year per se, but I just start reading and then I check it off when I'm done and then I'll pick a different translation.
I'm in the ESV now, but you should have a systematic approach to read through every book of the Bible. And if you're a pastor, you have to have a systematic approach to teach every book of the Bible. The only way I know how to do that is verse by verse by verse by verse.
You can't jump all around, be willing to teach every book of the Bible, Chronicles, Song of Solomon, every book. And you ought to say to yourself, if you're a member of a congregation today that has a pastor who will preach all the Bible, thank you, God, for giving me such a man.
Thank you for giving me a pastor who won't say, I've got to somehow make the Bible relevant. No, thank you that you gave me a pastor who knows that the Bible is relevant, that God is relevant, that sin is relevant, forgiveness is relevant, Jesus is relevant.
And then the pastor just preaches about who God is and sin is. And then he helps me see the relevancy, but he knows it is relevant. He just helps me see its relevancy. Thank you, God, for giving me a pastor that does the opposite of Robert Greene Ingersoll's strident comment.
If a man would follow today the teachings of the Old Testament, he would be a criminal. If he would follow the teachings of the new, he would be insane. Thank you, Father, for giving me a pastor who is far from perfect, but he will stand up and preach the word, that he is like Martin Luther.
I have covenanted with my Lord that he should not send me visions or dreams or angels. I am content with this gift of the scriptures, which supplies and teaches all that is necessary both for this life and that which is to come.
Thank you, Father, for giving me such a man. And if you're on a pastoral search committee at a church and you need a new pastor, you don't need a CEO, you don't need an administrator, you don't need a Marlboro man, you don't need a good old boy, you don't need somebody that you can control, you don't need somebody who can control you, you have one question.
How does he handle the book when he preaches? That's the only question you have. Ask the guy, where's your website, and let me know 10 sermons you preach. Send me your best one, send me your two best, and send me eight that you've done in a row through Philippians and listen to them, and you'll understand everything you need to know about that man and his ministry.
And if you're a believer, don't get bogged down in trying to defend the Bible to unbelievers. Preach it, keep Christ's view in mind, and preach forgiveness to your unsaved friends. Put all your energy into discussing sin, God's attributes, substitutionary death of Christ and resurrection, and forget defending the Bible.
It doesn't need to be defended. And lastly, if you want to read something that will help you, read Norm Geisler's A General Introduction to the Bible, an excellent book he wrote with William Nix. God bless.
No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible-teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God's Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.
Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at six. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.
The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.