Hell Broths (Part 4)

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. My name is

Mike Abendroth, and we are happy to be on this radio station. We are quite happy to be on your iPod.

I did talk to someone a while ago, and they said they speed up the iPod playing to 1 .5

speed or some number, I don't know. It was greater than one, though, so we don't have the show, so it doesn't take so long to listen to the show.

Now, seriously, 24 and a half minutes. Why don't you put the bumper music on, the front and the back, and you think, okay, 24 and a half minutes.

Let's multiply it by 1 .5, or, you know, I don't know how do we do that. We speed it up, so that's not multiplying by 1 .5.

How would we do that math calculation? My kids come to me when they were in third grade. Daddy, can you help us with long division?

Absolutely, and then all of a sudden, it becomes a junior high, high school. I have no idea.

I've forgotten all that stuff, and it's not as if I just have to give them information. It's cumulative stuff, so I used to be okay at math.

Now, I'm horrible. I just have to call Tim Boseman and say, help, help me help my kids. We are doing a series called, what is it called?

I was gonna say Hell's Bells. I think that was a Christian critique of ACDC or something.

We're doing something called Hell Broth. That's right, this is Hell Broth part four. Maybe it's called Hell Broths and Amulets part four.

The long story short is we're talking about demons, and here's the summary statement that I'll make regarding the position here, the official position of No Compromise Radio Ministry, is demons exist,

Satan exists. What was done in the Gospels and Acts, we don't necessarily do today, and specifically regarding casting out demons, we don't do today.

Nothing in the New Testament epistles to tell us what to do, how to do it, and why we should do it.

But then people say, well, but you could go to Mark 16, and it says these signs will accompany those who have believed, so just as general believers.

In my name, they will cast out demons. They will speak with new tongues, and they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them.

They will have hands on the sick, and they will recover. So here's the question.

Since Mark 16 says you should cast out demons because you believe, what do you make of that,

Mike? Well, it would be pretty low for us to respond as Christians that if somebody used a

Bible verse, and we didn't like what it says because it contradicts our theology, we just say that verse isn't in the

Bible. That's not in the Bible, not in the best manuscripts. But in fact, these verses aren't in the best manuscripts, and what you need to do is you need to find

MacArthur Study Bible would probably help. I think the ESV Study Bible would help. Reformation Study Bible would help.

I think the Geneva Bible would help. And you need to go to the little asterisk there that's after verse eight in Mark 16, and then read what it says.

Now, you can get into it deeper with different books about the canon, and additions, and textual evidence, internal manuscript evidence, external.

But there are four different endings for Mark in the so -called manuscript traditions.

And the two biggest ones, the most popular ones, I should say, it ends in verse eight, or it ends in verse 20.

There are a couple of other funkier ones, but not in too many manuscripts. There is a good book by Metzger called

Textual Commentary, and it says in verses, it says in pages 122 to 126, the oldest manuscripts do not contain these verses.

Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, those are the two oldest Greek unseal manuscripts.

You have, well, I won't get into unseals. You can look what an unseal is. Church fathers don't recognize nine to 20.

And when you do a study on our texts in the Bible, or aren't they, that is manuscript evidence, determining what is the best text, you always take the shorter.

The shorter is more reliable. So if you're studying Plato and you found two manuscripts of Plato and one's three paragraphs longer than the other, you take the one that's shorter.

Now, why is that? Let me tell you what B .B. Warfield said in his introduction to textual criticism. The existence of the shorter conclusion is evidence against the longer one, for no one doubts that this shorter conclusion is a spurious invention of the scribes, but it would not have been invented, save to fill the blank.

So here's the scoop. You probably write in your Bible, you probably make margin notes, you probably make little notes and arrows, and I do that kind of thing too.

So they would much more, they would say, I can't talk today, I'm on the radio. It would be much easier for them to say,

I'll add something than to subtract it. It'd be harder to subtract than it is to add. And as time goes on, little notes that were not meant to be put in get put in.

And so long story short, read Mark 16's notes and you will see all kinds of problems.

You will see there's a vocabulary difference of 15 words do not appear in Mark and 11 others are used in a sense different than Mark, according to some linguists.

So you've got basically one third of the words aren't used in Mark that are jammed right here in nine to 20.

There's a style that's different. This abrupt conclusion happens in verse eight, you say, but it's supposed to be abrupt because they're fearing and then the way it goes in Mark is there's something supernatural that happens and then there's fear.

Jesus was raised from the dead and there's fear. Something has to have happened and they went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had seized them and they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid.

People don't like to just be left hanging there so they added in verses nine to 20, but they should be left hanging there because the theme of Mark happens to be, a nice style for Mark is fear and trembling is in response to a supernatural event and what could be more supernatural than the resurrection of Jesus Christ?

You can also look at what's going on in verses eight and nine and how verse nine begins with a, how about this for a big word, a masculine nominative participle which demands for its antecedent, he.

Now, after he had risen early on the first day of the week, he had first appeared to Mary Magdalene for whom he had cast out seven demons.

Jesus, this has to refer to, but the subject of the last sentence of verse eight is the women, not

Jesus. They said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. Now, after he had risen, so there's all kinds of evidence like this, let alone looking at this bizarre snake deal and presuming on the grace of God by doing poison.

Now you say, I want demons, so then you have to take the snakes and you have to take the poison. It's bizarre.

Immunity from snakes and poisonous drink, that's the character of Jesus in the gospel of Mark.

That's the character of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, or any of the epistles. Long ending is not in the

Bible. It's not biblical. I'm 100 % confident of this. It's an in -house debate, I know, but I'm confident of it.

It's not a matter of who's liberal and who's not. It is a matter of, it's just not found in the best texts.

So, what do I want to say? All right, what do you do if you ever meet a demon?

I've told you a lot about what you shouldn't do. What should you do? I think the best thing to do, as I've said before, is you need to preach the gospel to the people.

You evangelize. That's what you do. Because in Christ Jesus, we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1, for he delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son. Think about what

James says. Salvation context in James 4, 6 to 10. 10 imperative responses to the gospel of grace.

Submit therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

What should you do? You should respond that way. But if you meet someone, what should you do?

You should preach the gospel to them because if the spirit of God goes in, spirit of Satan, our demon, goes out.

All right, let's see what else do I have here. I have notes here, but I can't seem to find the note that I want.

Okay, power evangelism, nah, I don't want to do that. Let me ask you another question. Can Christians be demon -possessed?

Can Christians be demon -possessed? After all, Peter said to Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart?

To light of the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land. Some use that, some use 1

Corinthians 5. I've decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh.

Some people say, well, God gave Paul a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me.

People use those verses. Are those the right verses to use? Can a demon be

Christian -possessed? That would be the wrong question to ask. Can a Christian be demon -possessed?

Well, I guess what you have to do is you have to define demon -possession. Demon -possessed, you mean the person's will is completely dominated by a demon and that person has no power or no ability to choose righteousness versus sin, would that be the case?

Christians can't be demon -possessed. Actually, if you study a commentator named

Herrick, is his last name, he said the term possession in reference to demons or Satan does not appear in the Hebrew or Greek scriptures and is an unfortunate mistranslation.

There are two ways in which the Bible speaks about the influence of demons on people. People are said to be demonized or to have a demon.

This is not the same thing as possession in the modern -day use of that term where it is often used to mean that the demon has complete control over the person, using him or her at will.

This is rarely the case, even in the Gospels. Most often, the language of having a demon and demonized seems to speak of demonic influence to greater or lesser degrees.

So we've got one, having a demon, there's a Greek word for that, two words, to be demonized, it's a

Greek word, influence, control, dominion. And then we have one, tormented by evil, unclean spirits, that's a one

Greek word in that as well. So can we be demon -possessed?

Can they possess us and own us? When you think about first chapter of Ephesians and you have verse 13 and 14, we're sealed by the

Spirit and He owns us and He possesses us. If the Spirit of God possesses

Christians, how can demons possess them simultaneously? It can't be done. If you study

Charles Smith, he says, this is the root from the word demon, that's diaman.

It is critical, in the critical editions of the Greek New Testament, the word occurs only one time,

Matthew 8, 31. This is the occasion where the demons in the gathering demoniacs requested permission to enter the pigs.

On four other occasions, the word appears in the Texas Receptus. The derivation of the term is uncertain.

Plato, indeed, derives it from demon as an adjective formed by diao or dao as signifying knowledge or intelligence.

Satan enters people, certainly Satan entered into Judas.

The question is, can Satan enter into Christians? Should you be afraid where you can have a demon possess you by residing in you, directing you?

And if you're a Christian, the answer is absolutely, categorically, no. No one is warned about this in the

New Testament. It's not given in the New Testament where there's a Christian who has possession.

It doesn't happen. And so we have everything in the Bible that we need when you think about 1

John 4, 4, you're indwelt by God. How can you be possessed by Satan or demons if you're indwelt by God?

1 John 4, 4, you are from God, little children, and have overcome them because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.

Satan would have to be stronger than God for this to happen. God owns you, the God of the universe.

The temple of the living God is the church. Satan has no proverbial squatter rights. God owns you, you're his property.

Do you not know, 1 Corinthians 6, that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

For you have been bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20.

Ephesians 1, 13 and 14, in him you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, having also believed you were sealed in him with the

Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance with a view to the redemption of God's own possession to the praise of his glory.

Possession, you were sealed. It's an aorist passive. You have been sealed by someone else.

We're not talking about a seal, an animal that barks. We're talking about sealing so you can trust it, putting the seal of ownership and possession on there.

He owns you so you are not accessible to Satan.

Daniel 6, and a stone was brought and laid over the mouth of the den and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signet rings of his nobles so that nothing might be changed in regard to Daniel.

He was sealed and he was protected, anti -protected, of course, from anybody tampering with that.

In him you also were sealed, in him with the promise of the

Holy Spirit or the Holy Spirit of promise. So Christian, if you know an unbeliever and you think they're demon -possessed or you don't know if they are, what should

I do? You don't need to know. You just need to preach the gospel to them. You focus on sin and the

Savior and call them to believe in response to the good news of the gospel. You don't have to know if somebody has a demon of postnasal drip, demon of lust, demon of that, that's all nonsense.

But to somebody possessed by a demon, if in fact you think they are, your mode of operation is to preach the gospel because once Satan, once Jesus' spirit goes into the person and dwells them,

Satan goes out. This will also help you because if it's not Satan, then you don't have to spend all your time with hell broths and amulets.

You're back to I have an unbelieving friend or family member, they need the gospel of grace.

God has a perfect plan found in the scriptures and we know if we're

Christians not to worry about Satan and is he going to get us. I don't say to myself, I wonder if Satan's going to get me.

I entrust myself to the Lord who's going to take care of me. First John 5, 18, we know that no one who was born of God sins habitually, but he who was born of God keeps him and the evil one does not touch him.

This we're not talking like a tap touch, we're talking about to really lay hold of or to grasp. Oh yes,

Satan might tempt us. Oh, Satan might accost us. I don't know, maybe even

Satan plays mind games with us. But John knows what the devil does in his wiles and it's not because we have strength in our own life, but we trust in who

God is and God keeps him, the believing one, and the evil one does not touch him.

How about this, 2 Thessalonians 3, 3, but the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

Isn't that good? It's used of military protection against violent assault when commentary is said, to protect you from the evil one.

And thankfully God doesn't have a hole in his defense. He doesn't have a blind spot.

He doesn't have a weakness. He doesn't have a particular spot in his military.

See, I'm getting over my head when I talk about military battles and stuff like that, but he can keep you safe.

I do know that. They're preserved forever, Psalm 37, his godly ones. Hebrews 13,

I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you. And so we have been sealed to the day of redemption,

Ephesians chapter four, and the spirit of God is a down payment for future delivery, a future guarantee to pay, a pledge that the business transaction will be completed.

And in this case, it was a spiritual transaction. And we have a God who is perfectly holy and completely faithful and he never changes.

Therefore his promises will be kept. And since God can't lose a

Christian, you are eternally secure and God can give you the promises in scripture and then your response is to believe them.

Listen to what the martyr Hugh Latimer said. When I live in a settled and steadfast assurance about the state of my soul, methinks then

I am bold as a lion. I can laugh at all my trouble. No affliction daunts me.

But when I am eclipsed in my comforts, I am so fearful of spirit that I could run into a very mouse hole.

Ah, not every demon exorcism is from God, Steve Fernandes says.

Christ affirms that fact that false believers can cast out demons. Hmm, is that true?

My friend Steve Fernandes off his rocker. Matthew 12, 27. If I, by Beelzebub, cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out?

For this reason, they will be your judges. Fernandes says Christ's response is amazing.

He does not deny they did it. He simply denies they did it in his power. If Christians begin to dabble with demons, if they go on the offensive, then

Satan will allow mock displays of power to deceive them. Well, that's interesting by Steve Fernandes.

Let's see what else I have here on No Compromise Radio. Casting out demons,

John chapter 10. Criteria for demon possession. Hmm, what does

Grudem say? How about territorial demons? Let's talk about that for a minute. Territorial spirits and world evangelism.

There's a book by Chuck Lowe regarding that. Maybe there's a demon here close to the church.

What do we end up doing? Okay, where is this note here? Hmm. Grudem, in no instance does anyone in the

New Testament summon a territorial spirit upon entering an area to preach the gospel. In both examples above, the demon was any person and demon -influenced person initiated the confrontation.

So we have the scholar Grudem, Wayne Grudem, who is not a cessationist.

He is a continuationist, and so he would be kind, of course, to charismatics, because he's charismatic, even though a conservative one.

And so you say, well, what about territorial demons? And you know, Daniel and stuff like that. I just want you to know, quoting here

Wayne Grudem, and I would agree with him. Where in the Bible does it say to go do that?

In no instance does anyone in the New Testament summon a territorial spirit. I'd hate to do that. He goes on to say, number two, in no instance does anyone in the

New Testament demand information from demons about a local demon hierarchy. So there's nothing in the scriptures that talk about that.

Why do people do that? Have some prayer walk, walk around the building seven times, put a hedge around Satan.

Reminds me of my brother -in -law, and he was in Santa Cruz working on some church thing, not church thing, a house, and he was working on a house as a guy in construction, and he saw a bunch of some kind of Tibetan Buddhist prisms in the foundation, and he asked the owner what those were for, and that was to drive away demons and other territorial spirits.

And so Steve, my brother -in -law, said something to effect, well, that's not very nice of you to your neighbor, nice of you acting towards your neighbors, because now they're gonna go from your house and get beamed right over to their neighbor's house.

I actually, I think Steve left a Bible in that guy's vent as a Hellbroth amulet preventer.

Grudem, number three, no instance does anyone in the New Testament say that we should believe or teach information derived from demons.

That'd probably be good, demonology. No instance does anyone in the New Testament teach by word or example that certain demonic strongholds over a city have to be broken before the gospel can be proclaimed with effectiveness.

So see, Grudem's on my side. Time is on my side, said Mick Jagger, Grudem's on my side.

Here's what Grudem also goes on to say, and I like to quote him because he's charismatic. Rather, Christians just preach the gospel.

And it comes with power to change lives. Of course, demonic opposition may arise or God himself may reveal the nature of certain demonic opposition, which

Christians would then pray and battle against according to 1 Corinthians 12, 2 Corinthians 10, and Ephesians 6.

How good is that? Mr. Wayne Grudem. It's excellent. In an article called

Future Directions for American Evangelicals, John Jefferson Davis. I think that's that where he quotes

Grudem. So today on No Compromise Radio, I started off strongly, but then all of a sudden got super tired.

I think it's the beet juice. Put a bunch of beets in the juicer with some ginger and throw a full jalapeno in there, juice it up.

And I'm talking about crazy reactions afterwards. The beet juice and the freshness of the ginger root and then the bite of the jalapeno.

It's crazy. So you can write us at infoatnocompromiseradio .com. If you'd like to order the new book

I have, it's not so new, The Sovereignty and Supremacy of King Jesus. It's on day one. I just got my royalty check.

Not many were sold the last six months. And I have about five books in the works.

One's got a contract, another one's done, but nobody wants to touch it and a few others.

And we're just trying to work on those and just get some things done. If you don't try to get anything done, nothing ever happens.

We're also gonna have episode two of No Compromise ever soon enough. There should be three to four episodes with some interesting outtakes from the cemetery when

I videotaped Karl Truman, Phil Johnson, and James White.

Make sure to come to the church September 14th through 16th, Bethlehem Bible Church for the

Karl Truman Conference. And that is Friday night current issues in evangelicalism and then

Saturday Luther. And so this is No Compromise Radio. Welcome, gotta go. 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.

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