The Paradigm of Grace

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, a ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, and it is, in real time, Saturday, April 2nd. And here I am in the studio. My wife and daughter are down in D .C., and so I thought I�d record a couple extra shows.

I think I need, I don�t know, 20-plus shows for when I�m on vacation. So here we are, extra shows just for Fred Butler and others. Well, what do I have here before I get into the topic at hand? You can go to No Compromise Radio�s YouTube page, and we�ve got 170-some videos there, maybe.

I�ll try to record some more now that I�m feeling better. Thank you for praying. I don�t know why I�m breathing hard. I�m pretty good. I feel pretty good, at least. Off to the lung doctor, I think, this week or next.

I don�t think I have a smoker�s cough anymore, so that�s good. I�m talking to my brother, Pat Abendroth, Pat �The Pactom� Abendroth. You want to listen to his podcast, �The Pactom. And we are getting close to nailing down some dates for 2023 Israel, February, I think, 21st through March-something to go to Israel.

Of course, we had to cancel this year, 2022. Too many rules, too many regs, too many everything, VACs, passports, and I don�t know what they had everybody doing. But it was too much for us, and so we canceled.

I think I had over 20 going. Pat had over 20 going, so it was going to be a great time. But anyway, stay tuned for Israel with �The Pactom� and �No Compromise Radio. What if we combined the shows and called it �No Pactom�?

That would be sad. I�d sound like a Biblicist then, right? I can�t say �covenant of redemption� because it doesn�t say �covenant. But they certainly would say �trinity� even though it doesn�t say �trinity.

I mean, I use the words as an economy of words, so I don�t have to explain it every single time. Imagine if I had to say, instead of using the word �trinity�, I�d have to say there�s one God, God the Father�s God, God the Son is God, God the Holy Spirit, He�s God, but the Father�s not the Son, and the Son�s not the Spirit, and the Spirit�s not God, and the Father�s unbegotten, the Son is begotten, not made, and the Holy Spirit proceeds both from the Father and the Son.

What if I had to say that every single time? Why don�t I just say �trinity Isn�t that easier? Same thing. Covenant of works, covenant of redemption. I�m not sure what the big fuss is, but I think I know what it is.

People are afraid to use the word �covenant. That�s right. And I think that�s about it. Oh, I did finish filming my part for American Gospel 3. Mr. Kimber had me do that. I recorded, I don�t know, two and a half hours of stuff, and I�ll probably make it into the show for 60 seconds.

Well, that would still qualify me for the International Movie Database, but anyway, it�s a thrill. Oh, I�ll be in Community Bible Church with my brother Pat Ebendroth in late October, that final weekend there.

I think May 1st or 2nd is the Sunday, so back up a day or two, and we�re talking about the Trinity, and that�s at my good friend John Tucker�s place, the church he pastors. What else? I don�t know. I think I�m going to do something for Steve Meister at Emanuel, Pastor Robert as well.

That�s in Sacramento. That�s sometime in August, I think. And I don�t know, not a whole lot on the schedule. Wiped clean, COVID wipe clean, COVID lung wipe clean, and we are set. Well, I�m preaching Ephesians a little quicker this time through.

I�m doing two sermons a chapter, and the reason why I�m doing that is because we had a lot of new people, and I wanted to do overview style, and one sermon a chapter like I did with James is a little much.

So I thought I�d break it up a little bit. And in addition, I was coming back from my respiratory failure and couldn�t really study like I wanted to. I didn�t really have the stick-to-itiveness to have my seat in a chair for a long time and study intensely maybe a new passage that I hadn�t preached before that would require a lot of thinking.

So I pulled up something I�d already done, and then I read not a whole lot of commentaries above and beyond the ones I already read when I preached through Ephesians 15, 20 years ago. I simply read Calvin, Ian Hamilton, and Sinclair Ferguson.

Those are the three extra, and that�s probably what people should do. Read three or four commentaries after you�ve done your legwork. See what they say. Maybe they�ve got some insight for you. If it�s a problem passage, then you can look up other commentaries, but for all you dear listeners, you can get Calvin�s commentaries at StudyLite and at many other places for free gratis, and you should look at what he says.

Very concise, very illuminating, solid stuff. Ephesians chapter 6 is where I am this week, and it�s fascinating because there�s law there. Some might think that we are against law. Of course, we�re not against law.

God�s law is good and holy, a reflection of His character. I�m not against law. I love the law because it guides me. It helps me. It norms my living, and it�s from the Father, and so why would I not love God�s law?

It�s for my own good, and it gives God glory. There's a section here in this first half of Ephesians 6 where it seems kind of lawish, doesn�t it? A lot of law. Children, obey your parents. Fathers do not provoke your children, but bring them up.

Slaves obey your earthly masters. Masters do the same to them and stop your threatening. And, if you look at chapter 6, verses 1 through 9, that�s what we have. So, how do we preach that? I think there�s a way to preach it that is convicting, but not condemning.

And so, maybe that�s the name of the show today is �Convicting, Not Condemning. How do we preach in such a way that we want God�s Word to do its work in our hearts, and if we, let�s say we�re children and we�re not honoring our parents, we should be convicted?

And, of course, there�s the balm of the gospel later, and we�ll talk about that, but there should be some conviction when it comes to obeying your parents and honoring them, both in actions and in attitude.

For those of us that are fathers, we should be convicted because we have been, I have been, provoking my children to anger, and I have shown maybe partiality or indifference or hypercritical. There�s lots of different ways that you can provoke your children, and I need to be convicted.

I need to be convicted that in my laziness, I think, �Well, you know, the church will teach them, or the pastor will teach them. Well, in my case, I�m the pastor, but you know what I�m saying. Slaves obey earthly masters, and while we aren�t slaves, there are some valid, very valid parallels between work that people go to now or wake up at.

It used to be wives that woke up at work to take care of their kids. Now everybody wakes up at work because they all work from home, it seems. And of course, those who are bosses, how do they act? There are commands, imperatives, and what are we supposed to do?

And when you just parachute into chapter six and you find those, well, I think you teach them, but they�re in the context, right? You know on No Compromise Radio. We belabor the point that every Christian evangelical of different persuasions, Wesleyan, Arminian, Calvinistic, fundamentalists, charismatics, Presbyterians, Baptists, and everything in between, they all think Christians should obey.

Every one of them thinks that they, Christians, should be faithful. Christians should live a holy life, should walk in a manner worthy of their calling. That�s not for debate. I guess the only people that don�t think that are some crazy hyper-grace people and true antinomians.

We think at No Compromise Radio that Christians should obey. You should obey. And I don�t think of anybody who�s orthodox that would argue against that. The real question, however, is in what context do we obey?

In this passage, what�s the motivation to obey? How do we obey? How do we walk in a manner worthy of our calling? We know we�re supposed to obey. What�s going to motivate us? And of course, if we go back to the first chapter, second chapter, third, and there are hints, of course, of grace in Ephesians 4 and 5, we understand that grace motivates.

And of course, that�s short for God�s grace, triune God�s grace. Grace sustains obedience. Grace animates obedience. That�s why Christians can obey and Christians should obey because it�s God�s law. How can they?

I mean, if it�s just sheer duty, I guess you could do it for a while, so the bootstraps are right, but you�re going to get burnt out. There�s going to be unnecessary guilt, probably depression, self-righteousness, pride, depending on where you are on the spectrum.

This chapter, like all chapters, here�s the moral of the story today, dear listeners. Context is important, and I don�t mean just local context, but the context of the book and the context of the New Testament and the context of the entire canon, Old and New Testament.

We need to see commands properly. If you�re not careful, you�re like me, and you just do the word studies and you parse out the verbs, you think it�s present imperative, and here�s what�s going on, and you don�t step back a little bit, you�re staring at the tree bark and you forget you�re in the forest and what�s going on.

In the midst of all this, you see in Ephesians clearly, how clear? Crystal. This is in the context of grace. It�s in the template of grace, whether it�s children obeying, fathers obeying, workers obeying, masters obeying.

The context of grace is even explicit at the end of this chapter. Ephesians 6 .22, �I have sent Tychicus to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts.

Peace be to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible. That�s the ending. That�s one of the purposes of the book, to encourage the saints at Ephesus, to give them encouragement.

So what kind of encouragement would there be for children to obey, fathers obey, slaves obey, masters obey? What kind of encouragement is that? How can that be encouraging? And I think if you just honed in on, �Fathers, don�t provoke your children to anger, but bring them up, nourish them.

Same word used of Christ nourishing the church and how husbands should nourish their wives back in 529. Bring them up. Bring them up and nourish them. If you understand the context and the template and the paradigm of grace and a gracious father, you�re going to understand it.

Gracious fathers, gracious heavenly father, what�s God really like? Let�s take it from this angle. If you disobey these commands, is God angry at you, Christian? Is he ever going to blow his top at you, dear believer?

Is he like a mad dad? What do fathers do? Fathers of course provide, they pity, they protect, they discipline, they are kind, they�re wonderful, they�re loving, they�re generous. And of course if human fathers can have some of that or a little bit of that or much of it, how much more the heavenly father?

You remember the Luther quote of his famous song, �A Mighty Fortress�, �And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us.

The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure. One little word shall fell him. And I think if you understand what Luther�s after, you see these commands given to Christians in a whole new light.

Galatians 4, 6, Luther was writing, and I think this tells us what that word is in the song, �This is but a little word, and yet notwithstanding it comprehends all things. The mouth speaks not, the affections of the heart speak after this matter.

Although I be oppressed with anguish and terror on every side, and seem to be forsaken and utterly cast away from thy presence, yet I am thy child, and thou art my father for Christ�s sake. I am beloved because of the beloved.

Wherefore this little word, father, conceived affectionately in the heart, passes all the eloquence of the most eloquent rhetoricians in the world. Abba Father, that�s Galatians chapter 4, verse 6, �God has sent the Spirit of the Son into our hearts.

And what happens if we�re not careful is we think about our fathers on earth, and certainly there�s something wrong with all of them, even the best, and then somehow we portray that or project that on to the Heavenly Father.

And I think a lot of this has to do with our own sin. Luther said, �To doubt the good will of God is an inborn suspicion of God with all of us. Besides, the devil, our adversary, goes about seeking to devour by roaring, �God is angry with you and is going to destroy you.

In all these difficulties, we have only one support, the gospel of Christ. To hold on to it, that is the trick. Christ cannot be perceived with the senses. We cannot see him. The heart does not feel his helpful presence, especially in times of trials.

A Christian feels the power of sin, the infirmity of his flesh, the goading darts of the devil, and the use of death, the scowl and judgment of God. All these things cry out against us. The law scolds us, sin screams at us, death thunders at us, the devil roars at us.

In the midst of the clamor, the Spirit of Christ cries in our hearts, �Abba, Father. And this little cry of the Spirit transcends the hullabaloo of the law, sin, death, and the devil, and finds a hearing with God.

We are not supposed to obey because we are terrified of God. �You're a Christian, did you hear me An unhealthy, cringing fear? You need to understand that God is Father. J .I. Packer said, �You want to sum up the whole New Testament teaching in a single phrase

It's the fatherhood of God. We're not talking about to unbelievers, but God, to know God as a Father. That's the key. That motivates, that encourages, and therefore you think, �What a gracious Father He is to me, providing the Son, giving me the Holy Spirit.

And for all that He's done for me, I'm so thankful, and I want to obey out of gratitude. If you're that great, Heavenly Father, when you tell me to do something, it's got to be good. It's got to be for my own good, it's got to be for society's good, the family's good, other people's good, my good, and of course, ultimately, Father, Your glory.

That's what's going on here. Who gives this law, �Children, obey your parents. Who gives this law, �Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Who gives this law, �Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling. Well, if it's a wicked despot, if it's an anti-benevolent God, of course, then what's going on? No, no, no. Paul's message is, of course, there's an obligation to obey, but the motivation is grace.

Sinclair Ferguson said, �The whole letter is built on such a pattern. All of its individual parts express it in miniature. It cannot be overstressed how important it is that we communicate this to our children.

That's true. It's absolutely true. Legal, fearful, duty, obedience, or evangelical obedience, gospel obedience. Legal obedience, �I just have to do this because I have to, I've got to keep my position before God, I don't want to lose my standing before God, God's going to be even more mad at me than He is, and so I better just do it.

Legal, legal, legal, legal. That's the one son that says, �Lo, these many years I've slaved for you. Well, that's not the kind of gospel obedience we're looking at, to serve a father with delight, right?

To serve a father with honor. God motivates us to obey by telling us about who He is, and how generous He is, and how He didn't spare His own son. We're motivated because the law guides us from the hand of a father.

We're not going to get killed, we're not going to be executed, we're not going to be condemned, we're not going to be slain if we don't do it, of course not. I mean, if I summarize chapter one with a quote from Richard Sibbes, chapter one of Ephesians, �Christ does not choose you because you are good, but to make you good.

Wow, He chose me. Chapter two, �There's more mercy in Christ than sin in us. Well, that's a good description of chapter two, and you could do the same in chapter three, and chapter four, and chapter five.

And now in chapter six, we think, okay, what God has done for me. How could I think what He asked me to do is something that makes me full of grief and sorrow? No, no. My flesh wants to say, �I don't want to be in subjection to anyone, but I need this template of grace to understand.

And that's what I'm after here at No Compromise Radio. I mean, who wants to end up talking about Beth Moore and Ann Voskamp and all this stuff going on with wild evangelical issues? This is the focus.

Not that I can't say anything about that, nor will I tell you that I'll never say anything about it. You know, we'll talk about eternal functional subordination and all these other things. That's another thing in my mind where I think, well, we deal with Trinity issues, and we better be careful.

Well, there's a little quote here by David Martin Lloyd-Jones, and it will encourage you. Just like the book of Ephesians is meant to do, I want to try to do that today, even though I'm a little stuffy.

Oh, and I have here in front of me, because sometimes I like to talk about what I'm drinking here, and it's no sugar, no preservatives, Celsius, sparkling orange, essential energy, accelerate metabolism, burns body fat, causes cancer.

It's got a picture of a bicycle at the bottom. It's got a picture of somebody doing yoga, I think, yoga, and then somebody running. I don't know what's in here, but I'm sure it's a bunch of bad stuff.

They make you think it's monster drink, but healthy. How could there be a healthy monster drink? Caffeine, 200 milligrams total, carbonated water, citric acid, natural flavor. Uh-oh, sucralose. I'm not supposed to have any sweeteners.

Uh-oh, that's a bad sweetener. Oh, well. It has guarana, caffeine, ginger. Isn't that good? Green tea leaf. I think that's good. I think there's no high fructose corn syrup, if I could say it right. Seven essential vitamins.

So you get cancer, but still, you know, it doesn't kill you that fast. Lloyd-Jones. The secret of the early Christians, the early Protestants, Puritans, and Methodists, was that they were taught about the love of Christ.

And they became filled with a knowledge of it. Once a man has the love of Christ in his heart, you need not train him to witness. He will do it. He will know the power, the constraint, the motive. Everything is already there.

It's a plain lie to suggest that people who regard this knowledge of the love of Christ as a supreme thing are useless, unhealthy mystics. The servants of God who have most adorned the life and history of the Christian church have always been men who have realized that this is the most important thing of all, and that they have spent hours in prayer seeking His face and enjoying His love.

The man who knows the love of Christ in his heart can do more in one hour than the busy type of man can do in a century. God forbid that we should ever make an activity, an end in itself. Let us realize that the motive must come first, and that the motive must ever be the love of Christ.

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones. That's not my love to him. That's his love to me. Then, when children realize how much God loves them, okay, well, that loving God says, Obey your parents. That loving God says, Bring up your children properly.

That loving God says, Obey your masters. And that loving God said, Masters, you do the same to them. That's the key here on No Compromise Radio. That's what we're after. That's the whole thing that's missing, I think, in evangelicalism, at least much of evangelicalism.

You go to churches. I mean, you know my shtick. You go to churches. It's a TED Talk. You go to churches. It's six extra ways to do whatever. You know, it's that old Paul Simon, I think, song. Maybe he didn't sing it.

Fifty ways to leave your lover. Fifty ways not to leave the God who loves you. Is that a way I can redeem it? Didn't I just do shows on motivation for obedience? I just did a bunch of those. People call me an antinomian.

How can they do that? I do more shows on obedience than I know of. Does Pat Abedroth of the Pactom? Does he do that? Does Scott Clark do that at the Heidelberg? Heidelcast? Heidel dog? Heidel jeep? Did you know I've been in the Heidel jeep and I've actually petted the Heidel dog?

That's true. That's true. I've done that at Scott's house. And you know what? I was in the Heidel jeep for so long I almost came out a pedobaptist. Speak.

Oh, that's so funny. NoCompromiseRadio .com. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abedroth 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.