Remembrancers (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. Pastor Steve is here. This is our third show recorded today, and this is the first show we recorded today without laughter at the beginning.

Yeah, we�re going to strive for a no -comedy zone today. No co. No compromise.

Oh, I hear laughter in the rain. Neil Sedaka. Now, when you first heard him as a kid in the late �60s, maybe early �70s, did you think that was a man or a woman?

Mid -70s. When I first heard him, I definitely thought it was a woman. When you first heard Wayne Newton sing �Donka

Shane�, did you think it was a woman or a man? I�m not even kidding.

I didn�t even hear that song until I was like in my 40s. I mean, it�s just not my thing.

All right. Give us an update on you, your life, your ministry, etc. My life. Well, I�m still alive.

Nice. I�m still married. I still have three kids, six grandkids, one dog, and life is good.

Okay. Okay. Ministry. Still teaching the Sunday school here. I�ll be teaching from 1689.

That is a woman. Don�t even try to tell me it�s not a woman. That is a woman.

Or he recorded that when he was eight. Seriously, is this like Donny Osmond when he was eight and then when he was 15?

He doesn�t look eight. He looks, what do you think, 12? Yeah, maybe.

I mean, he�s still in the boy status. This is prior to puberty. So we were on the bus in Wittenberg, Germany, and I put this up to the microphone there and we all listened while we were driving.

Did this come out during World War II or? As they were dropping the, you know, as they were firebombing

Dresden, you know, did they � I mean, what is that?

Dresden was destroyed. I mean, that was just wiped out. Because we were driving through one time and I thought, �Oh, let�s go see, you know, the cool old buildings in Dresden.�

Oh, yeah. See that new one? See that new one? When we were in Oxford this summer, supposedly � this is what the tour guide said.

I don�t know if this is true or not, but they said that the Germans � like there�s a theory floating around that there was a secret agreement not to bomb

Oxford as long as the Allies didn�t bomb Hamburg or wherever the, you know, big

German universities are. So you know, kind of a gentleman�s agreement. Tell you what, you can blow up the rest of the country, but just don�t touch

Oxford. I mean, they bombed � they sure bombed London, that�s for sure, you know, and Berlin got it too.

But you know, the universities? Off limits. And the football fields. No. Tubingen.

I�ve been to Tubingen. They didn�t bomb that. Oh, they should have. In fact, if I was in Allied Command, I�d say, okay, you know, the first place we�re going to hit is

Tubingen. And everybody would look at me like, �Why? We have to get rid of those schools.� Oh, by the way, the town is the coolest quintessential

European town ever. And then they�ve got this university there, there�s a river, etc. And so we were there, and I thought, you know what,

I need to go to the university bookshop because I�d like to get a Tubingen Seminary sweatshirt or T -shirt that I would wear at the

Shepherds Conference because who else would really know? I mean, I�m thinking some people at the Shepherds Conference would realize this is a very

German liberal school. Yes. I mean, like the birthplace of many heresies.

And so I thought, you know what, I need to find that. It happened to be on a day that the college campus was closed, and so the bookstore on campus was closed, and I couldn�t wear it.

So now I have to figure out, maybe in light of Shepherds Seminary stuff going on,

I wear my Fuller Seminary sweatshirt to Shepherds Conference. And for any who are outraged that I would say, �Oh,

I would have bombed Tubingen ,� all I�m saying is that it was the home of the birthplace of liberalism and liberal thought, and even gave birth,

I think, to neo -Orthodoxy, and just everything that�s wrong with the church today. So when I say that it�s from a purely theological perspective and�

Truth bombs. Right? It�s not a real bomb. Yeah. Kind of truth bombs, truth scuds. Steve�s not necessarily speaking exactly with wooden literalism.

Right. And anachronistically, I�d like to draw, you know, the MacArthur Study Bible in German on Tubingen.

Oh, and you could just float them down. Yeah. Right? I got that new 25th anniversary edition that weighs about�

It�s only the 20th. Don�t worry. 20th. Sorry. Okay. Sorry. But I do know it weighs. It weighs quite a bit.

I think that�s because it�s got the extra Byzantine stuff in it with the new

King James Version. Maybe it needs that. Yeah, the extra weight. Yeah. You know, the Nestle -Aland one, UBS 4th, it�s lighter for some reason.

It has fewer verses. Yeah. They�ve taken some of the verses that don�t exist right out. Well, that�s when

I actually want to have the� you want to just leave that just like that there, Steve? Yeah, thanks. Okay.

That�s when I like to have the Indian friends that we have here at the church pronounce it because Mark 16, 9, and following, those verses aren�t original.

They�re the worst of the verses. Well, today on No Compromise Radio, we are doing part two.

John Love, who was born in the mid -1700s, he wrote a little kind of a daily guide, somewhat similar to Edwards with the resolutions.

Really good power forward, too, at UCLA, just so I�ll throw that in there. John Love. Yeah, that�s right. And, you know, when you first become a

Christian and you�re learning, you�re thinking Edwards is so great, and he wrote lots of good things. But then some of the stuff, you know, justification, not so much.

Well, with resolutions, I don�t know how anyone can live underneath those resolutions. I mean, David Brainerd tried to, killed him.

The burden of� Yeah. The burden of law. Yeah. And you know what? We talk about this frequently, but there�s something inside of us that just wants rules.

Great. I�m saved. I�m saved by grace. Now just tell me the rules that I need to live by, right? I mean, we misunderstand the whole concept.

Amen. So, the fourth one here, they�re called �Remembrancers ,� is never lose one minute of time.

How�s that working out for you? Never lose one minute of time. Well, let�s just kind of, let�s just have a minute of silence, and that way we can just, we can waste�

We can lose a minute. For everybody in the audience, right? Now Steve, I think there�s something to be said for, let�s be good stewards of time.

When Paul says in Ephesians chapter 5, �Redeem the time ,� he�s not talking about tick -tock seconds.

He�s talking about when an opportunity comes up, God is sovereignly over all that, well, then minister.

It�s almost like when Jesus is going to heal a dead person, a sick person, the woman comes up who�s been bleeding a lot, and Jesus redeemed the time.

Paul�s talk in Ephesians 5 is not, well, the time�s fleeting, seconds are going by, use it all for the glory of God.

Although that�s not a bad concept, that�s just not Pauline in Ephesians 5. Well, I really like the way you redeem time, like, you know, reading two books simultaneously while watching a football game while writing another manuscript, all at the same time.

It�s pretty amazing. I can�t do that. So, on my desk now, I have the Buchanan Justification Book and John Owen, Volume 5 on justification.

Which you�re reading at the same time. Well, I�m not, I mean, I�m just reading one� One eye is doing each one? Marty Feldman.

Young Frankenstein. Maybe that�s why his eyes were like that.

No, but, you know, this is just, this one here bugged me, because how guilty must you feel when you lose any time?

I mean, I don�t like to sit down and watch a football game. I�ll have the computer open, work, research, work on the next sermon, or whatever.

But I mean, never lose one minute of time? Well, so, you know, what constitutes that?

When one of my grandchildren crawl up in my lap, am I losing a minute of time? Or even five minutes?

You know, is that just wasted and gone forever? I don�t know. I mean, I kind of cherish those moments, so I don�t know.

Now, could a Christian actually lose time? What would be a real way to lose time? Lose time.

A real way to lose time, I mean, other than, you know, the obvious drugs, which

Christians should not be doing. Can we lose time? I don�t know. I don�t think so. Could you waste time?

What does that mean? In other words, could you play video games for five hours downstairs in the basement when you could be loving your wife and kids?

Yeah, you could. Would that be a good spending of time? Probably not. Well, I, but, you know, here�

I�m not against video games, you know, by essence and nature, but you can abuse those things.

Well, and I think, and it�s a good point because, you know, for me, and I think for our generation, that kind of concept,

I mean, do I play board games? You know, I interact with people on board games and stuff like that.

Is that a waste of time? Well, yeah, in a sense. I think it is. I think, but the isolation of video games and the separation from your family and, you know, if you�re repeatedly doing that, there�s a problem.

And you know, there�s a generation now of young men who just don�t really want to grow up.

They don�t want to let go of adolescence. And my advice to all of them is grow up. Agreed.

And Steve, you�ll agree with this. Time and place, maturation asks that question and tries to utilize those principles with time and place.

And if you would do, there�s a little Abendroth slogan, I know it�s law, but it�s a slogan, do what you have to do so you can do what you want to do.

That�s right. And if you�ve done all your duties and you�ve got everything else covered and you like to relax by playing Call of Duty, well, go ahead.

But you don�t do it at the expense of other things that are mandated by God. I�ve often thought to myself, you know,

I really have a problem with a lot of video games because these designers know how to capture, especially young men, let�s beat the next level, let�s go on to the next thing, right?

These victories that are spliced every 12 minutes and you want to just do the next one, just one more level. I know it because I�ve done it.

But I thought, you know what? It doesn�t mean they�re wrong. So could I imagine me being a grandpa and getting down on the floor in the living room with my 12 -year -old grandson and playing some combat game for a half hour?

I would gladly do it. Right. Yeah, but that�s a�you�ve wasted one minute or more than one minute.

And, you know, so that is a very�it�s a judgment, you know, did

I waste it or did I lose it, which I think tends towards legalism anyway.

So far I haven�t liked this guy�s list. No, I haven�t either. No. And when I read Hebrews, the theme, especially in chapter 4, although it�s found elsewhere, �rest.�

Right? We don�t have to work anymore for our salvation. Jesus has worked perfectly and has earned it for us.

And we can rest. And we�re weary and we�re heavy laden, and Jesus the

Son has given us rest. And there�s a time for rest. There�s a time for Sabbath.

There�s a time for just exhaling. And you don�t have to do anything to redeem time and to get the most out of every second.

You can just rest. You can take a nap. You could read a bicycling magazine. You could get binoculars and look at birds.

I mean, there�s a thousand things you could do, and I don�t think that�s a waste of time. I agree. Okay. Number?

Six. Six. Remember, sir, six. Watch against undue expenditure that I may have the more to spend for God.

More legalism. And you know, should you indulge yourself?

Well, I think the answer is no, but again, it�s always a� this is a matter of judgment and everything else.

And I met with a man once who, I don�t want to say he was bragging, but he told me that, you know, their initial thing was, because we were talking about giving and, you know,

I was bragging about how much, no. He said, well, you know, we start out at 10 % or whatever, but now we�re at a point where my wife and I give like,

I forget what it was, 83 % of everything that we make to the Lord. I mean, it was a really high figure.

And I�m like, well, I want to say A, good for you, B, bad for you for telling anybody.

Why would you, you know, if you�ve gotten to the point where you can give like extraordinarily to gospel ministry, well, praise the

Lord. But I wouldn�t tell anybody that, you know, it would be just between me and my wife and I would, you know, it�s almost like we are around here about knowing what people give.

I almost wouldn�t want to know how much I was giving, right? If that were possible, because I just wouldn�t want to be puffed up with that kind of knowledge.

And I think, you know, does that make you more righteous? And I think that�s the slippery slope that I�m concerned about here is it just seems like, you know,

I�m saving money, I�m denying myself things, which, good, fine, but it�s pretty easy to slip into that I may boast.

Now this guy, Steve, John Love, while maybe having a good left -hand hookshot, and maybe has other good things that are

Christ -centered, just this list that�s in the banner of truth, it just, it is law, it is legalism, and it is we�ll just do these things.

And I think to myself, you know what, I�m not a Catholic, so let�s think of Lent. It�s the same type of thing.

I�m going to give up, I heard a story the other day about a guy gave up popcorn for Lent. True story.

Well, true confessions, he hadn�t had any popcorn for five years before that. Popcorn for Lent.

Like, I�ve got to give something up for God. Now God gives us money, and I always tell people when it comes to giving to the local church, everybody wants to know what percentage to give.

The percentage is easy, it�s 100. And that is to say, God has given you everything that you have, and so all the money you have to give is 100%.

That is to say, in paying bills and giving to the local church, I mean, it�s all God�s, and so therefore live in light of that.

But okay, so what about Starbucks? You know, I never liked it, Steve, when somebody said, �Well, don�t get a tattoo, that�s a waste of money.�

And then they�re drinking some $7 Venti, right? Or �Don�t smoke that pipe because tobacco is so awful and you should be using that money for something else.�

And they ordered an appetizer. I think you could probably go without an appetizer if, you know. But again,

I just think it comes down to this. You know, everything is good if it�s, you know, received with the right attitude.

So I think when we�re sitting there trying to figure out, I think it�s good to try to give more, especially if your giving is minimal, right?

I mean, if you�re giving, you know, if you add up your giving and you thought, �Gee, I thought we were doing pretty well.� And then you find out, �Oh, we�re giving 2 %.�

You know, well, then something needs to go, right? You need to be more giving.

But this just smacks of law. I�m going to live frugally so that I can, �Okay, that�s fine.�

But it just sounds like a boast. I think I could probably write a best -selling book that would exemplify this principle on steroids.

Radical. I knew that�s where you�re going. That�s why I had to pull away from the microphone.

I was going to say radical. Well, besides the whole law of gospel issue and radical, you know, and maybe there�s something to be said for the first chapter, but then that blog post needed to be turned into a book, and that�s where things went south after that.

Listen, Jesus has paid it all, and He�s done everything, and now in light of that, what kind of rules are we under, and what do we have to go to live in?

You know, if everybody goes, sells their houses, and lives with a bunch of poor people, what are the poor rich people going to do? I mean, you know,

I wish I was born in Beverly Hills. I swear I don�t drink half as much as she spills. I don�t know the song, but I just think, you know, is it right to think

I might be overindulging myself? It might be right to cut back or whatever, or, you know, every once in a while I should say no to myself?

I think whatever. All those things are good, and, you know, I don�t want to just be a spendthrift.

And I don�t want to be having this as a daily duty. Right. Should I buy that new carbon fiber?

Yeah. No, I don�t want that at all. Should I spend a little bit extra money, quite a bit of extra money, to go to New York to get the doctor

I really want? I mean, come on. They got doctors here in Worcester. Yes, they do, and you�ll be dead in six months.

Uh -oh! Number seven, remember, sir, of Daily LAR, gone, lost bull, went abroad.

This happens to you a lot. Let me be desirous of doing and receiving good. Let me have some subject of contemplation in readiness to occupy my thoughts as I walk along.

Let me render myself agreeable and useful to all by tender, compassionate, friendly behavior. Let me avoid trifling, impertinent stories.

Imprudence is sin. I don�t even understand this, but here�s what

I will say. Let me just comment on the last. Let me avoid trifling, impertinent stories.

I always try to avoid those. You know, I used to hear this line all the time, �Hey, senior,

I have� when I was working in the jail, �I have a joke for you.� And I�d say, �Is it sexual or racial in nature ?�

And you should have seen the looks I would get in return, because the answer was always, always, yes.

So then I�d go, they�d say, �Of course ,� or, �What kind of question is that ?�

You know? And then I�d say, �Well, then I don�t want to hear it ,� and that would be the end of that. You know, I missed a lot of, let�s see, trifling and impertinent stories, right, that way.

But stories, I like stories if they�re not full of sexual innuendo and they�re not a joke or something like that, but stories, don�t we love a good story?

Sure. Yeah. But again, I just think it gets back to, you know, don�t waste a moment of time, you know.

I mean, this guy would be a lot of fun to hang out with, right? Yeah. How�d you like to be married to him?

He�d be always looking like, �Don�t you have something more to say, something pertinent rather than impertinent?

Don�t you have anything non -trifling to say ?� Let me have some subject of contemplation. In the old days when

I would travel abroad, like this guy�s talking about, and you know, of course those days you had to ride a ship, right?

You were on a ship the whole time, hours and hours and hours. But if I was flying to India, that was two eight -hour flights, right?

One, two to get there, two more to get back. I would usually bring four books, that was my goal, finish four

Christian books, and you know, eight hours of flight, done, eight hours of flight, done, repeat. Now I flew to New Zealand, to L .A.

it was six hours, and then to New Zealand, Auckland, it was 13 hours. I didn�t read any books.

I was just surfing like the, they�ve got these new TVs with about 900 movies on them and stuff, and different music shows and stuff, and I�m just watching that whole thing.

And so I think I miserably failed when I started watching the Alien Covenant movie. Uh -oh. You, uh, you were trifling.

Number eight, use great moderation in meals. Watch against hypocrisy in Thanksgiving. Oh! Happy Thanksgiving!

What�s the hypocrisy in Thanksgiving? Here�s how I�m going to work my Thanksgiving, Steve. Tell me if this is hypocritical.

The week before Thanksgiving, I will starve myself and try to lose two pounds, and then on Thanksgiving, I�m not going to gorge.

I don�t like that feeling like I can�t roll over in bed onto my stomach. But I just won�t think about calories on Thanksgiving.

I�ll just enjoy myself. I never think about calories on Thanksgiving. What I try to do is

I go, I just sort of look at what, you know, is going to be there, and I�m like, okay, what parts of this meal can

I not miss? I just, this is,

I mean, this whole thing just makes me sad. Use great moderation in meals. Well, I agree with that.

I mean, I try not to just, you know, gorge myself or whatever, but� But the problem with this kind of law, Steve, is who is the final judge and arbiter of this law?

I would say it�s the person who�s writing the law. And then how much moderation is too much moderation?

And just ask Luther why he had so many stomach problems. I think one of John Love�s kids was the church lady, but I digress.

Luther was messed up for the rest of his life because of his negligence in eating well when he was the monk.

And so, okay, how much do I have to say no to? And then finally, of the remancer,

Rembrancer, Rembrancer� Rembrant. Yeah.

Yeah. Rembrant. Was he was he doing daily dainties? I doubt it.

Let me never delay a duty unless I can prove that another time is more fit or that some more important duty stands in the way of it.

You know, of all the ones there, that�s one probably I have the least problem with because I think it�s the one we all struggle with, you know, never do today what you can put off till tomorrow, you know, so and I was thinking it does kind of go along with your video game thing.

I wonder how many Sunday school teachers, for example, you know, play video games Saturday evening and then, you know, as it�s getting later and later, they go, yeah,

I got to get my Sunday school lesson ready, right? And so just kind of throw something together in 15 minutes or whatever when, you know, if they had taken a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon or Friday night or whenever, you know, and sort of then they could just do it freely.

They could play whatever they, you know, do whatever they want to freely, but it�s delight before duty is often what people do.

And I think duty is not a negligible aspect of life. Steve, at the beginning,

I saw this in the Banner of Truth magazine, and I thought, oh, that�ll make a good show because it�s got the bullet points, and hopefully it�ll be

Christ -centered, you know, Banner of Truth. I�m not necessarily blaming them, although it is in their magazine, without comment.

And then we started going through it, and I thought, this is resolutions. This is Edwards just, how can

I live up to that? I�m so tired by the end of the night. I basically lay down and say, thanks,

Lord, for everything. I appreciate what you�ve done and who you are. I�m exhausted. Please uphold the universe with your powerful right hand as I sleep.

Well, I mean, and every day kind of gets, for me also, is like, please forgive me for the things

I�ve not done that I know I should have. You know, like redeeming the time. Well, no, not those things.

Like the traveling without books. Taking your kids trick -or -treating. Well, I mean, the great thing is with a

Kindle, I always have books. Call of Duty. You know, so. Walking the dog. Hey, you

Christians stand before God as righteous, because Jesus is righteous. And you don�t have to perform, and so you get to rest.

How about remembering that at night would be a good addition. Yeah, we rest in Christ. He did it all.

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.