I give up Twitter for Lent

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.

Christ Is Enough, Not Religious Add-Ons

Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry, Michael here at the helm. Maybe I should start going by Michael, you know, I've said for a long time that all good theologians, they just go by their initials, right?

So, I think I should probably do that. B .B. Warfield, there's one, what's Daryl Hart's middle name? I've forgotten Daryl Hart's middle name. Well, it's J. Gresham Machen, so that's J .G. Machen. I don't think he ever went by J .G. Machen.

Who else? I thought a lot of theologians. A .A. Hodge, see? Maybe it's just only Princetonian theologians. Although, Machen was one of those as well. Who else had just letters for their first name and for their middle name?

See, I thought M .L. Abendroth would be good, but then I always think of M .L. Carr, the hated Boston Celtic player. So, M .L. Mel. So, my name's Mike Abendroth. If you're new to the show, we have a little slogan.

Always biblical, always provocative, always in that order. I don't like the intro so much because it says we can be controversial. That's not what I'm after, but I can't figure out a way to change the intro, so we're stuck with it.

What do I have here on my desk? Oh, we try to talk about the Bible, and since the Bible speaks of Christ Jesus, Old and New Testament, see John 5 and Luke 24, then we end up talking about Jesus a lot.

Instead of just having Christ's life, death, resurrection as something that we believe and then move on, we try to emphasize the fact that this is a central Christian doctrine. It is the central Christian doctrine, and whether it's justification, sanctification, or glorification, we need to be reminded that Christ Jesus reconciled us to God.

Well, today in front of me I have this Christianity Today, and I thought it was fascinating that it says what people gave up for Lent this year. There's been quite a buzz in Protestant evangelicalism, people wanting to go back to Lent.

And it shouldn't surprise us at all because people like tangible things. They like things that you can touch, tactile things, things you can smell and hear. And just imagine if it was the days of the Bible, and remember the writer of Hebrews is writing to them about how Jesus is supreme, that if you have Jesus, you have everything.

And he starts off in the letter to the Hebrews, that long ago at many times and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He created the world.

Now just listen to how Paul effervescently gushes with praise. Oh, I said Paul, didn't I? I really don't think Paul wrote it, but it was just a mistake. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power.

After making purification for sins, that's the only purgatory in the Bible, purging sins, Jesus sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name He has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

And remember then the writer of Hebrews goes on to say that Jesus is greater than Moses, chapter 3. I mean, Moses was pretty great, but Jesus was greater than Moses, and Jesus is a great high priest, Hebrews chapter 4.

Jesus is compared to Melchizedek, right? How can you have a priest in the Jewish system if they're not an Aaronic priest? And so we have Jesus a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, and Jesus is the priest of the new covenant, the better covenant, and so it's all about Christ Jesus.

And so that is why the writer writes that, because remember, we have a bunch of people who are scattered, who are persecuted, and you can just imagine the writer of Hebrews saying, I know that you're huddled in a small room in your house, wondering when the guards are going to come and take you away.

I know you're persecuted by the Jewish people in the synagogue. I know most everybody doesn't like you, and I know the appeal that the old temple yields. In other words, the temple has not been destroyed yet.

It's not 70 AD. Hebrews is written before that. And so you can imagine going to the temple. Even when I go to the Temple Mount now, it's pretty fabulous. Back in those days, Solomon's Temple, redone by Herod, of course, it's full of splendor.

It is full of grandeur. You have gold. You have marble. You have trumpet players. You have incense, so you can see things, you can hear them, you can smell things. You have all kinds of people there. It is a worship experience.

And then Jesus comes along, and He fulfills everything of the Old Testament. All these sacrifices were pointing to Him, and all the ins and outs of symbolism. So as the temple would protect you from the direct access and entrance into the presence of God and the Holy of Holies, now we have that veil torn from top to bottom.

How big do they think that veil was? Seventy feet tall, super thick. We now have access, and we have continued access. And that's what Romans 5 says, we have peace with God, and we have this introduction or this access.

We have entree. We were barred from God's direct presence, and now because of Christ's mediatorial work as a representative and substitute, we have access. And so we don't need the temple anymore. The temple is done, kaput, moot, and God put an exclamation point on that in 70 AD.

And so the temple's still around. People are still there. It's still a worship experience. Before I got saved, my mother and I—Carla was her name—we went to, it was 1983, we went to the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.

Robert Schuller was the—I guess they called him pastor. Robert Schuller was an interesting man because he did his doctoral work in Calvinism. I can't remember the subset of Calvinism, but he understands Reformed doctrine.

And then, of course, he went off the deep end that sin is a lack of self-esteem, sent out that book to everybody. And so there's lots of stories we could tell about Robert Schuller. Kind of Peale, Schuller, Warren, that's the way it's going.

I almost think that Francis Chan is going to be the next Rick Warren and carry on that legacy. I'm not saying it's a good legacy, but carry on that legacy. I just heard that Francis is speaking in San Fran with some of the Bethel worship people, the Johnsons, opening for, quote, worship.

But see, I'm going on a rabbit trail. And so there's something to be said for a wonderful building. And so the Crystal Cathedral is exactly that. Interestingly, my mother wasn't even a Christian at the time, neither was I, and she said, you know, the whole service here at the Crystal Cathedral, it's interesting, but I only heard them say Jesus' name when they prayed, in Jesus' name, amen.

When pagans can understand that, then you've got a problem. That was just a Pete's Coffee break right there. And so where else could you go for the grand experience of worship? Well, back in those days, there was nothing grander.

If St. Paul's Cathedral, St. Peter's Cathedral, whatever they're called, they wouldn't hold a candle to the temple. So, here's what the writer of the Hebrews is saying. Jesus is enough. If you've got Jesus, that's enough.

Jesus is superior to all those things. I know you're getting persecuted, but since you have Jesus, the great high priest, who's also the sacrifice, you have redemption in Him. He died once for all. You have everything.

So be encouraged. Well, once we get away from that, we have to start adding things. And the Roman Catholic Church helps us to do that, in a bad way, of course. But they love to add on, because once the work system comes in, adding this, adding that, canons, traditions, magisterium, councils, and so Lent helps us go back to this tactile thing that I think the book of Hebrews should correct.

But we still have now Protestants, unwitting Protestants, or maybe some witting Protestants, who want to just bring in this stuff. You know, and you have whatever it is. Prayer, walks. I don't care if you walk and pray, but the labyrinth, the kind of walk, contemplative prayer, mysticism, tactile worship, instead of spirit and in truth.

And so Rome just does that. They've always done that. And then now Protestants like to do it. So this whole Lent thing, just crazy to me that people want to give up something, when because of what Jesus did, we get to have it all.

I said to my kids the other day, if you have Christ Jesus, that is to say, He has you, then you have everything. And if you don't have Jesus, you don't have, you ain't got nothing. In other words, God has given us this world to enjoy, and He's given us this world that it might glorify Him, and we can even get enjoyment as we glorify Him.

But it starts with faith in Christ Jesus. The response to the gospel is repentance and faith, and without faith it's impossible to please the Lord. You can't do all these other good things, but then have a wrong relationship to the Son.

I don't care how nice you are to me personally, if you are rude to my Son, violent with my Son, then there's going to be a problem. So here in Christianity Today, that's a long introduction, isn't it?

Ten minutes? Just sat down, Lord help me, and then we start talking. And then you say, well, I can tell. It's because I've got a picture here of this fire Bible that ignites at the touch of a button. What am I going to do?

I need one of those things. I need an unforgettable object lesson with the brain on the back. For the past four years, Stephen Smith of OpenBible .info has mined hundreds of thousands of Twitter posts and compiled the top 100 things people say they will abstain from during the 40 days leading up to Easter.

Aside from the jokes about giving up being Pope, which topped the 2013 list due to the surprise resignation, the top 10 included. So what do I give up? Because Jesus died for me, I've got to do something in kind.

See how twisted that is? See how bad that is? See how the fall has affected our minds, our worship, our religion? This is what Jesus did, and instead of taking that by faith, accepting that, rejoicing in it, being thankful for it, singing about it.

Now, we've got to work, too. The response to Jesus' work is what? Rest. The response to Jesus' work is rest. You rest by faith in what Jesus accomplished completely. Redemption accomplished, John Murray said.

It is finished, Jesus said. Jesus did the work of redemption. Are you saved by works? Yes, Jesus' perfect works. Can't be saved by our works because they're tainted by our own personal sin because of the fall.

So the response to work of Christ isn't work. Don't we get that? Do we understand that? Yeah, but it feels good. I know. It feels really good. But the writer of Hebrews would say, rest. That's what we do.

We rest by faith in Christ's works. Don't you ever get it into your noggin that the response of the work of Christ is for you to work, for you to work for your salvation, and for you to work in and of yourself for your sanctification, or for that matter, your glorification.

I understand that we're to work out our salvation, our sanctification, with fear and trembling. I know what Philippians chapter 2 says, but you have to add that to Galatians as well, and we don't start off by grace and then work by works.

It's still a grace work, if you will, but I'm getting off subject. The response to Christ's work is to rest. That's the idea. So now we're going to give things up with this work for what? It doesn't please God.

It doesn't merit God's favor. It doesn't help you out in any spiritual way except for your own conscience because you don't see the great work of Christ, or you can tell other people what you gave up.

I remember a kid who lived in our neighborhood came over. He wasn't Roman Catholic. He was more of an Orthodox faith, Greek Orthodox, and he said, What did you give up for Lent, Mike? And I said, I don't celebrate Lent.

There's nothing in the Bible to say anything about Lent. You're not supposed to give anything up. You're supposed to enjoy the bounty of God, 1 Timothy chapter 6. And 4. So he said, Well, I gave up chocolate.

Now just think about that. Jesus, let's see. Jesus died on the cross. Let's see. What shall I do? I think I'll give up chocolate. Now, I enjoy chocolate, 500 calories in one of those Lent bars. I like the ones with chili.

By the way, when I say I like something, it's not a direct appeal. Oh, it may be a subtle appeal to send me those things, but it's not a direct appeal. I think, what have I received in the mail from people?

I think Barb has sent me, with her husband, she sent some Peet's coffee. I was very thankful for that. I think that's it. So all this promotion of Peet's, that's all I got. But it was really a good four pounds worth of coffee.

I'd probably be drinking that still right now. So what do we do? We say, we'll give up something. Well, anyway, the top ten things included here are giving up swearing. That's number two. Well, see, that makes sense because if you're a pagan and you're enslaved to a pagan system, therefore you're enslaved to pagan rituals like Lent, then you will give up things that pagans do, and that's swear.

I'm not saying Christians never swear. Thankfully, the Lord has taken away my swearing. Once I got saved, that was something that went right away. It was gone. God in His grace just took that from me.

He didn't take other things for lots of reasons. One, I'm sure that I might be dependent upon Him. There's lots of things I do that I wish I wouldn't do. I think they're more spread out with less intensity, faster repentance, quicker confession.

But swearing isn't one of my top ten things that I do, and I don't really struggle with it. But in my mind, though, sadly, sometimes I swear. Something happens and then I say something in my mind. I'm smart enough not to say it with my mouth, but I don't like that.

But I wouldn't give up swearing. Okay, let's do this. I'm thinking about Ephesians 4, not letting unwholesome words proceed from your mouth. If you can give up swearing for 40 days of Lent, how long is Lent?

Everything's, yeah, 40 days leading to Easter. Can't you give it up all the time? Right? Don't we know that when we listen to comedians, we appreciate the clean ones because they actually have to think?

They actually have to use the English language in a way that's not bottom, guttural, nasty. Number three, what do people give up? As they, instead of rest in Christ, instead of seeing Christ's greatness, instead of thinking that this Son is worthy of our praise, to think that the angels worship Him, to think that of the Son, the Father says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.

Instead of praise, instead of worship, instead of doing what the Bible says, I mean, the writer of Hebrews goes on, And you, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning. Therefore, I'll give up swearing for 40 days.

Please tell me I'm not just in this room laughing by myself. And the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain. They will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed.

But you are the same, and your years will have no end. And to which of the angels has he ever said, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet? The response to Christ's work is rest by faith.

The response is praise, adoration. There's lots of responses, but there's never the response, I think for 40 days I'll give up chocolate, and I'll give up swearing. Number three was soda. These are, I don't have a top ten list, but two was soda, two was swearing, three was soda, I'm gonna give up soda, soda.

Well, I gave up Diet Coke and all kinds of forms of aspartame. It's been two years and two months, I think, since I've let aspartame get in my system. I probably have fewer headaches for that, and I probably live longer, who knows.

But once in a while, I like Stevia a lot. Matter of fact, thinking of Stevia, I need some peach coffee right now. Fat-free half and half, Stevia. And occasionally I will, I have to tell you, I might have a Diet Coke with Splenda, but they're hard to find, these Splenda Diet Cokes.

And I have to admit, if I'm really on a bike ride and have 160 calories to burn, I might just have a Red Bull once every couple weeks. I don't know, maybe a Monster or something here or there. Not really too keen on those things.

Where's my five-hour energy? You know what I'd like to know? I'd like to know if those cheap five-hour energy knockoffs that you can get at the dollar store, I want to know if they're any good. So if a five-hour energy is two and a half bucks, I think that's what they are.

Three bucks, something like that. I only get them in my stocking if I think good. Okay, all right. Next year, I'm going to make the announcement right now ahead of time, even though this show is going to probably play in May.

I'm recording this in April. I'm going to give up for next year, Red Bull, Monster drinks, and five-hour energy knockoff $1 ones for Lent. Just want you to know that. I don't really let my wife know I'm drinking the Red Bull, because she thinks those things are bad for you.

They probably are. Just trying to get a quick jolt to get me through the day, right? I've got a lot of stuff to do. No compromise radio, right? We've got to get these things done. So next year, I'm giving that up.

What else? Giving up social networking, number four. Let's see. Okay, it actually is making sense now. Jesus lived a perfect life. The eternal counsels of God and the covenant of redemption and the pact of peace, and the son gladly goes to rescue the elect.

And our response to that great commission is, I don't think I'll be on Twitter. That'll help. That shows how thankful I am. Now, of course, if you want to give up soda, swearing, and social networking, I don't have any problem with that.

I think those things are a good thing. But not for Lent. Not in response to the cross. The response to the cross, God, the Father's response to the cross, according to Romans 4, verse 25, was amen by raising Him from the dead.

That was His response. Our response is rest by faith. Not to do. We get to enjoy everything. Now you can go have a nice soda if you'd like. Go have yourself a, I don't even know what they're called anymore, a Coke with real sugar.

And say to God, be the glory. You gave me taste buds. There's a lot of sugar in this. Don't want to have it too often. I'm just going to enjoy this now because I don't have to wonder and worry and run around hither-thither, pell-mell, trying to get my own sins off my back because Jesus paid it all.

That would be a good response. What else? Fast food. You give up that. That's number nine. Give up all fast food. I mean, I gave up all fast food. I think the last time I had fast food, I actually threw up.

Well, that's what made me give it up because my system is so clean. I think it was three years ago, I ate at a Taco Bell for some reason. I don't know why. And it was just, I thought I was going to die just throwing up like mad.

Boy, that was bad. People give up number five, alcohol. So I guess NyQuil's out, right? Alcohol swabs, can't do that for Lent. A big riser here, number 10. What do people give up? Instagram. Oh, this is bad.

One of the big losers, it says in Christianity Today, is chocolate. Chocolate's a big loser. It fell from number two in 2012, what people gave up, to number 17. And then we have this interesting information from Christianity Today that will lead us into the true meaning.

Perhaps because Valentine's this year fell the day after Ash Wednesday. How can I give up chocolate when it's the day after Ash Wednesday and I've got to get chocolate? I've got to go buy some cheap Russell Stover's chocolates for my honey.

Seize, maybe, Russell Stover's. Send me all your Russell Stover's. Anyway, if you haven't got it through your mind yet, into your noggin, as my father would say, let me remind you, read the great book of Hebrews and you will see that there's a rest for the people of God.

Jesus is greater than Moses. Jesus is greater than Aaron. Jesus is the great high priest. Jesus gave us redemption through His blood. Jesus' sacrifice was once for all and it's not now incumbent upon you to respond to Christ's work with Lent and giving up things for Lent.

Find me something in the Bible about Lent and giving these things up and I'll do it. Mike Abendroth, NoCompromiseRadio .com.

Closing Credits and Station Disclaimer

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 10 .15 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.

The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE its staff or management.