Happiness is the Lord

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, I�m Mike Abendroth. It happens to be, I think it�s Tuesday. Tuesday, guys, in the house.

Actually it is Tuesday in real time, and it�s mid -June. And the parking lot is looking beautiful.

The telecom people have been in to trim the tower. Trevor Burrus Trimming the wicks.

Mike Abendroth Yeah, it looks very nice. It looks like a holiday. It�s beautiful. Trevor Burrus Steve, our listeners, if they want to learn about the trip to go to Geneva and to Wittenberg, Wurttberg, Zurich.

Mike Abendroth They can just send me a check. Trevor Burrus They can send you a check May 20th through 30th, 2017.

I�m looking forward to it. Mike Abendroth So that�s really almost 11 days. It�s 10 plus days anyway.

Trevor Burrus Yeah, two travel days. I think it�s nine days there. Mike Abendroth But the opportunity to just spend all that time with Mike and get the wit and wisdom.

Trevor Burrus Mike Gendron, that�s true. Mike Abendroth Oh, well, that�s what I meant. Why would you think anything else? Trevor Burrus I don�t know. Mike Abendroth The last two shows that we�ve done,

Steve and I have done, Preferred Songs, we found this here at the church, this little brochure with 20 -some songs from this anti -alcohol insurance company, thought they would send some hymns, little hymn books, booklets to churches and then they could promote their �

Trevor Burrus Their temperance movement. Mike Abendroth Seriously, I�ve got an old Bible and on the front, it�s got a temperance pledge and weddings, funerals, then a temperance pledge and you and your family were to sign that temperance pledge.

Trevor Burrus Well, I�d probably sign it. The only difficulty I would have is, first of all,

I don�t believe it and secondly, I do imbibe in NyQuil, true confessions.

I don�t know how much alcohol is left in it. It used to be like, dude, first time I ever had it. Mike Abendroth 24 % or so.

Trevor Burrus Yeah. Seriously, it was 25 % alcohol. I remember drinking it. My dad gave it to me and I drank it and I was like, �It bans us.�

And I had no idea. I looked at the label. I was like, wow. As a good Mormon lad, that was really kind of � that was a shocker.

Mike Abendroth I usually gargle every morning and every night so I brush my teeth and gargle and what if a few of the molecules of the gargle antiseptic

Listerine mouthwash has alcohol in it? Trevor Burrus I think you�ve broken your temperance pledge. Mike Abendroth I think I have.

It�s an unbiblical vow. If I vowed never to drink again, that�s not a biblical vow so I�m free from the vow.

Trevor Burrus Break it. Mike Abendroth Yeah. Trevor Burrus Terminate it. Mike Abendroth What if there�s a little bit of non � a little bit of alcohol in the non -alcoholic beer, would that mean

I�m breaking it? Trevor Burrus I don�t know. Only the Lord knows. You know, secret things.

Mike Abendroth Steve, what about the Everclear that I put in the Boda bag and add some stuff to it, would that break it?

I don�t even know what Everclear is. Mike Abendroth Everclear was the worst. It was 180 proof. It was basically grain alcohol that you would add to punch at parties to try to get some more �

Trevor Burrus So it�s that fortified junk. Oh, that�s nasty. Mike Abendroth All right. So here�s what we�re going to do today. We�re looking at another song because the song gives us a platform to talk about something theological using a song as a foil.

Okay? So we have done Jacob�s Ladder, I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.

I thought those were two pretty good shows. Trevor Burrus Not very good songs. I thought they were two very good songs.

Mike Abendroth Now sometimes while I don�t like the particular songs, I thought Mike liked them. Trevor Burrus Yeah. Mike was partial to them.

Mike Abendroth Okay, this is song number 15, and I just want you to know ahead of time, Steve. Trevor Burrus It�s in E flat.

Mike Abendroth While I Have Decided to Follow Jesus was in C. This is in E flat. Mike Abendroth What�s the difference? Trevor Burrus I don�t know.

I mean, I really don�t know enough musical theory to� Mike Abendroth Now I know the fingering for guitar for C.

I know that. I think that�s C. That�s D. I don�t know what E flat is. Trevor Burrus I thought you were doing like, what is that?

The language for deaf people. This is actually E, Mike.

Mike Abendroth That�s why we need a video camera here so we can be like Todd Freeland. You can watch us do radio.

That�s big in sports talk now and stuff like that, right? Watching people do radio. How does that work?

Trevor Burrus Then we�d actually have to, you know, like get dressed up. Mike Abendroth I know. Here I am. I�ve got my master�s college.

It�s out of style now because it�s� Trevor Burrus Master�s University. Mike Abendroth Checking my phone, right, for messages and stuff.

Sometimes when you talk, I just check. Trevor Burrus Yeah, you can�t really do that while you�re on the air. Mike Abendroth It doesn�t work.

Trevor Burrus It�s like you�re in the big time. Mike Abendroth Next time Freel asked me to host a show,

I�m going to just check email while I talk. Trevor Burrus The people will be like, they�ll be emailing going, �What are you checking your email for ?�

Mike Abendroth I know. So the song for the day is �Happiness is the

Lord.� Trevor Burrus Okay. Mike Abendroth Now, just knowing the title, talk to me about the title. So far, so good. Trevor Burrus �Happiness is the

Lord.� Well, it�s way better than �Happiness is a Warm Gun ,� you know, from the White Album by the Beatles. So that�s a step up.

Mike Abendroth Remember that little thing that John Lennon did, the word association, and so it said �Paul ,� and he said, you know, �Brilliant.�

He said, �Ringo ,� �Fun.� And then it said, �George ,� and he� Trevor Burrus �Weighty.�

Mike Abendroth And he said something like, Trevor Burrus �Cavote.� Mike Abendroth �Strange ,� or something like that. Trevor Burrus Did he really? Mike Abendroth Yeah. Trevor Burrus Did he?

See, I think George is probably my favorite, which just kind of goes to show I�m really odd, you know. But �Happiness is the

Lord.� I mean, I don�t know. Is there happiness in the

Lord if you mean contentment? Yes. I think, having not read the lyrics, having never looked at the lyrics before, you know, and I�ll just say

Mike would agree with me. Mike Abendroth Hoorah. Trevor Burrus I think the problem

I have is just with the idea of happiness, you know, this idea that we are to be happy.

Happiness is not a biblical concept. Contentment is. And we can be content in whatever our circumstances are.

We may not be happy with our circumstances, though. So, okay, let�s go ahead and �

Mike Abendroth Okay. Before we do that, though, Steve, I was thinking, what if we had a bad translation of the

Beatitudes and they would say, instead of �Blessed ,� Trevor Burrus �Happy.� Mike Abendroth They might say �Happy.�

Because I think some do say �Happy.� But as you were talking, it made me think happiness is usually based on happenstance, circumstance.

If you got bad circumstances, it�s hard to be happy. But joy, obviously, it�s the fruit of the spirit.

I love joy, peace. You can have joy even if you�re in a trial and does not even

James command that, �Count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various trials.�

Trevor Burrus Exactly. Mike Abendroth So I�m not really the happy guy. Mike Abendroth Happy -go -lucky. I guess you could name a dog happy.

You could name a basketball player happy. Happy Harrison. Trevor Burrus Happy Harrison. Yeah, if you�re old enough to remember happy, then you�re pretty old.

Mike Abendroth Did not he also play with Jim McMillan? Trevor Burrus Yes. Mike Abendroth Gail Goodrich, Jerry West.

Trevor Burrus Who were the key subs? Mike Abendroth The key subs were Lucius Allen. I don�t know who.

Pat Riley. And I think Keith Erickson. Trevor Burrus Oh, that�s nice.

Yes, I remember Keith Erickson. Mike Abendroth And then they used to bring in for a sub for center. You remember who the sub was?

Trevor Burrus Elmore Smith. Mike Abendroth No, Melvin? Trevor Burrus Belli. Mike Abendroth Counts. Trevor Burrus Okay.

Mike Abendroth Mel Counts. Trevor Burrus Mel Counts. Well, Chamberlain retired 72, 73, something like that, 74.

I can�t remember exactly when. It must have been pre -73. And it was

Jim Elmore, I think, was the backup center who then was the new center.

Mike Abendroth For like for a whole season until they got Kareem. And then, you know. Trevor Burrus I think actually

Lucius Allen, he went to Milwaukee. Did he go in that trade? And then Kareem comes to Los Angeles from the

Milwaukee Bucks. Mike Abendroth Now, Lucius Allen, I think if you� we�ll check the record books to see if I�m right. But I remember

Lucius being with Lew Alcindor before he changed to Kareem Abdul -Jabbar in Milwaukee.

Trevor Burrus With Brian Winters, maybe. Mike Abendroth Yeah, maybe. Well, I think Brian Winters was part of that trade. Trevor Burrus Trade. Okay. Mike Abendroth And I was bugged when the

Lakers, because I really like Brian Winters. And I think I was wrong. Trevor Burrus I think so, too. So, back to wrong.

The song now starts. Happiness is to know the Savior. Okay. I understand kind of what they�re meaning a little bit.

Joy or, you know, a thrill or adulation or something like that.

But the next line is what bugs me. Living a life within his favor. Having a change in my behavior.

Happiness is the Lord. Now what kind of song is this? Forget the happiness problem.

Here�s what we�re going to do. You want to have happiness and joy? You just live the right moral life.

Steve, let�s leave it to Beaver�s stuff, isn�t it? Does moralism make one happy?

Does it� Let�s even go a step further. Does moralism save? Can you come up with enough rules to get you to heaven?

I can just hear Paul start whacking people in Romans chapter 2 after they�ve given hearty approval to those statements that Paul makes about those wicked people who give hearty approval about other wicked people and saying, you know what?

You think you�re better than they are. You have a self -righteousness. You need righteousness. Your self -righteousness can�t cover you.

Mike, not to disagree with Mike, but you recall the opening words of the book,

The Letter to Galatians, where he just lauded the Church of Galatia for their excellent rule -making.

He loved what they were doing there. Yes, there are a variety of different rules, and on a sliding scale, he loved the

Galatians. You know, that city, Galatia, I was there once in my travels. It used to be a port city, and it just seems like it�s gotten a lot smaller, or maybe you know it�s more spread out, between like the north and south areas.

Well, it�s not even going to go there. Of course, it�s not a city. All right. Happiness is to know the Savior, living a life within his favor.

Happiness, a change in my behavior. I think evangelicals have lost, to some degree, what

Paul would say in Galatians 2 .20. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer

I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And here�s the part they have forgotten, and obviously, the preferred temperance movement auto -insurance group, non -alcoholic,

Methodist grape juice people. And the life I now live in the flesh, okay, here�s the drum roll, is a change in my behavior.

No, and the life I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the

Son of God. Steve, talk to me a little bit and talk to our listeners a little bit about, of course, there�s the initial faith where you used to believe,

I don�t know, in your own works, righteousness, and then God regenerates you, we talked about it last show, and now you exercise saving faith for the first moment.

But isn�t there, for the Christian, a life of walking by faith and not by sight?

And even Paul, as a Christian, don�t we walk by faith? Absolutely, we walk by faith. And I think the problem of measuring your salvation by your changed behavior,

I mean, just think what that means. That means every time you sin, it�s like, man,

I just, I lost my salvation. You know, I chumped it. I�m hellbound unless I change my ways, you know?

As Christians, we still struggle. And what if my hope was based on, all right, now

I�m a Christian, I�ve got to live the life or else I have no assurance. My hope is built on nothing less than my good works and righteousness.

I don�t want that hope. I obviously, when I read 1

John, know there are certain subjective things that you could say about, you know, is this something that I want in my life?

Do I see any flicker of this in my life? Do I have any love for the Lord and his word in my life? I get all that, but how about I�m just still trusting in the one who makes propitiation for my sins,

Jesus Christ, the righteous one. When I�m not righteous in my walk, Jesus is the righteous one still, 1

John 2. Peter DeYoung Well, doesn�t 1 John also say that if we say we have sin, we�re lying.

Doesn�t it say that? Tom McAvoy Yeah, well, maybe that�s in Psalm 26 of the

Temperance Movement. The rest of the lyrics, I don�t really remember these lyrics, �Happiness is a new creation,

Jesus and me in close relation. Having a part in his salvation, happiness is the

Lord.� Now, if having a part is � I�m the recipient of � okay. Peter DeYoung Lisa doesn�t say, �Having a part in my salvation.�

Tom McAvoy That�s right. And then, okay, earlier we discussed, well, what about happiness versus joy?

Actually, joy is in the song, so I think the writer knew ahead of time, which makes it even more problematic.

�Real joy is mine, no matter if teardrops start. I found the secret, it�s

Jesus in my heart.� Steve, remember back, you were the Mormon, you didn�t remember, but I remember in the early �70s, the

I Found It campaign, and I believe my mother on our car had an

I Found It sticker. Steve Oh, I remember it because we used to chuckle because there�d be people who, like the

Star of David, �I never lost it ,� you know, and kind of different sort of things. You found what, you know, and there was all kinds of funny stuff going on.

And as we said last week, there is a real human response to salvation, and you really have to believe, but the cause of your salvation is

God. He makes you born again, and you respond and exercise the gift that God has given you, because even faith is a gift.

Tom Jesus and me in close relation, well, you know what I like about that? I mean, if you, you know, even dopey songs like Andy Walks With Me and He Talks With Me, if you are living in close relation with Jesus, in other words, if you're focused on him, then, you know, what ought to be true about your life?

Well, it's prayer, it's reading, it's, you know, being, having that constant attitude of just being in, well,

I don't even want to say it, but just that overall sense that your life is dependent fully on Christ and you just have that sense of closeness.

But here's the thing, that can all be true, but real life goes on too, and sin comes in and it interrupts that, you know, and then what?

You know, it's not just a matter of this whole thing is just so works filled,

I can't even stand it. You know, it really is, my salvation is not dependent upon me, my standing with Christ is not dependent upon me.

Now, my relationship with Christ, my sense of it might be subjectively, you know, bound up in how

I'm performing according to me, but that's not the reality of it. If I'm don't, well, the truth is, if I don't feel close to Jesus, it's because I'm chomping it, not because anything's changed.

Jared Can you repeat all that? I was texting and looking at my phone and stuff. Pete Well, let me just summarize it by saying this.

What I did not finish is Galatians 2 .20. It says, and the life

I now live, this is Paul the Christian talking, this is sanctification in the flesh, I live by faith in the

Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then

Christ died for no purpose. Paul reflects, even as a Christian man, and he says,

I'm living by faith now in the Son of God. This is the Son who loved me and gave himself for me. And while right now, if I'm falling short and I'm sinning,

I raise my voice to my wife, I'm selfish, I'm prideful, I'm envious, I'm jealous,

I'm not worshiping God with my heart, soul, mind, and strength, there's a God who loves me.

And he showed that at Calvary, and he even loves me now, and I'm just still trusting that my acceptance with God today is not based on my own works.

I'd like to do good things today and honor God, but God still accepts me freely in the beloved. Pete Yeah, his love is steadfast, right?

And we're thankful for his steadfast love. If our love and our obedience are not steadfast, and love and obedience are really the same thing, if you love me, keep my commandments, if our love for the

Lord is not steadfast, does his love change? And the answer is no. You know, it is there, it is fixed, it's not going anywhere, it's been fixed since eternity past, and the whole idea that somehow we are gaining favor by, you know, making up rules and becoming more righteous in our own eyes, that's just false.

Steve, on this particular page of this quadfold brochure, we've got

Jacob's ladder, we are climbing, climbing. We've got I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back.

We've got happiness is the Lord that we're talking about now, and then underneath it, the Savior is waiting to enter your heart, why don't you let him come in?

So I think it's fair to say that the semi -Pelagian themes go through this songbook, probably faster than alcohol is processed by a liver.

Pete Well, yeah, I mean, it is evident. You know, I mean, you read this and you just think

God is only, you know, I mean, here would be another song they can have, God is mostly sovereign.

You know, he's as sovereign as you'll let him be, you know, that kind of thing. Pete Well, my Bible says, final stanza in happiness is the

Lord, E -flat, number 15 preferred songs. Pete You say that like it's part of the title. Happiness is the

Lord, E -flat. Pete A mascal of David. Happiness is to be forgiven.

That is a happy moment when you're forgiven. Pete Preach. Pete Hey, if we're going to try to be kind to them, that seems pretty passive to me that you're the recipient of forgiveness.

Pete Well, and think about it. When you realize, that moment you realize that your sins have been forgiven,

I mean, it is as if you can fly, right? Pete That is joyful, but I am happy when

I think about that. Living a life that's worth the living. There's no G there.

Living a life that's worth the living. Pete Which would be without alcohol, by the way. So they can live longer and get lower insurance rates.

Pete No hangovers. You know, the hair of the dog was bad. Those screwdrivers in the morning, awful,

Tabasco sauce, tomato sauce, celery, and a bunch of alcohol. Pete Yeah, I never had to worry about, you know, hangover cures.

So I was, I did get drunk once, but it was that moment where I decided,

I did decide that I was never going to do it again. Even as an unbeliever, I was like, this is the most horrible thing

I've ever done myself. So I'm never again. Pete Obviously, on No Kill Radio, we're not making statements about alcohol because it's neutral, like a gun or sex or anything else.

But Steve, it's been a long time. I want to say 30 years since I've had a hangover, over 30, and I'm happy because some days

I wake up thinking, it's hard to get out of bed now. What if I was drinking all night? Steve See, and I'm even more righteous than you because it's been like 35 years for me since I've had a, at least 35 years, maybe 36.

Pete I'm trying to think of something good to say. Steve Well, I mean, I mean, this is kind of the, this is the sort of thing that it leads to, right?

Because you just go, well, I haven't had a drink in X number of years. And the guy says, oh, dude, you're better than me.

Or I'm better than you. Steve What do they say at the AA meetings? You have to say how long it's been since you've had a drink. Steve Yeah. I'm an alcoholic and I've been, you know, sober for X number of months or weeks or days.

Steve What? I thought you were going to say, I've been, I'm an alcoholic and I've been sober for X Nihilo for X number of Nihilo days.

And then it says, taking a trip that leads to heaven. Happiness is the Lord. Happiness is the

Lord. Happiness is the Lord. Singspiration Inc. used by. Pete Okay. Now taking a trip that leads to heaven.

Now, doesn't that again sound like, because what are they talking about? They're talking about this life, right?

So, now again, it sounds like I'm living a life that leads to heaven. I'm living the gospel.

Steve See, I think there needs to be a new book written about some white lies that talk in the first chapter about it's a lie to say you're living the gospel.

Pete It's a big old lie with no D. Big old. Steve Seriously, what's the hope in that?

If it's my life today and how much do I do and I'm on the treadmill, the gerbil treadmill of more works,

I want to please the Lord in light of what he's done for me. But that's completely different than this and Paul talking about in Galatians 2 .20

about living a life in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Pete I just think, you know, the simple analogy is as a parent, you know, are there times where you're more, you know, enthralled with your children than others?

Probably, but you never stop loving your children and you just think how much more the infinite

God who sets his affection upon wretches, you know, and we just think, well, if we're less wretchedly,

God must love me more, right? What folly, what absolute folly. Steve That sounds like an

Abendrothism, less wretchedly. I like that. We make things up and it's perfect as we go.

So, Steve, what if I were to say to you, or says taking a trip that leads to heaven and the first thing that comes into my mind when

I say taking a trip is Jim Stafford, a wildwood weed grew wild on the farm.

We never knew what it was called. Pete You know, I was just thinking about that song the other day. Steve Taking a trip never leave the farm. Pete Yeah, because he says, you know, one day then fellows from Washington came and they spied one and they turned white as a sheet and they burned and they dug and they dug and they burned and they killed all our cute little weeds.

We just smiled and waved, sitting there on that sack of seeds, brrm, brrm, brrm.

Y 'all come back now, you hear? Steve Steve, this is why the giving on the No Compromise radio donate site is at an all -time high.

Josh got us to switch to some Pathion or something, Patreon, and I think we have two folks who are early givers now, and so we're thankful for those, yes.

Wow, so that's like, from zero to two, what percentage is that? I can't even.

Steve It's tremendous. Anyway, Mike and Steve here. You can write us, info at NoCompromiseRadio .com,

Tuesday guy at No Compromise Radio, Mike at No Compromise Radio. We're glad you listened. Why don't you tell your friends if you like us or you hate us or...

Mike We're both, you know, if you like and hate us. Steve Both of us together. Mike Both together, yeah.

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 bbcchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.

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