"How to postpone your funeral",
great to see everyone here,
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we're looking forward to our
presentation: [text on screen]
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Interesting title, isn't it?
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I'm looking forward to this
presentation, I trust that it's
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going to be a great blessing
to you, we're going to discover
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today that God is
bigger than many people think.
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Many people have this idea
of God, this conception of God
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that He's concern only with
so called "spiritual realities",
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what we're going to discover
today is that God has made
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man as a multifaceted being,
and He's not just concerned
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with our spiritual welfare, He's
also concerned with our physical
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welfare, and our emotional
welfare, and our social welfare
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as well. So we're
going to discover today
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that man is multifaceted,
that he is very, very broad
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in his makeup, that is to say,
his physical makeup, his mental
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makeup, his emotional makeup.
We're going to see that God
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is big, and God is
awesome. So "how to postpone"
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"your funeral", but before we
get into the presentation what
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are we going to do
first? Let's pray together as we
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commence.
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Father in heaven today we
come to You knowing that death
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is the enemy, You've told
us that; death is the enemy,
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and that at long last death
will be swallowed up in victory.
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Father, even while we
live in the here and now
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we have to face this
great reality, and this great
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eventuality that comes to
everyone, that is the question
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of death. Father,
yet many people are
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dying prematurely, many people
are dying before their time,
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as Solomon says in Ecclesiastes.
Father, today we want to know
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how to postpone our funeral,
that is, how to live happy,
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healthy lives in
the here and now.
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Please Father, bless us
now as we open Your Word,
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may You open our hearts,
we ask it in Jesus' name,
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let every say amen, and amen.
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Let's begin by looking
at the book of Revelation,
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let's go to Revelation 14,
this is a passage that we've
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looked at before, Revelation 14.
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But what I'd like to do
is take a look at this from
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a slightly different perspective
than many of us may be
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accustomed to,
we're in Revelation 14.
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In Revelation 14 we find 3
angels with urgent, critical
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end time messages; 3
angels with critical messages,
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and this is sometimes referred
to as "The 3 Angels' Messages",
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and you know these
messages are important, you know
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these messages are significant
and urgent because the very
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next thing that happens after
the occurrence of the 3 angels'
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messages, the very next thing
that happens after the 3 angels
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give their messages is
the second coming of Jesus.
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In fact, one way to look at
it is this: these 3 messages
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result in the
second coming of Jesus.
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These 3 messages bring about
the second coming of Jesus,
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that's how important they are,
that's how critical they are,
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that's how significant
and central they are.
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So we're in Revelation
14:6, the first of these
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3 angels' messages.
Revelation 14:6, John, on
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the island of Patmos, 24
miles out into the Aegean sea,
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it was a penal colony,
he'd been put there by the Roman
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authorities because of the
Word of God and the testimony
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of Jesus, Jesus, the resurrected
Christ appears to him
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and gives him these many
glorious, wonderful, almost
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cinematic visions, so
we pick it up with John in
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Revelation 14:6, John says:
"Then I saw another angel",
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the word "angel"
simply means "messenger".
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Sometimes we get this idea that
an angel is this being clothed
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in white, with wings, etc,
etc, and while there may be
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some Biblical truth to that,
the reality is that an angel
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is simply a messenger.
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Think of this, have
you ever heard of the term
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"evangelist"? Sure you have.
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Now, if you take the "ev"
off the front, and the "ist"
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off the back, what word
do you have in the middle?
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You have the word "angel",
in other words, an evangelist
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is a carrier, or a
bearer of a message.
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So John says in Revelation 14:6:
"Then I saw another angel",
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that is, another "messenger",
"flying in the midst of"
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"heaven, having the everlasting
gospel to preach to those"
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"who dwell on the earth,
to every nation, tribe, "
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"tongue and people. " So
the first thing we learned
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about this angel is he has the
everlasting gospel, everything
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has to begin with the gospel.
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But notice it says here
that this message that he has,
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that's communicated in the
context of the gospel, is for
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the whole world. It's
not just for an isolated
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people group here, it's not just
for an isolated people group
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here, God doesn't play
favorites, God is no respecter
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of persons, he shows no
partiality, it says that every
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nation, every tribe and
every tongue and people need
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to hear this urgent,
significant, end time message.
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Verse 7: "Saying with a
loud voice, Fear God and give"
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"glory to Him, for the
hour of His judgment is come, "
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"and worship Him who made
the heaven, the earth, the sea"
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"and the springs of waters. "
This is the first of the three
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angels' messages. I
want you to notice that
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the very first part of
what the angel actually says is
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"Fear God". Now,
many people have a radical
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misunderstanding of what that
means, a total misunderstanding
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of what it means to fear
God. When we say "fear God"
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it doesn't mean to be afraid
of God in the way you might
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be afraid of something terrible
happening, fearing God means
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to reverence God, to stand in
awe of God, to put it very, very
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simply, to fear God is
to understand who God is
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and who you are in
relationship to God.
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God is the infinite, omnipotent,
omnibenevolent eternal God
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of the universe, the
eternal being of the universe,
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and you're dust.
So when we fear God,
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it's understand who God is,
who we are and our relationship
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to God, we have a reverential
awe for God, not a "I'm so"
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"afraid of God", no a,
reverential awe and respect
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and reverence for God.
So, "fear God", and notice
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this next part,
"and give glory to Him".
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What does that mean, that's
religious language, what does
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it mean to give glory to
God? This is what it means:
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it means to live
your life for God.
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Not just in the so called "big
areas", but in the small areas,
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what it means is to live
your life with God in mind;
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to live your life with
excellence, not for your own
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glory, not for your own
up building, not for your own
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personal satisfaction and
accomplishments, but to live
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your life to the glory of
God. "Fear God", says the angel,
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"and give glory to Him.
" Well, that would raise
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an interesting question:
Does God want us to glorify
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Him in all aspects of our life?
What do you think the answer
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to that question is? I
think the answer is exactly
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"yes". In fact, go with me
from the book of Revelation,
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we've seen the end time, urgent
significance of these messages,
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go with me to the book
of 1 Corinthians, and we'll
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discover one way that we can
glorify God, and you're probably
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going to be a little surprised.
We're going to 1 Corinthians 10.
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1 Corinthians 10:31, it says:
"Therefore, whether you eat"
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"or drink, whatever you do,
do all to the glory of God. "
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Isn't this fascinating,
Paul here says "therefore, "
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"whether you eat, or whether
you drink, do all to the glory"
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"of God. " We
just saw one of those
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urgent, end time 3
angels' messages there, fear God
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and give glory to Him, and
here Paul says "even in your"
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"eating, even in your
drinking, give glory to God. "
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Now that raises an interesting
question, doesn't it?
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According to this verse can you
eat in a way that glorifies God?
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The answer would
be "Yes", wouldn't it?
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According to this verse can
you drink in a way that brings
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glory to God?
Well, the answer to that
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would be "yes" as well, but
wait a minute, if we can eat
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in a way that is to the glory
of God, and if we can drink
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in a way that is the
glory of God, it must mean then,
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that by the process of
deduction, we must also be able
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to eat in way that does
not glorify God; and it must be
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possible to drink in a
way that does not glorify God,
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does that make sense, everyone?
If it's possible to eat to His
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glory, and to drink to His
glory, then it must also be
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possible to eat in a way,
or drink in a way that is not
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to His glory.
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So we're in 1 Corinthians 6:19:
"Or do you not know that your"
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"body is the temple of the
Holy Spirit who is in you, "
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"Whom you have from God, and
you are not your own, for you"
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"were bought with a price,
therefore, glorify God in your"
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"body, and in your
spirit, which are God's. "
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Sometimes we think of God
as being only interested in
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spiritual things; sometimes we
think of God as only interested
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in Bible study, and prayer, and
the so called spiritual aspects,
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religious aspects
of life. Not at all!
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It says here "glorify God
in your body", and I'm going
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to 1 Corinthians 3:16, He
says: "Do you not know that you"
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"are the temple of God, and that
the Spirit of God dwells in"
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"you, if anyone defiles the
temple of God, God will destroy"
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"him, for the temple of God
is holy, which temple you are. "
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Here, in 1 Corinthians
10, 1 Corinthians 6 and 3,
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we find the apostle Paul
communicating to us, obviously
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under the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit, that God is
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concerned about what happens
to our body, we should be taking
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care of this body, eating, and
drinking, and living in a way
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in our body that
brings glory to God.
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I want to say it again, because
it's so critical, many times
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we don't think about God
as being interested in these
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day to day things. We
go to the restaurant and we
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order whatever it is
there on the menu, or we go to
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the grocery store and we
buy whatever's there, and are we
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really thinking "I want to
buy something that will help me"
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"to glorify God", I mean,
really, be honest, is that
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the kind of thing
that we're thinking?
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More often than not,
no. But what Paul is saying
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when you eat, think about God's
glory; when you drink, think
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about God's glory, your body is
the temple of the Holy Spirit,
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He says "glorify
God in your body. "
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As we've already said in our
prayer, man is multidimensional.
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In fact, look at this in
the little book of 3 John, right
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there towards the end of
the New Testament, 3 John 1,
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there's only 1 chapter in
that book, it says, verse 2:
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[text on screen]
00:11:18.75\00:11:20.91
Now, when he speaks of health
here, you must know that he's
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talking about more than
just spiritual health because
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he says he wants us to be
in health just as our soul
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prospers. John is
assuming that the soul
00:11:35.99\00:11:38.15
is healthy, John is assuming
that your spiritual life is
00:11:38.18\00:11:40.97
healthy, and then he says "I
want you also to be physically"
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"healthy", that's
clearly implied by the context,
00:11:43.78\00:11:46.35
"to be physically
healthy in your body. "
00:11:46.38\00:11:49.51
Wow, that agrees perfectly
with what we saw in Paul's
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writings, that the body
is a place we need to glorify
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God, and John here says you
need to be healthy, not just
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mentally, not just spiritually,
not just religiously, you need
00:11:58.08\00:12:01.96
to be healthy physically
as well. Now, open your Bibles
00:12:01.99\00:12:06.76
with me to Luke.
Matthew, Mark, Luke,
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3rd book of the
New Testament, Luke 2,
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notice the last verse
of that chapter, Luke 2:52.
00:12:14.34\00:12:22.75
It says, a very interesting
verse, it says: "And Jesus"
00:12:22.79\00:12:27.82
"increased in wisdom and
stature, and in favor with God"
00:12:28.52\00:12:34.20
"and men. " Now,
it's very interesting,
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this is
describing Jesus' growth.
00:12:36.71\00:12:39.70
Notice it says He increased
in 4 essential areas, I'll read
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it again, "Jesus increased
in wisdom", that would be
00:12:45.57\00:12:49.01
intellectual growth.
Jesus increased also in
00:12:49.04\00:12:52.17
stature, that would be psychical
growth; He increased in favor
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with God, that would be
spiritual growth, and in favor
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with men, that
would be social growth.
00:12:59.46\00:13:02.36
So here we have this
multidimensionality of man,
00:13:02.39\00:13:05.99
He is not just a physical being,
as the materialist would say,
00:13:06.02\00:13:09.11
as the naturalist would say,
as the evolutionist would say,
00:13:09.14\00:13:12.98
man is more than material, but
man is also more than spiritual.
00:13:13.01\00:13:16.81
Sometimes as religionists
we can go too far the opposite
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direction, we say "Well,
God's concerned about my prayer"
00:13:19.75\00:13:22.56
"life, and God's concerned about
my Bible study time, and God's"
00:13:22.59\00:13:24.87
"concerned about my witnessing",
but God's not concerned about
00:13:24.90\00:13:27.14
what you eat? God's
not concerned about what
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you buy at the grocery store?
God's not concerned about what
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you put into this body
that was purchased by the blood
00:13:32.29\00:13:34.75
of Jesus? No! Notice it here.
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Man is intellectual, man
is physical, man is social,
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man is spiritual, here we see
the 4 dimensional nature of man.
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I want to ask you a
very simple question: is God
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concerned about our
intellectual growth?
00:13:46.83\00:13:49.40
Of course He would
be. Is God concerned about
00:13:49.43\00:13:51.75
our physical growth?
Of course He would be;
00:13:51.78\00:13:54.03
as we've already seen, "eat
and drink to the glory of God".
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Is God concerned
about our social growth?
00:13:56.59\00:13:59.23
Of course He would be, and
spiritual goes without saying.
00:13:59.26\00:14:02.04
What we're going to see
today is that we can actually
00:14:02.07\00:14:05.42
postpone our funeral by
living according to God's plan
00:14:05.45\00:14:08.73
for optimum intellectual,
physical, social and spiritual
00:14:08.76\00:14:13.92
health. I want
to say that again:
00:14:13.95\00:14:16.78
we can actually postpone
our funeral by living according
00:14:16.81\00:14:21.05
to God's plan for maximum
intellectual, physical, social
00:14:21.08\00:14:25.28
and spiritual
growth. Very interesting.
00:14:25.31\00:14:28.13
Someone's going to say: "Well,
what do you mean postpone"
00:14:28.16\00:14:31.07
"your funeral? We all have
our time, and my time might be"
00:14:31.10\00:14:33.97
"this day, and your
time might be that day. "
00:14:34.00\00:14:36.32
Beloved, the wisest man that
ever lived, a man by the name
00:14:36.35\00:14:39.11
of Solomon, in the book of
Ecclesiastes, I believe it's
00:14:39.14\00:14:42.04
chapter 7, might be verse
17, somewhere around there,
00:14:42.07\00:14:44.93
Solomon says that you
can die before your time.
00:14:44.96\00:14:51.45
In other words, that this idea
"Well, we're all going to die"
00:14:51.49\00:14:54.03
"some time, so
I'll just smoke", no.
00:14:54.06\00:14:57.44
Beloved, you can die before the
time that God wants you to die,
00:14:58.75\00:15:02.24
before the time that
He has alloted you to die.
00:15:02.27\00:15:04.72
Really, if you're going to take
that to its logical conclusion
00:15:04.75\00:15:07.60
you say "Well, we all have
our time, we're all going to go"
00:15:07.63\00:15:10.38
"some time", why don't you get
your car up 90 miles an hour,
00:15:10.41\00:15:13.13
set the cruise
control and jump out?
00:15:13.16\00:15:15.69
This idea that we all have a set
time that God has appointed us
00:15:15.72\00:15:18.81
to die, the reality is
that God wants us to live happy,
00:15:18.84\00:15:22.85
healthy, satisfying, wholesome
lives, intellectual lives,
00:15:22.88\00:15:26.86
physical lives, social
lives, and spiritual lives;
00:15:26.89\00:15:29.66
and while it is true that
we're not going to live forever,
00:15:29.69\00:15:32.02
at least not in this body, at
least not here on planet earth,
00:15:32.05\00:15:34.34
how foolish is it of us to
unnecessarily shorten, or cut
00:15:34.37\00:15:39.50
short the amount of time
that God intends for us to live
00:15:40.99\00:15:44.16
to His glory. So we
conclude so far what
00:15:44.19\00:15:47.94
we've learned, Revelation
14, there's an urgent message
00:15:48.59\00:15:51.45
to glorify God, if
that makes sense, say amen.
00:15:51.48\00:15:55.71
1 Corinthians 10, we've seen
that God wants to be glorified
00:15:55.82\00:16:00.05
in our bodies, and that we
can eat to His glory, and we can
00:16:00.08\00:16:03.48
drink to His glory, and as
we've already said, it stands
00:16:03.51\00:16:06.87
to reason. If
there's a way that we can
00:16:06.90\00:16:09.17
eat that is to God's glory,
if there's a way that we can
00:16:09.20\00:16:11.57
drink that is to God's glory,
it must also be true, then,
00:16:11.60\00:16:14.15
that there's a way that we
could eat, or drink, that would
00:16:14.18\00:16:16.70
not be to God's glory.
Then we go to Luke 2:52,
00:16:16.73\00:16:20.11
we find that Jesus increased
in wisdom, and stature, and in
00:16:20.14\00:16:22.38
favor with God and
men. So we see the 4 fold
00:16:22.41\00:16:25.56
dimensionality of man:
he's a physical being, he's
00:16:25.59\00:16:28.50
an intellectual being,
he's a spiritual being,
00:16:28.53\00:16:31.40
and a social being.
00:16:31.43\00:16:33.98
Now let's continue on. God
communicates wtih us through
00:16:37.26\00:16:41.87
the brain, you might prefer
me to say that God communicates
00:16:41.90\00:16:46.46
wtih us through
the mind, that's fine.
00:16:46.49\00:16:49.23
The mind, the seat of the mind
is the brain; think of it this
00:16:49.26\00:16:52.75
way: if you're involved
in a terrible accident, say
00:16:52.78\00:16:57.13
a terrible industrial accident,
or perhaps a car accident,
00:16:57.16\00:17:00.31
and your right hand had to
be amputated, your whole right
00:17:00.34\00:17:03.33
arm had to be amputated,
let me ask you this questions:
00:17:03.36\00:17:06.13
could you still have a
meaningful relationship with
00:17:06.16\00:17:08.90
God without a right
arm? Absolutely you could.
00:17:08.93\00:17:12.44
And then let's imagine that you
are involved in another terrible
00:17:12.47\00:17:15.15
accident and your left arm
had to be amputated, so all you
00:17:15.18\00:17:17.37
had was legs, and a trunk, and
a neck, and a head, could you
00:17:17.40\00:17:20.48
have a meaningful
relationship with God like this:
00:17:20.51\00:17:22.65
with no arms? Yes or no?
00:17:22.68\00:17:24.77
Sure, of course you could,
because you still have desires,
00:17:24.80\00:17:27.23
and you still have ambitions,
and you still have goals,
00:17:27.26\00:17:29.66
and you still have
love, of course, you can have
00:17:29.69\00:17:31.83
a meaningful
relationship with God.
00:17:31.86\00:17:34.41
But what if, then
you lost your legs?
00:17:34.44\00:17:36.91
I can't do that, I'm not able
to do that physically, but if
00:17:36.94\00:17:39.30
your legs were gone as
well so that all you were was
00:17:39.33\00:17:41.90
a trunk, and a neck, and
a head, could you still have
00:17:41.93\00:17:44.47
a relationship with God
if your mind was intact?
00:17:44.50\00:17:46.59
Of course you could, the
answer is "yes", and heres why:
00:17:46.62\00:17:49.01
because God does not communicate
with you through your fingers,
00:17:49.04\00:17:51.28
through your elbows, through
your knees, or through your
00:17:51.31\00:17:53.85
legs, God communicates
with you through your mind.
00:17:53.88\00:17:58.17
The seat of the mind is
the brain, think of your brain
00:17:58.20\00:18:02.42
as a spiritual antenna, and
if your brain is sharp, if your
00:18:02.45\00:18:06.69
brain is crisp, if your brain
is healthy, then you can have
00:18:06.72\00:18:10.25
a healthier
spiritual experience, the Devil
00:18:10.28\00:18:12.84
knows this, which is
precisely why he would
00:18:12.87\00:18:15.38
love to have God's
people addicted to all kinds
00:18:15.41\00:18:18.11
of substances;
addicted to alcohol, compromises
00:18:18.14\00:18:20.78
the integrity of the
brain; addicted to cigarettes
00:18:20.81\00:18:23.99
compromises the integrity
of the brain; addicted to drugs
00:18:24.02\00:18:26.57
compromises the integrity
of the brain; addicted to
00:18:26.60\00:18:28.78
pornography compromises
the integrity of the brain;
00:18:28.81\00:18:30.92
addicted to food compromises
the integrity of the brain.
00:18:30.95\00:18:33.74
God wants us to be healthy in
our brains so we can be healthy
00:18:33.77\00:18:37.26
in our mind, God communicates
with us through our mind,
00:18:37.29\00:18:40.27
and thus we can be
healthy in our spirit.
00:18:40.30\00:18:42.66
In fact, notice here on
the slide, a healthy body will
00:18:42.69\00:18:45.88
result in a healthy
mind. I want to say that again
00:18:45.91\00:18:49.03
a healthy body will result
in a healthy mind, and as we've
00:18:49.06\00:18:52.27
already seen, God is
deeply concerned about our body
00:18:52.30\00:18:54.95
because as we've already
said, our body is not our body,
00:18:54.98\00:18:57.59
Jesus purchased our
body on the cross of Calvary,
00:18:57.62\00:19:01.05
that body doesn't belong to
you, that body belongs to God.
00:19:01.08\00:19:03.12
You might think "Well, it's
my body, I could do whatever"
00:19:03.15\00:19:05.11
"I want", no! Paul refutes that
line of reasoning, Paul refutes
00:19:05.14\00:19:09.05
that line of logic
as we've already seen in
00:19:09.08\00:19:11.57
1 Corinthians 10, he says
"You were bought with a price, "
00:19:11.60\00:19:14.05
"you are not your own,
that body is not your body. "
00:19:14.08\00:19:17.05
Imagine that I lent you my car
and I said "hey, you can borrow"
00:19:17.08\00:19:19.59
"my car, but there are certain
stipulations, because it's my"
00:19:19.62\00:19:22.31
"car and you're borrowing
it, I want you to put this kind"
00:19:22.34\00:19:24.95
"of gas in it, and I want you to
change the oil every so often, "
00:19:24.98\00:19:27.51
"and I don't want you to
go above this speed limit, "
00:19:27.54\00:19:29.74
"and I want you to etc, etc... "
I could go right down the whole
00:19:29.77\00:19:32.05
maintenance list, and you
could say "Well, it's my car, "
00:19:32.08\00:19:34.34
"I'll drive it however I
want, and I'll trash it however"
00:19:34.37\00:19:36.60
"I want", and I'll say
"No! That's not your car! "
00:19:36.63\00:19:39.49
"That's my car, and because I'm
the owner of the car, I have"
00:19:39.52\00:19:43.89
"a right to encourage, yea,
to command you, to take care"
00:19:43.92\00:19:49.14
"of my car in a way that
coincides with my will, "
00:19:49.46\00:19:53.68
"and my desire, because
the car belongs to me. "
00:19:53.71\00:19:58.11
Your body belongs to God,
you need to disabuse your mind
00:19:58.29\00:20:01.77
of this idea that "Well, it's
my body, and I can live however"
00:20:01.80\00:20:05.01
"I want", it's not
your body, it's God's body.
00:20:05.04\00:20:09.30
He purchased it, as we've
already seen in 1 Corinthians 6,
00:20:09.33\00:20:14.43
God wants us to have a
healthy body so that we can have
00:20:14.46\00:20:17.07
a healthy mind, and in
having a healthy mind, it will
00:20:17.10\00:20:19.65
significantly increase our
chances of having a healthy
00:20:19.68\00:20:23.88
spiritual relationship with
God, healthy body, healthy mind;
00:20:23.91\00:20:28.75
it's also true that a
healthy mind can also result in
00:20:28.78\00:20:31.58
a healthy body.
There's a reciprocal, mutual,
00:20:31.61\00:20:35.71
interface between a
healthy body and a healthy mind.
00:20:36.49\00:20:39.31
There are what are
called psychosomatic illnesses,
00:20:39.34\00:20:42.07
a psychosomatic illness is an
illness that is inflicted upon
00:20:42.10\00:20:44.72
the body because
the mind is unhealthy.
00:20:44.75\00:20:46.98
In other words, someone
thinks they're sick, so the body
00:20:47.01\00:20:50.24
responds in a sick way.
In fact, I have this clever
00:20:50.27\00:20:53.36
little thing that I do, whenever
I'm around people that are
00:20:53.39\00:20:56.55
saying "I'm not feeling
good", and I say "Oh really? "
00:20:56.58\00:20:59.43
"I'm feeling great, I feel
fantastic, in fact, I've never"
00:20:59.46\00:21:02.16
"felt better", I just talk about
how healthy I feel, how good
00:21:02.19\00:21:04.86
I feel, etc, etc, and I
believe that when I say those
00:21:04.89\00:21:07.30
kinds of things, it actually
does take place, that there
00:21:07.33\00:21:09.71
are hormones and other things
that take place in the mind
00:21:09.74\00:21:12.09
that actually can bolster
the immune system, this is
00:21:12.12\00:21:14.95
actually what the book of
Proverbs says: "A merry heart"
00:21:14.98\00:21:18.28
"doeth good like a medicine.
" Many people are sick for no
00:21:18.31\00:21:21.57
greater reason than they
think themselves to be so.
00:21:21.60\00:21:25.05
Did you hear that?
Many people are sick for no
00:21:25.08\00:21:27.60
greater reason than they
think themselves to be so.
00:21:27.63\00:21:30.26
So a healthy body helps
to create a healthy mind,
00:21:30.29\00:21:32.84
and a healthy mind, in turn,
helps to create a healthy body.
00:21:32.87\00:21:35.48
So it's a very
positive interrelationship here,
00:21:35.51\00:21:38.74
a mutual relationship, but
it also can be switched around
00:21:38.77\00:21:41.82
and be negative, unhealthy body:
unhealthy mind, unhealthy mind:
00:21:41.85\00:21:45.10
unhealthy body.
00:21:45.13\00:21:47.42
So God is concerned not just
with our so called spiritual
00:21:48.36\00:21:51.64
lives, but very much, He
is concerned with our health,
00:21:51.67\00:21:54.86
and our physical lives as well.
We're talking today, about how
00:21:54.89\00:21:57.67
to postpone your funeral.
What does it mean to glorify
00:21:57.70\00:22:01.50
God, as we've already
said: it means to live your life
00:22:01.53\00:22:05.75
for God in every area of
that 4 fold dimensionality,
00:22:05.78\00:22:09.92
every area, whether physically,
emotionally, spiritually,
00:22:09.95\00:22:13.47
or socially, that's
what it means to glorify God.
00:22:13.50\00:22:16.73
Look at this, Romans 12:1,
the apostle Paul, I'm actually
00:22:16.76\00:22:19.98
reading from the New King James
version, that's the version of
00:22:20.01\00:22:22.34
the Bible that I prefer,
but I really like the way that
00:22:22.37\00:22:24.79
the New International Version
translates this particular
00:22:24.82\00:22:27.16
verse, so I've put it here on
the screen for you, Romans 12:1
00:22:27.19\00:22:31.73
[text on screen]
00:22:31.76\00:22:33.22
Do you see what
he's saying there?
00:22:50.76\00:22:53.16
He says that the way you take
care of your body is a spiritual
00:22:53.19\00:22:55.79
act of worship. Have
you ever thought of that
00:22:55.82\00:22:59.26
before? Notice that he says
00:22:59.29\00:23:01.76
"Present your bodies as living
sacrifices", that's a very
00:23:01.79\00:23:05.21
interesting juxtaposition
there, with living and sacrifice
00:23:05.24\00:23:08.56
together because traditionally
the way we understand the word
00:23:08.59\00:23:12.13
"sacrifice" is in the terms
of death, not in terms of life.
00:23:12.16\00:23:15.35
Think of it this way: in the
Old Testament when something was
00:23:15.38\00:23:18.53
sacrificed, that
means that it died.
00:23:18.56\00:23:21.02
In the Old Testament when a
sacrifice was laid on the altar,
00:23:21.05\00:23:23.57
that means that it had died.
Even in our own modern language,
00:23:23.60\00:23:26.19
if you're out, say in the woods,
sometime with your friend,
00:23:26.22\00:23:28.86
and you come across a train
track, and you see the train
00:23:28.89\00:23:31.47
is approaching, and your friend
is on the tracks, but for some
00:23:31.50\00:23:33.88
reason he doesn't see the train
approaching, if you push your
00:23:33.91\00:23:36.25
friend off of those tracks,
and you also make it off of
00:23:36.28\00:23:39.36
the tracks, you live and
he lives, then the newspaper
00:23:39.39\00:23:42.40
headline would not read "Man
Sacrifices life to save friend",
00:23:42.43\00:23:47.27
because the idea of
sacrifice has to do with death.
00:23:47.30\00:23:49.69
But imagine that very
same scenario, the train is
00:23:49.72\00:23:52.04
approaching, and there's
only enough time for you to save
00:23:52.07\00:23:54.63
either yourself, that is to
just let your friend get hit,
00:23:54.66\00:23:57.58
or you can push him off, but
in the process of saving him,
00:23:57.61\00:24:00.91
you are hit by the train; the
newspaper headline could read
00:24:00.94\00:24:04.18
"Man Sacrifices
Life to Save Friend".
00:24:04.21\00:24:07.58
Sacrifice entails death.
00:24:07.77\00:24:09.89
That's why what Paul does here
in Romans 12 is so fascinating,
00:24:12.91\00:24:16.14
he introduces, not sacrifice
and death, but sacrifice
00:24:16.17\00:24:19.33
and life. Look at it again:
00:24:19.36\00:24:21.92
"Therefore, I urge you,
brothers, in view of God's"
00:24:21.96\00:24:25.43
"mercy, to offer your
bodies as living sacrifices, "
00:24:25.46\00:24:30.13
"holy and pleasing to
God -which is your spiritual"
00:24:30.25\00:24:32.48
"act of worship. " I
tell you, I've heard so many
00:24:32.51\00:24:34.64
people say "If it comes down
to the end time, and the mark"
00:24:34.67\00:24:37.59
"of the beast crisis, I'll
be willing to die for God. "
00:24:37.62\00:24:40.50
"If it comes right down to
it, and they say thus and so, "
00:24:40.53\00:24:43.26
"thus and so, and it comes
between God, serving Him, "
00:24:43.29\00:24:45.95
"and death, I'll die for God.
" Beloved, surely God is happy
00:24:45.98\00:24:49.01
that you are willing to die
for Him, but what God is looking
00:24:49.04\00:24:51.93
for more in this day and age
is not people who are willing
00:24:51.96\00:24:56.03
to die for Him, but people
who are willing to live for Him.
00:24:56.06\00:25:00.69
Living sacrifices, a spiritual
act of worship, you present
00:25:00.72\00:25:05.91
your body to God. We
think of prayer, oh prayer,
00:25:06.44\00:25:10.91
that's a very spiritual time,
and God is interested in that,
00:25:11.22\00:25:14.09
that's a spiritual act of
worship, nobody would deny that
00:25:14.12\00:25:16.83
prayer is a spiritual act
of worship, nobody would deny
00:25:16.86\00:25:19.97
that Bible study is a spiritual
act of worship, but wait
00:25:20.00\00:25:23.07
a minute, how you take care
of your bodies is a spiritual
00:25:23.10\00:25:26.11
act of worship?
That's what the text says.
00:25:26.14\00:25:28.67
This is agreeing perfectly
with what we've seen in Romans,
00:25:28.70\00:25:31.23
and what we've seen in 1
Corinthians, is that the way
00:25:31.26\00:25:33.65
that we take care of our bodies
is not some little isolated
00:25:33.68\00:25:36.06
thing, God's only concerned
about the spirit, God's only
00:25:36.09\00:25:38.43
concerned about the
religious life, God is deeply
00:25:38.46\00:25:40.83
and intimately concerned
about how we take care of our
00:25:40.86\00:25:43.37
bodies for a variety of reasons.
00:25:43.40\00:25:45.72
Number 1: it shows good
stewardship, and number 2:
00:25:45.75\00:25:48.11
because a healthy body produces
a healthy mind, a healthy mind
00:25:48.14\00:25:50.69
is the seat of the intellect
and the spiritual, moral and
00:25:50.72\00:25:53.45
emotional decisions, and
God communicates with us through
00:25:53.48\00:25:56.18
our mind. So we
don't have this little
00:25:56.21\00:25:58.99
God who's sort of
compartmentalized here,
00:25:59.02\00:26:01.73
and we go to church on
Sunday morning, or Saturday
00:26:01.76\00:26:04.87
morning, or whatever day you
happen to go to church, and say
00:26:04.90\00:26:07.45
"Oh, here I am, I'm a spiritual
being now, and this is"
00:26:07.48\00:26:09.94
"what God cares about, I
sit in the pew for an hour, "
00:26:09.97\00:26:12.36
"or 2 hours, and oh, now
I'm back out to my regular"
00:26:12.39\00:26:14.87
"old self. "
Beloved, God does not want
00:26:14.90\00:26:17.59
to be put into a little
compartment, into a little box,
00:26:17.62\00:26:20.48
don't pigeonhole the God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
00:26:20.51\00:26:23.79
don't pigeonhole
the God of the Bible.
00:26:23.82\00:26:26.31
God is concerned
about you spiritually, yes;
00:26:26.34\00:26:29.14
God is concerned about
you physically as well.
00:26:29.17\00:26:31.90
Think of it this way: I
have 2 children, do you think
00:26:31.93\00:26:34.80
I'm only concerned about
the salvation of my children?
00:26:34.83\00:26:37.62
Of course, I'm very concerned
about that, but am I not also
00:26:37.65\00:26:40.47
concerned about their
physical health as well?
00:26:40.50\00:26:43.38
Of course. It stands to reason.
00:26:43.41\00:26:46.29
So if you can eat to
God's glory, and you can drink
00:26:48.05\00:26:50.52
to God's glory, and you
can, we've already seen that,
00:26:50.55\00:26:52.94
it must also be true that
you can eat and drink in a way
00:26:52.97\00:26:57.85
that is not to God's glory.
What I'd like to do from this
00:26:57.88\00:27:04.52
point out is show you several
practical instances as to how
00:27:04.55\00:27:11.19
we can eat to the
glory of God and cannot eat
00:27:11.22\00:27:14.25
to the glory of God, and how we
can drink to the glory of God,
00:27:14.28\00:27:17.85
and how we cannot
drink to the glory of God.
00:27:17.88\00:27:20.44
You might be sitting
there thinking: "Oh no, "
00:27:20.47\00:27:22.95
"Pastor Asscherick, are
you going to make a trip to my"
00:27:22.98\00:27:26.09
"refrigerator? " That's
exactly what I'm saying.
00:27:26.12\00:27:30.25
Notice here on the slide
it says, William Shakespeare,
00:27:30.28\00:27:33.36
a marvelous quotation from the
play "Othello", Act II, Scene 3,
00:27:33.39\00:27:38.74
he said: [text on screen]
00:27:38.77\00:27:41.12
"That men would put an enemy
in their mouth that steals away"
00:27:47.33\00:27:51.10
"their brains", what do
you think he's talking about?
00:27:51.13\00:27:54.35
He's talking about alcohol.
I saw a T-shirt one time,
00:27:54.38\00:27:57.56
somebody was
wearing a T-shirt that said:
00:27:57.59\00:28:00.33
"Instant Idiot,
Just Add Alcohol".
00:28:00.36\00:28:03.43
When people are on alcohol,
when people have consumed
00:28:03.81\00:28:08.43
too much alcohol they begin
to lose control of their bodily
00:28:08.46\00:28:11.42
functions because they've
lost control of their cognitive
00:28:11.45\00:28:14.37
functions, that's
what Shakespeare's saying:
00:28:14.40\00:28:16.56
"Oh God! That men would put
an enemy in the mouth", that's
00:28:16.59\00:28:20.50
palatable to the taste
buds, but it destroys the mind.
00:28:20.53\00:28:24.36
I've had many people say to
me: "Oh, well the Bible teaches"
00:28:24.39\00:28:26.34
"you can drink wine", yeah, the
Bible does teach you can drink
00:28:26.37\00:28:28.46
wine, unfermented wine.
In fact, there are 2 kinds
00:28:28.49\00:28:32.55
of wine in the Bible,
there's: [text on screen]
00:28:32.58\00:28:36.77
Unfermented, and fermented,
or the way I like to put it is:
00:28:36.80\00:28:39.95
rotten and fresh.
There's rotten wine,
00:28:39.98\00:28:42.51
and there's fresh
wine in the Bible.
00:28:42.54\00:28:44.99
Now, someone's going to say
"Wait a minute, wine is wine, "
00:28:45.02\00:28:46.94
"all wine is fermented,
let me ask you a question, "
00:28:46.97\00:28:49.46
"I'm reading today from
the New King James version of"
00:28:49.49\00:28:51.93
"the Bible, and as I read
the New King James Version of"
00:28:51.96\00:28:53.98
"the Bible from Genesis to
Revelation, I don't find one"
00:28:54.01\00:28:55.99
"place where it uses
the word 'grape juice'. "
00:28:56.02\00:28:59.70
The word "wine"
is used, well why?
00:28:59.73\00:29:02.59
Because in the New, and Old
Testaments there was 1 word,
00:29:02.62\00:29:05.69
in the Old Testament "yayin",
there were several in the Old
00:29:05.72\00:29:08.75
Testament, but primarily
"yayin", and in the New
00:29:08.78\00:29:11.10
Testament "oinos", and
that word can be rendered either
00:29:11.13\00:29:14.18
as fermented or unfermented
juice, depending on the context.
00:29:14.21\00:29:19.57
You remember how critical
it is that we study the Bible
00:29:21.62\00:29:24.37
in context, because if you
don't you could find yourself
00:29:24.40\00:29:26.94
saying " 'Judas hung himself',
well that's not what I was"
00:29:26.97\00:29:29.41
"looking for", " 'Go thou and
do likewise', that's not what"
00:29:29.44\00:29:31.84
"I was looking for. "
" 'What thou doest,' "
00:29:31.87\00:29:34.17
" 'do quickly', that's certainly
not what I was looking for. "
00:29:34.20\00:29:36.89
Beloved, we have to
study the Bible in context.
00:29:36.92\00:29:40.62
So, if the Bible says
that they drank wine and became
00:29:40.65\00:29:43.52
drunk, clearly
that's "oinos", fermented.
00:29:43.55\00:29:46.35
If the Bible says that
they drank the new wine, fresh
00:29:46.38\00:29:50.25
from the vine, clearly
that's non-fermented, "oinos".
00:29:50.28\00:29:54.40
And someone says "Really?
Are you saying that the Bible"
00:29:54.43\00:29:58.01
"teaches that we
shouldn't drink wine? "
00:29:58.04\00:30:00.49
That's exactly what I'm
teaching if we're talking about
00:30:00.52\00:30:03.24
fermented wine, it doesn't
just have to be wine either,
00:30:03.27\00:30:05.79
it could be beer, could
be whiskey, could be alcohol,
00:30:05.82\00:30:08.15
God tells us to stay
away from those very things.
00:30:08.18\00:30:10.91
In fact, notice this
statistic here on the board:
00:30:10.94\00:30:13.64
[text on screen]
00:30:13.67\00:30:15.12
Can you drink
alcohol to the glory of God?
00:30:19.44\00:30:21.99
I think the answer based on this
simple statistic must be "no".
00:30:22.02\00:30:26.22
Imagine this: what if your
dog bit 2 out of every 5 guests?
00:30:26.25\00:30:30.42
What if your dog big 2 out
of every 5 people that came
00:30:30.45\00:30:32.95
to your house?
Would you keep the dog?
00:30:32.98\00:30:36.52
You're probably thinking
to yourself, "That depends, "
00:30:36.77\00:30:38.82
"do I get to pick the guests?
" That's not the point we're
00:30:38.85\00:30:42.33
making here, the point we're
making is this: if your dog
00:30:42.36\00:30:45.41
bit 2 out of every 5
people that came to your house,
00:30:45.44\00:30:47.99
you would call that dog
dangerous, you would say
00:30:48.02\00:30:50.49
that dog is not socially
acceptable, let's take it a step
00:30:50.52\00:30:54.10
further though: what if
your dog killed 2 out of every 5
00:30:54.13\00:30:57.60
people that came to your house?
Because beloved, many people
00:30:57.63\00:31:01.07
that develop serious problems
with alcohol end up dying
00:31:01.10\00:31:04.58
of those very complications.
Whether it's through some
00:31:04.61\00:31:07.55
terrible disease that's
brought about, liver disease, or
00:31:07.58\00:31:10.44
a child is born with
fetal alcohol syndrome, whatever
00:31:10.47\00:31:13.26
it might be, is God going to
endorse something that brings
00:31:13.29\00:31:17.20
about these kinds of horrific,
and terrible tragedies,
00:31:17.23\00:31:21.11
with such frequency?
Good common sense and good
00:31:21.14\00:31:24.42
logic tells us that
that's absolutely impossible.
00:31:24.45\00:31:27.65
In fact, I had 2 of my best
friends in the world were killed
00:31:27.68\00:31:30.64
by a drunk driver.
Did you hear what I said?
00:31:30.67\00:31:34.15
2 of my best friends in the
world were killed by a drunk
00:31:34.18\00:31:37.16
driver, hit them going 125
miles an hour down the wrong
00:31:37.19\00:31:40.14
side of the road.
Bob and Bobby would still
00:31:40.17\00:31:43.08
be alive today.
Beloved, I want you to think
00:31:43.11\00:31:45.95
about this, surely the
Bible has a great deal to say
00:31:45.98\00:31:49.55
about the topic of alcohol,
the issue of alcohol, but just
00:31:49.58\00:31:53.08
good common sense will
tell you that if 40% of people
00:31:53.11\00:31:57.54
develop serious problems,
that if things like spousal
00:31:57.57\00:32:01.22
abuse, which many time
is directly tied to alcohol
00:32:01.25\00:32:04.55
and other things, and
drunk drivers, and fetal alcohol
00:32:04.58\00:32:07.81
syndrome, all of these things,
the Christian is going to look
00:32:07.84\00:32:10.71
at that and say "Oh, no problem,
piece of cake, the Christian"
00:32:10.74\00:32:13.58
"can do it", beloved,
listen! The Bible makes it clear
00:32:13.61\00:32:18.53
that we should avoid these
very things, in fact, open your
00:32:19.66\00:32:22.58
Bibles to the book of Proverbs,
the wisest man that every
00:32:22.61\00:32:25.47
lived, a man by
the name of Solomon.
00:32:25.50\00:32:27.95
I'm going to Proverbs 20,
this becomes clear, the context
00:32:27.98\00:32:31.93
makes it clear when you
look at the difference between
00:32:31.96\00:32:35.84
fermented and unfermented wine,
that's the critical distinction:
00:32:35.87\00:32:39.78
fermented and unfermented.
I'm in Proverbs 20:1.
00:32:39.81\00:32:46.30
The wisest man who ever
lived says: "Wine is a mocker, "
00:32:46.34\00:32:50.89
"and strong drink is raging,
whoever is led astray by it"
00:32:50.92\00:32:54.46
"is not wise. "
Notice what he says:
00:32:54.49\00:32:57.68
"Wine will make fun of you,
wine will mock you, wine will"
00:32:57.71\00:33:01.56
"trash you, and trash you",
he says it even more explicitly
00:33:01.59\00:33:05.41
in Proverbs 23:29.
00:33:05.44\00:33:07.10
Solomon begins with a series of
rhetorical questions, he says:
00:33:12.36\00:33:15.65
"Who has woe? Who has
sorrow? Who has contentions? "
00:33:15.68\00:33:18.91
"Who has complaints? Who
has wounds without cause? "
00:33:18.94\00:33:21.89
"Who has redness of
eyes? Those who linger long at"
00:33:21.92\00:33:24.83
"the wine, who go in
search of mixed wine. "
00:33:24.86\00:33:27.79
"Do not look on the wine when
it is red, when it sparkles in"
00:33:27.82\00:33:30.92
"the cup, when it swirls around
smoothly, at the last it bites"
00:33:30.95\00:33:34.02
"like a serpent, it
stings like a viper. "
00:33:34.05\00:33:36.47
"Your eyes will see strange
things, your heart will utter"
00:33:36.50\00:33:38.97
"perverse things, yes, you,
will be like one who lies down"
00:33:39.00\00:33:41.40
"in the midst of the sea,
or like one who lies at the"
00:33:41.43\00:33:44.28
"top of the mast, saying:
They have struck me, but I was"
00:33:44.31\00:33:47.05
"not hurt; they have beaten
me, but I did not feel it. "
00:33:47.08\00:33:50.18
"When shall I awake that
I may seek another drink? "
00:33:50.21\00:33:53.12
Solomon, here, is
describing the classic drunkard;
00:33:53.15\00:33:55.99
Solomon, here, is describing the
classic person who has wounds
00:33:56.02\00:33:59.58
without cause, and has soreness
of eyes, etc, etc, and he says
00:33:59.61\00:34:03.10
he gets knocked out, he's like
a person on top of the mast,
00:34:03.13\00:34:05.94
and when he finally wakes up the
first thing out of his mouth:
00:34:05.97\00:34:08.71
"Ohhh, I need another one..."
Beloved, let's be clear about
00:34:08.74\00:34:12.75
something, God loves alcoholics,
but God hates alcoholism,
00:34:12.78\00:34:16.73
and that's the point.
40% of people develop serious
00:34:16.76\00:34:20.71
problems, Solomon says
here: "don't even look at it",
00:34:20.74\00:34:24.63
and that doesn't mean
drink it with your eyes closed,
00:34:24.66\00:34:26.95
what it means is don't even
look at it, it's a temptation.
00:34:26.98\00:34:31.79
Somebody says "Well,
Jesus made wine in John 2 at"
00:34:31.82\00:34:34.72
"the feast Cana".
Jesus did make wine, He made
00:34:34.75\00:34:37.57
"oinos", but please don't
try and convince me that Jesus
00:34:37.60\00:34:42.74
Christ made gallons, and
gallons, of fermented wine
00:34:42.84\00:34:47.31
when Jesus Himself
came to save humanity.
00:34:47.34\00:34:50.85
Isn't that what it says?
Jesus came to save humanity,
00:34:50.88\00:34:52.74
I'm looking in Luke 19:10,
Jesus says: "The Son of man has"
00:34:52.77\00:34:57.81
"come to seek and
save that which is lost. "
00:34:57.84\00:35:00.51
So we can summarize Jesus'
mission as basically this:
00:35:00.54\00:35:03.46
He came to save people,
but yet the Bible says in
00:35:03.49\00:35:06.34
1 Corinthians 6 that drunkards
will not inherit the kingdom
00:35:06.37\00:35:10.16
of heaven. Now, I
want you to think about
00:35:10.19\00:35:12.70
that for a moment, drunkards
will not inherit the kingdom
00:35:12.73\00:35:15.27
of heaven, that is unrepentant
drunkards who don't get
00:35:15.30\00:35:17.72
the victory, will not
inherit the kingdom of heaven,
00:35:17.75\00:35:20.10
but wait a minute, 40% of
people who drink alcohol develop
00:35:20.13\00:35:22.55
a serious problem, 40% of
people who drink alcohol become
00:35:22.58\00:35:25.15
drunkards, so you're going to
tell me that Jesus, the one who
00:35:25.18\00:35:28.10
came to save; Jesus, the one who
came to redeem; Jesus, the one
00:35:28.13\00:35:31.01
who came to rescue us from
sin is actually contributing at
00:35:31.04\00:35:34.09
a party with hundreds,
perhaps, gallons, and gallons,
00:35:34.12\00:35:37.52
and gallons of alcohol, for
the purpose of keeping everybody
00:35:37.55\00:35:41.47
happy, knowing
that many of the people
00:35:41.50\00:35:43.62
that would have drank
that very wine that Jesus made
00:35:43.65\00:35:46.16
would have gone on to
have serious problems and would
00:35:46.19\00:35:48.67
have become drunkards?
Knowing that that would
00:35:48.70\00:35:51.99
contribute to their
non-salvation, to their loss
00:35:52.02\00:35:55.27
of salvation, to
their eternal damnation?
00:35:55.30\00:35:58.47
Beloved, this is not
the Jesus of the Bible.
00:35:58.50\00:36:02.16
In fact, when Jesus held up that
wine, you want to find there
00:36:02.19\00:36:05.14
with me in Mark 14, see
if you can go there with me,
00:36:05.17\00:36:07.77
second book of the
New Testament, Mark 14.
00:36:07.80\00:36:10.13
When Jesus blesses the wine,
let's see if we can find it,
00:36:10.16\00:36:15.48
Mark 14.
00:36:18.97\00:36:23.97
Here we are, Mark
14. Jesus is celebrating
00:36:28.92\00:36:32.81
the Passover, the last supper
with His disciples, and He says
00:36:33.52\00:36:36.30
something very interesting
in verse 22, Mark 14:22:
00:36:36.33\00:36:39.83
"And as they were eating,
Jesus took the bread and He"
00:36:39.86\00:36:42.88
"blessed it and broke it,
and He gave it to His disciples"
00:36:42.91\00:36:45.54
"and He said, Take and eat,
this is My body. " Verse 23:
00:36:45.57\00:36:48.14
"He took the cup, and when
He'd given thanks, He gave it"
00:36:48.17\00:36:50.83
"to them, and they all drank
from it", now look at verse 24:
00:36:50.86\00:36:53.39
"This is My blood of the
New Covenant, which is shed for"
00:36:53.42\00:36:55.92
"many", so that wine
represented the blood of Jesus.
00:36:55.95\00:36:58.27
Verse 25: "Assuredly I say
to you, I will not longer drink"
00:36:58.30\00:37:01.84
"of the fruit of the vine until
the day that I drink it new"
00:37:01.87\00:37:05.38
"with you in the
kingdom of God. "
00:37:05.41\00:37:08.31
3 things in this passage
indicate very clearly that
00:37:08.34\00:37:13.08
the wine that Jesus offered
up as the wine of the covenant
00:37:13.12\00:37:16.60
was not fermented wine.
Number 1: It represented His
00:37:16.63\00:37:20.57
blood. Fermentation to the
Jews, like leaven to the Jews,
00:37:20.60\00:37:24.33
was a sign of sin.
So can you imagine Jesus
00:37:24.36\00:37:28.65
holding up this thing and
saying: "This is My blood, "
00:37:28.68\00:37:31.11
"the sin stained, sin defiled
blood, is the blood of the new"
00:37:31.14\00:37:34.69
"covenant", it
would have made no sense.
00:37:34.72\00:37:36.75
Number 2, He says "I won't drink
of the fruit of the vine. "
00:37:36.78\00:37:40.71
You see, think of it this
way, there are 2 kinds of wine:
00:37:40.74\00:37:44.02
there's the fresh juice that
comes fresh from the cluster,
00:37:44.05\00:37:47.30
and then there's the
fermented, that is the fresh,
00:37:47.33\00:37:49.89
and the rotten.
Jesus uses the terminology
00:37:49.92\00:37:52.38
"fruit of the vine", you know
He's talking about the juice
00:37:52.41\00:37:54.91
that came fresh from the fruit,
fresh from the cluster, fresh
00:37:54.94\00:37:57.41
from the vine,
that's not fermented.
00:37:57.44\00:38:00.58
It takes time for things to
ferment, that's why they say:
00:38:00.61\00:38:02.67
"Oh, this is a very
good year, 1974, perfect".
00:38:02.70\00:38:07.64
Beloved, this would have been
fresh, not aging, and aging,
00:38:07.67\00:38:11.97
and aging, and fermenting.
Then He says, number 3:
00:38:12.00\00:38:14.87
"until the day I drink it
new with you in the kingdom"
00:38:14.90\00:38:17.73
"of heaven. " This
was new wine, not the old
00:38:17.76\00:38:20.71
wine, Jesus was
crucified around the Passover,
00:38:20.74\00:38:23.61
Passover is in spring,
this would have been the time
00:38:23.64\00:38:25.99
of harvest.
00:38:26.02\00:38:27.02
Beloved, Jesus would not have
offered fermented, alcoholic,
00:38:28.69\00:38:32.94
wine to people at the wedding
of Cana for several reasons,
00:38:32.97\00:38:36.38
first of all, the Old
Testament prohibits it, as we've
00:38:36.41\00:38:39.39
already seen in Proverbs,
and other texts could be cited;
00:38:39.42\00:38:42.37
and number 2: because
Jesus came to save men,
00:38:42.40\00:38:45.01
not to contribute to
their eternal damnation.
00:38:45.04\00:38:47.57
But the second point here is
Jesus would not have offered,
00:38:47.60\00:38:51.25
no way would He have offered
up fermented wine as a sign
00:38:51.28\00:38:55.56
of His blood of the New
covenant, it makes no sense.
00:38:55.59\00:38:59.81
Beloved, I'm going to so far
as to say that even if the Bible
00:38:59.84\00:39:02.37
said nothing about wine, even
if the Bible was totally silent
00:39:02.40\00:39:05.28
on it, any Christian who
has his or her head screwed on
00:39:05.31\00:39:08.42
straight can look at the
effects of alcohol, and say:
00:39:08.45\00:39:13.30
"It cannot be consumed and
imbibed to the glory of God. "
00:39:14.29\00:39:18.86
"Impossible! It's
like oil and water. "
00:39:18.89\00:39:21.84
And someone says "Well, I'm
a social drinker, I drink just"
00:39:21.87\00:39:23.88
"a little bit".
Beloved, nobody, NOBODY, starts
00:39:23.91\00:39:27.00
drinking thinking to
themselves "I think I'll become"
00:39:27.03\00:39:29.63
"a drunkard, I think I'll become
totally sloshed, and ruin"
00:39:29.66\00:39:32.32
"my family, and ruin my
marriage, I think I'll... "
00:39:32.35\00:39:34.79
No one starts drinking that
way, everyone starts as a social
00:39:34.82\00:39:38.47
drinker.
00:39:38.50\00:39:40.28
So I would say, as plain as
the noon-day sun, you cannot
00:39:42.02\00:39:47.28
drink alcohol to the
glory of God, impossible, that's
00:39:47.37\00:39:50.30
a Biblical conviction, and
frankly, it's just a plain,
00:39:50.33\00:39:53.21
logical conviction.
Before I became a Christian
00:39:53.24\00:39:55.74
I took care of people that
had developmental disabilities,
00:39:55.77\00:39:58.03
people with Down Syndrome,
people with Autism, and I took
00:39:58.06\00:40:00.88
care of a young man by the
name of Joshua Martinez, he had
00:40:00.91\00:40:03.69
fetal alcohol syndrome.
Oh, he was so dear to me,
00:40:03.72\00:40:06.62
he was approximately my
age, and I loved him so much,
00:40:06.65\00:40:09.48
but his mind was so impaired
he couldn't speak, he couldn't
00:40:09.51\00:40:12.40
talk, in fact, all he
could do is say "aaaaaa...aaaa",
00:40:12.43\00:40:15.25
and he would say his hand, his
little palsy hand, and he would
00:40:15.28\00:40:18.05
hold it up to his chin and
say "Aaaaa...mama...", he would
00:40:18.08\00:40:20.79
push his mandible up
into his mouth to make him say
00:40:20.82\00:40:24.74
"mamama". Joshua,
of course, could never
00:40:24.77\00:40:28.56
understand it, but he missed
his mom, and he loved his mom,
00:40:28.59\00:40:30.89
and he was living in this home,
and the whole time I remember
00:40:30.92\00:40:33.18
looking at this situation
with total frustration, total
00:40:33.21\00:40:36.44
consternation, because here,
he longed for his mom, he loved
00:40:36.47\00:40:40.27
his mom, he missed his
mom, and yet, it was his mom who
00:40:40.30\00:40:44.34
put him in that
situation! Don't tell me Jesus
00:40:44.37\00:40:48.41
is like that! Don't
tell me that Jesus is
00:40:48.44\00:40:51.25
going to contribute to people's
condemnation, contribute
00:40:51.28\00:40:54.11
to people's damnation,
contribute to people's loss
00:40:54.14\00:40:56.57
of salvation by making gallons,
and gallons of fermented wine
00:40:56.60\00:41:00.27
knowing that someone is going
to get: [acts like a drunk]
00:41:00.30\00:41:03.89
"Oh, hey, how you doing...? ",
start hitting on other people's
00:41:03.92\00:41:06.22
wives, and committing adultery,
or hitting on someone's husband.
00:41:06.25\00:41:08.51
NO!
00:41:08.54\00:41:10.78
There are 2 kinds of
wines in the Bible: fermented
00:41:11.08\00:41:13.55
and unfermented. Sure,
you want to have a nice
00:41:13.58\00:41:15.96
fresh glass of Welch's
grape juice, amen! I'm the same
00:41:15.99\00:41:18.74
way, in fact, I can hardly
even eat a meal without having
00:41:18.77\00:41:21.60
a little grape juice at the
end of it, but I tell you what:
00:41:21.63\00:41:24.43
I don't want the rotten
stuff, I want the fresh stuff.
00:41:24.46\00:41:29.48
Now, it's not just alcohol,
there are other lifestyle
00:41:29.54\00:41:33.43
practices that contribute
to the shortening, and other
00:41:33.46\00:41:38.22
lifestyle practices
that harm our bodies.
00:41:38.25\00:41:40.71
Dr. Linus Pauling
said: [text on screen]
00:41:40.74\00:41:44.40
Someone says: "Wait a minute,
are you going to say that"
00:41:46.52\00:41:49.33
"the Bible condemns smoking?
Show me a verse that says"
00:41:49.36\00:41:52.11
"you can't smoke. "
Beloved, I can't show you
00:41:52.14\00:41:54.51
a verse that says "Thou shalt
not smoke", but I can't show
00:41:54.54\00:41:57.11
you a verse that says "Thou
shalt not smoke crack cocaine"
00:41:57.14\00:41:59.64
either; I can't show you a
verse that says "You shouldn't"
00:41:59.67\00:42:02.48
"shoot heroin",
it's common sense.
00:42:02.51\00:42:04.72
God has given you
a mind, now use it!
00:42:04.75\00:42:06.89
If these things are taking
14.5 minutes off of your life,
00:42:06.92\00:42:10.08
every single cigarette,
how could you possibly do that
00:42:10.11\00:42:13.13
to the glory of God, who
is Himself the life giver.
00:42:13.16\00:42:16.21
God gives life, Satan
takes life, and anything that
00:42:16.24\00:42:19.35
prematurely, unnecessarily,
as an addiction, takes your
00:42:19.38\00:42:22.91
life away, is not from
God. I want to underscore here
00:42:22.94\00:42:26.48
something very important,
by the way, God loves cigarette
00:42:26.51\00:42:30.03
smokers, but God
hates cigarettes,
00:42:30.06\00:42:33.13
and that's the
point. See, we love the sin,
00:42:34.87\00:42:37.57
and hate the sinner, but
God loves the sinner and hates
00:42:37.60\00:42:40.48
the sin. Look at
this: nicotine ends
00:42:40.51\00:42:42.68
in "ine": [text on screen]
00:42:42.71\00:42:45.15
All of these drugs are of
the same sub-narcotic class,
00:42:49.47\00:42:52.32
and you look at the last
one and think "Wait a minute! "
00:42:52.35\00:42:55.14
"Is he actually
saying caffeine? "
00:42:55.17\00:42:57.35
I am saying caffeine.
Caffeine is a very strong
00:42:57.38\00:43:00.93
stimulant, you can't
consume caffeine without being
00:43:00.96\00:43:04.47
unaffected by its
stimulant properties.
00:43:04.50\00:43:07.42
I look at this whole Starbuck's
craze, and this whole coffee
00:43:07.45\00:43:11.14
craze, and I think to
myself: No, caffeine is a drug.
00:43:11.17\00:43:16.06
"Now, are you saying,
David, that everyone who drinks"
00:43:16.27\00:43:18.68
"coffee is not a Christian?
" No, I didn't say that,
00:43:18.71\00:43:21.07
what I am saying is I
don't think we're going to be
00:43:21.10\00:43:23.39
going to the heavenly coffee
shops in the New Jerusalem,
00:43:23.42\00:43:25.70
that's what I'm saying.
Listen, if you can't shoot
00:43:25.73\00:43:28.05
heroin to the glory of God,
and if you can't take cocaine
00:43:28.08\00:43:30.83
to the glory of God, and if
you can't take strychnine to
00:43:30.86\00:43:33.31
the glory of God, then why,
pray tell, should you be able
00:43:33.34\00:43:35.77
to take caffeine to the
glory of God? Just answer me,
00:43:35.80\00:43:38.16
that's a very logical question.
Beloved, God has given us bodies
00:43:38.19\00:43:43.83
and He wants us to
take care of those bodies.
00:43:43.86\00:43:46.32
Several years ago I read this
book entitled "Caffeine Blues",
00:43:46.35\00:43:49.21
by Stephen Cherniske, he says:
"Wake up to the hidden dangers"
00:43:49.24\00:43:52.06
"of America's number 1
drugs". One of the most powerful
00:43:52.09\00:43:54.51
things in there is he
interviewed a representative
00:43:54.54\00:43:57.23
from the FDA, and he
asked him straight out, he said:
00:43:57.26\00:43:59.88
"Listen, if caffeine came up
today to be passed for general"
00:43:59.91\00:44:03.03
"consumption, so my little
5 year old boy can go into"
00:44:03.06\00:44:05.21
"the supermarket and buy a
Red Bull, my friend's little"
00:44:05.24\00:44:07.37
"7 year old boy can go
into the supermarket and buy"
00:44:07.40\00:44:09.88
"one of these caffeine
laden drinks", he asked them
00:44:09.91\00:44:12.32
a question, "Would it pass
approval by the FDA for general"
00:44:12.35\00:44:15.60
"consumption? " And
the FDA representative
00:44:15.63\00:44:17.46
said "No way! Too many
health risks, too many problems"
00:44:17.49\00:44:21.71
"for general
consumption. No way. "
00:44:21.74\00:44:23.64
And he even suggested that
it might not have been approved
00:44:23.67\00:44:26.27
for consumption at all.
In fact, I highly recommend
00:44:26.30\00:44:29.77
that book, don't just think:
"Well, everybody's doing it, "
00:44:29.80\00:44:31.96
"everybody likes to
drink a little coffee. "
00:44:31.99\00:44:34.34
Listen beloved, maybe you
do need the coffee, but think
00:44:34.37\00:44:37.31
about it: you need it.
Let that sink into your mind:
00:44:37.34\00:44:40.25
you need it. If
you're sitting there today
00:44:40.28\00:44:42.16
thinking "Well, I need
that morning cup of coffee",
00:44:42.19\00:44:43.88
think about what you're saying,
if you need it, you're addicted
00:44:43.91\00:44:46.89
to it. Now, I don't want to be
00:44:46.92\00:44:49.88
so strong here, and I
don't want you to think that I'm
00:44:49.98\00:44:52.69
unreasonable, or irrational,
I just want us to be thinking
00:44:52.72\00:44:55.38
about how we can be
living to the glory of God,
00:44:55.41\00:45:00.91
and that's the point. I
used to be totally addicted
00:45:00.94\00:45:03.91
to caffeine, I used to
drink so much caffeine that I've
00:45:03.94\00:45:06.85
probably done irreparable damage
to my gastrointestinal system,
00:45:06.88\00:45:11.55
but beloved, when I
stopped drinking caffeine I got
00:45:11.58\00:45:13.84
headaches, I got the shakes,
I got the shivers, I was cold,
00:45:13.87\00:45:17.10
it lasted for
almost a week. Why?
00:45:17.13\00:45:19.00
Because it's a drug.
00:45:19.03\00:45:21.37
God has given you
water, drink water.
00:45:22.17\00:45:25.59
Does God have anything to
say about the things we eat?
00:45:25.62\00:45:28.30
It's not just smoking, it's
not just alcohol, the answer
00:45:28.33\00:45:30.94
is "yes". God did give us things
00:45:30.97\00:45:32.99
to eat, and there are
many things that He wants us
00:45:33.02\00:45:35.49
to ea: fresh fruits, and
vegetables, and those things
00:45:35.52\00:45:38.46
that He's created to be
eaten, but there are some things
00:45:38.49\00:45:41.40
that many people eat
today that are not created
00:45:41.43\00:45:44.69
to be eaten.
There are certain things
00:45:44.72\00:45:46.96
that people are eating in this
fast food, convenience driven
00:45:46.99\00:45:49.38
society, and obesity is
off the charts, and lifestyle
00:45:49.41\00:45:52.10
related diseases are off
the charts, it's absolutely
00:45:52.13\00:45:54.75
incredible that the majority
of diseases that people die of
00:45:54.78\00:45:57.16
today are diseases that they
are inflicting on themselves.
00:45:57.19\00:45:59.38
Before I became a Christian
I was studying medicine at
00:45:59.41\00:46:01.53
the University of Wyoming,
and my senior professor told me:
00:46:01.56\00:46:04.38
"David, listen to me, if people
stopped drinking", that is
00:46:04.41\00:46:07.53
alcohol, "if people stopped
smoking cigarettes, and if"
00:46:07.56\00:46:10.61
"people started eating right
and getting a little exercise, "
00:46:10.64\00:46:13.12
"and drinking enough water",
he said this to me, he wasn't
00:46:13.15\00:46:15.68
even a Christian person at
all, he said "90% of doctors"
00:46:15.71\00:46:18.18
"would be out of business
in the first 10 years. "
00:46:18.21\00:46:20.81
Think about that.
What that tells me is that
00:46:20.84\00:46:23.49
it's our lifestyle related
practices that are contributing
00:46:23.52\00:46:26.32
to our ill health, that are
contributing to the national
00:46:26.35\00:46:28.59
health care epidemic, problems
that we're in in this culture,
00:46:28.62\00:46:33.56
and in other cultures.
What we put into our minds
00:46:33.59\00:46:37.06
is destroying our body,
God instructed Noah to bring
00:46:37.09\00:46:40.48
both, clean and unclean animals
onto the Ark, you can read
00:46:40.51\00:46:43.34
all about in Genesis 7. He
said "bring 7 of the clean, "
00:46:43.37\00:46:46.12
"but only 2 of the unclean.
" Well, why 7 of the clean?
00:46:46.15\00:46:49.43
Because after the
flood meat could be eaten,
00:46:49.46\00:46:53.48
and not before. When
God created Adam and Eve,
00:46:57.28\00:46:59.21
He put them in the garden,
and they were fruitarians,
00:46:59.24\00:47:01.53
you might have never heard
that term before, "fruitarians"?
00:47:01.56\00:47:04.44
Yeah, that's
right, they ate fruit.
00:47:04.47\00:47:06.97
But then, after the
flood they began to eat meat.
00:47:07.00\00:47:11.06
If you look at this slide
here, you actually see this is
00:47:11.09\00:47:14.47
a chart, this doesn't
represent their heights,
00:47:14.50\00:47:16.49
this represents their relative
ages, so you have Noah holding
00:47:16.52\00:47:19.86
the boat, and people before
him, think of it, Adam lived 930
00:47:19.89\00:47:23.20
years, and Methuselah
lived 969, and Jared lived 962,
00:47:23.23\00:47:27.54
and then you go after the
flood when people started eating
00:47:27.57\00:47:30.12
meat, of course, there
were a variety of factors,
00:47:30.15\00:47:32.83
but this one would have been
one of the most significant,
00:47:32.86\00:47:35.03
the ages of the
Patriarchs: Sham, Ham, Japheth,
00:47:35.06\00:47:37.23
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and
today we're happy if we make it
00:47:37.26\00:47:39.53
to 70, 80 if you're
lucky. Beloved, God has given us
00:47:39.56\00:47:44.59
permission to eat meat,
there's no question about that,
00:47:44.62\00:47:48.43
but God knows that the eating
of meat will eventually harm
00:47:48.46\00:47:52.24
the fine tuned
internal systems of the body,
00:47:52.27\00:47:56.46
especially if you an
inordinate amount of meat.
00:47:57.98\00:48:00.16
But even then, the meat
that we eat has to be clean.
00:48:00.19\00:48:03.89
I'm not going to go into a
lot of detail, you can look
00:48:03.92\00:48:07.59
this up in
Leviticus 11 for yourself.
00:48:07.62\00:48:10.21
In Leviticus 11 it says if
you're going to eat an animal
00:48:10.24\00:48:13.90
it has to have 2 things,
it has to have a cloven hoof,
00:48:13.93\00:48:17.55
and it has to chew the
cud. 2 things, it has to chew
00:48:17.58\00:48:20.66
the cud, like a cow chews
the cud, and it has to have
00:48:20.69\00:48:23.70
a split hoof, and he gives a
list of all the things that you
00:48:23.73\00:48:28.50
could eat, it would say
things like cow, of course:
00:48:28.53\00:48:31.46
split hoof, and
chews the cud, no problem.
00:48:31.49\00:48:35.30
A deer, no problem, an
elk, no problem, but what about
00:48:35.33\00:48:38.78
a horse, could you eat a horse?
No, because even if they chew
00:48:38.81\00:48:41.95
the cud, they
don't split the hoof.
00:48:41.98\00:48:44.02
What about a pig?
Could you eat a pig?
00:48:44.05\00:48:46.02
The answer is no, because
even though they split the hoof,
00:48:46.05\00:48:48.37
they don't chew the
cud. So God says if you want
00:48:48.40\00:48:51.30
to eat, that's up to
you, that's your business.
00:48:51.33\00:48:53.07
I happen to be a vegetarian,
I'm not saying that you have
00:48:53.10\00:48:55.38
to become a vegetarian, I'm not
suggesting that at all, but what
00:48:55.41\00:48:57.99
I am saying is this:
the vegetarian lifestyle
00:48:58.02\00:49:00.59
is consistently,
medically demonstrated to be
00:49:00.62\00:49:03.11
the healthiest lifestyle for
people who eat a well balanced
00:49:03.14\00:49:06.87
diet of fruits, and vegetables,
and nuts, and grains, etc.
00:49:06.90\00:49:10.59
I happen to be a vegetarian
because there's just too
00:49:10.62\00:49:13.05
much junk going into the meat
nowadays, too many hormones,
00:49:13.08\00:49:16.40
too much nastiness, unclean
slaughter houses, and every
00:49:16.43\00:49:19.88
other kind of thing, I'm
just not going to risk it.
00:49:19.91\00:49:22.40
I'm personally not going to
risk it, but if you want to risk
00:49:22.43\00:49:24.61
it, hey, that's up to you,
but the point here is this:
00:49:24.64\00:49:27.03
while eating meat is not a
sin, be sure that you're eating
00:49:27.06\00:49:29.62
clean meats.
00:49:29.65\00:49:31.73
Someone says: "Oh, well
that's only for the Jews. "
00:49:32.86\00:49:34.84
That's not only for
the Jews. Was Noah a Jew?
00:49:34.87\00:49:37.89
Noah wasn't a Jew, Noah
came before the first Jew,
00:49:37.92\00:49:40.39
Abraham, by several hundred
years, perhaps even as much
00:49:40.42\00:49:42.97
as 1000 years.
So think about that,
00:49:43.00\00:49:45.70
if God instructed Noah, there's
a distinction between clean
00:49:45.73\00:49:48.68
and unclean, it must mean
that those distinctions existed
00:49:48.71\00:49:52.02
before the time of the Jews.
00:49:52.05\00:49:54.61
Pork is an unclean meat,
it has the highest fat content
00:49:57.04\00:49:59.87
of all meats, and it is
not to be eaten if you're going
00:49:59.90\00:50:02.67
to follow what
the Bible has to say.
00:50:02.70\00:50:05.46
You can talk about trichina,
we're not going to go into
00:50:05.49\00:50:07.80
that, let's go to
sea food. Very simple.
00:50:07.83\00:50:10.88
If you want to eat something
that comes out of the water
00:50:10.91\00:50:13.29
it just have to have 2
things, just like the animal has
00:50:13.32\00:50:15.62
to have a cloven foot, and chew
the cud, if something's going
00:50:15.65\00:50:19.80
to come out of the water,
it has to have fins and scales.
00:50:19.83\00:50:24.77
So, lobster: no
fins, no scales, it's out.
00:50:24.80\00:50:28.70
Shrimp: it's out.
Oysters: it's out.
00:50:28.73\00:50:31.03
Salmon, would that be in
our out? That would be in
00:50:31.06\00:50:33.84
because it has fins and scales.
By the way, you wouldn't want
00:50:33.87\00:50:36.66
to eat those things anyway
when you really discovered what
00:50:36.69\00:50:39.42
they were all about.
Dr. Bruce Halsted did some
00:50:39.45\00:50:42.00
research for the
Navy, and he basically said
00:50:42.03\00:50:44.52
"Listen sailors, when you
get shot down and you're on"
00:50:44.55\00:50:47.36
"an island, or you're trying
to make do with eating some"
00:50:47.39\00:50:50.16
"fish out of the sea", he
produced this huge manual,
00:50:50.19\00:50:52.73
and finally they said "Hey
listen, we can't expect our"
00:50:52.76\00:50:55.20
"sailors to read this
whole manual, how can they know"
00:50:55.23\00:50:57.60
"in a more simplistic way? "
And he said "Simple, if it has"
00:50:57.63\00:51:00.19
"fins and scales, it's
safe to eat, if it doesn't, "
00:51:00.22\00:51:02.89
"don't eat it. " Very
simple, he confirmed the Bible's
00:51:02.92\00:51:05.75
findings. "Shellfish are dirty"
00:51:05.78\00:51:08.07
"and dangerous",
said Prevention Magazine.
00:51:08.10\00:51:12.12
These things are filter feeders,
the reason they call them
00:51:12.16\00:51:14.51
filter feeders is they
filter all the impurities that
00:51:14.54\00:51:17.66
the other animals in the sea
are getting rid of, God created
00:51:17.69\00:51:20.83
certain things to be eaten,
and other things not to be
00:51:20.86\00:51:23.87
eaten. If God
has created something
00:51:23.90\00:51:26.47
to be eaten, you can eat
it. God has given permission
00:51:26.50\00:51:28.81
to eat clean foods, but think
even of the children of Israel
00:51:28.84\00:51:31.26
in the wilderness,
God had given them manna.
00:51:31.29\00:51:33.94
The Bible says that manna
was like the coriander seed,
00:51:33.97\00:51:37.02
with a little honey,
it was a vegetarian thing.
00:51:37.05\00:51:39.81
But they said "Ahh, we
miss all the good stuff back"
00:51:39.84\00:51:43.29
"in Egypt, the leaks, and the
onions, and the meat", and God
00:51:43.32\00:51:47.09
said "Okay, listen,
you really want meat? "
00:51:47.12\00:51:49.51
and He sent them quail.
But notice what happens,
00:51:49.54\00:51:53.62
they began to eat that
quail, and many of them died
00:51:53.65\00:51:56.07
when the quail was
still in their mouth.
00:51:56.10\00:51:58.95
God had given them permission,
so there are things that you
00:51:58.98\00:52:02.71
can do, that may or may
not be in your best interest
00:52:02.74\00:52:05.41
as far as your
physical body goes.
00:52:05.44\00:52:08.04
I want to be clear about what
I'm saying here, and what I'm
00:52:08.07\00:52:10.50
not saying. If
you want to eat meat,
00:52:10.53\00:52:13.37
that's fine, if you want
to eat meat, that's up to you,
00:52:13.40\00:52:15.82
that's a choice you're
making, I believe that if you're
00:52:15.85\00:52:18.24
going to eat meat,
you also need to be eating
00:52:18.27\00:52:20.84
a well balanced diet,
any nutritionist would tell
00:52:20.87\00:52:23.36
you that; you need lots of
fiber, you need lots of fruits,
00:52:23.39\00:52:26.13
you need lots of vegetables
and grains, but as far as
00:52:26.16\00:52:29.20
the unclean meats go, whether
you're talking about pig,
00:52:29.23\00:52:31.95
or anything that does not
split the hoof or chew the cud,
00:52:31.98\00:52:34.67
no! Because God says
it's an abomination to Him,
00:52:34.70\00:52:38.61
you can read about
it in Leviticus 11.
00:52:38.64\00:52:41.00
Someone says
"What about the birds? "
00:52:41.03\00:52:43.79
In Leviticus 11 it basically
just gives a list of the birds
00:52:43.82\00:52:46.15
you can eat, and
it's pretty simple.
00:52:46.18\00:52:48.66
You don't eat things like
vultures, and hawks, and kites,
00:52:48.69\00:52:51.03
kestrel, and falcons, and
owls. The birds that are chicken
00:52:51.06\00:52:53.85
like birds, what are
sometimes referred to as
00:52:53.88\00:52:56.31
gallinaceous birds, those
birds you can eat, that would be
00:52:56.34\00:52:58.59
like the grouse, or the
turkey, or the chicken, etc.
00:52:58.62\00:53:03.38
Let's make a little haste
here, let's get right down
00:53:04.04\00:53:07.24
to the end.
00:53:07.27\00:53:08.32
Philippians 3:19, the apostle
Paul says, speaking of those
00:53:14.49\00:53:17.82
people who put their own
satisfaction, their own desires,
00:53:17.85\00:53:21.12
and their own taste buds
above God's will, he said:
00:53:21.15\00:53:24.03
[text on screen]
00:53:24.06\00:53:25.51
Some of this might come as a
little bit of a surprise to some
00:53:35.10\00:53:37.60
of you, you're thinking
"Wait a minute, are you"
00:53:37.63\00:53:40.20
"kidding me? Does the
Bible really say that there are"
00:53:40.23\00:53:42.78
"certain things that we
can't eat, and certain things"
00:53:42.81\00:53:45.32
"that we can eat? "
That's exactly what the Bible
00:53:45.35\00:53:48.00
say. It's not
because God doesn't
00:53:48.03\00:53:50.46
love you, in fact, God does
love you, as we've already seen,
00:53:50.49\00:53:53.21
God loves us tremendously.
He gave His Son to save us,
00:53:53.24\00:53:55.59
He gave His Son, who
died for us, and purchased us
00:53:55.62\00:53:58.11
on the cross of Calvary;
as Paul says, "you are not"
00:53:58.14\00:54:00.72
"your own, you are bought
with a price", so God wants us
00:54:00.75\00:54:03.24
to take care of the body
that He has entrusted to us,
00:54:03.27\00:54:05.70
healthy body results in a
healthy mind, a healthy mind
00:54:05.73\00:54:08.05
makes a healthy spiritual
experience more likely.
00:54:08.08\00:54:10.68
So beloved, as we wrap
this up, we've seen that God
00:54:10.71\00:54:13.23
is interested in our physical
health, as well as our spiritual
00:54:13.26\00:54:15.61
health, as well as our
social health, as well as our
00:54:15.64\00:54:18.59
intellectual health, and
all of these things are related
00:54:18.62\00:54:21.53
to one another in a
symbiotic kind of relationship.
00:54:21.56\00:54:26.19
Surely, God is a good parent
who's going to have concerns
00:54:27.69\00:54:30.39
about certain things that
you would eat, or wouldn't eat.
00:54:30.42\00:54:33.26
I mean, I wouldn't let my son
eat 4 pieces of chocolate cake.
00:54:33.29\00:54:36.09
Why? Because I hate
him? No, because I love him.
00:54:36.12\00:54:39.66
One day when I was a boy
I'd gotten under the kitchen
00:54:39.69\00:54:41.80
sink, and I was about
ready to some Ajax, and my mom
00:54:41.83\00:54:43.91
came up and slapped
the Ajax out of my hand.
00:54:43.94\00:54:45.83
Why did she slap
it out of my hand?
00:54:45.86\00:54:47.95
Because she hated me
or because she loved me?
00:54:47.98\00:54:50.58
Because she loved me!
When God tells us to avoid
00:54:50.61\00:54:53.13
certain things, when God tells
us not to eat certain things,
00:54:53.16\00:54:55.27
it's not because He hates
us, it's because He loves us.
00:54:55.30\00:54:58.83
I want to quickly address this
last objection, someone says:
00:54:58.86\00:55:01.49
"Well that's
just for the Jews. "
00:55:01.52\00:55:04.29
We've already looked at
that, when it comes to the clean
00:55:04.32\00:55:06.71
and unclean, because Noah
had the distinction between
00:55:06.74\00:55:09.26
the clean and the
unclean, but let me ask you this
00:55:09.29\00:55:11.64
question: did Jesus die
on the cross to cleanse pigs,
00:55:11.67\00:55:13.99
or to cleanse men?
00:55:14.02\00:55:15.68
Jesus didn't die on the
cross to cleanse a pig, to make
00:55:15.71\00:55:19.45
a pig clean, Jesus died on
the cross to make men clean.
00:55:19.48\00:55:24.40
Absolutely! So
we close with this
00:55:24.70\00:55:27.65
quotation that we
opened with: [text on screen]
00:55:27.68\00:55:31.94
National Geographic ran an
article, fascinating article,
00:55:35.41\00:55:39.16
in which they looked at the
3 healthiest population groups
00:55:39.19\00:55:42.89
in the world, in terms
of longevity: the Okinawans,
00:55:42.92\00:55:45.81
which is an
isolated geographical group;
00:55:45.84\00:55:48.35
the Sardinians, which is an
isolated geographical group;
00:55:48.38\00:55:50.86
and this strange group of
people called the Seventh Day
00:55:50.89\00:55:53.33
Adventists. These
are the 3 healthiest
00:55:53.36\00:55:56.25
groups of people in the world.
00:55:56.28\00:55:58.84
Beloved, I want you
to think about that.
00:55:58.87\00:56:00.62
That group there, the Seventh
Day Adventists, there have
00:56:00.65\00:56:03.24
been government sanctioned
studies that have, in fact,
00:56:03.27\00:56:05.97
there's one going on right
now, that has looked into why
00:56:06.00\00:56:09.00
these people are healthier
than the surrounding population,
00:56:09.03\00:56:12.00
you want to know what the
answer is, it's so simple:
00:56:12.03\00:56:14.58
because they follow the Bible's
guidelines for optimum physical,
00:56:14.61\00:56:18.45
mental, moral
and spiritual health.
00:56:18.48\00:56:21.54
The average Seventh Day
Adventist lives 7-10 years
00:56:21.57\00:56:24.72
longer than another
person in the population.
00:56:24.75\00:56:28.81
Why? Because
God loves them more?
00:56:28.93\00:56:31.21
Not at all, because
they're living by the Bible's
00:56:31.24\00:56:33.78
prescription for
optimum physical health.
00:56:33.81\00:56:36.10
Now, I'm not saying to you right
now: "Oh, you have to become"
00:56:36.13\00:56:38.63
"a Seventh Day Adventist so
you can live longer", what I'm
00:56:38.66\00:56:41.17
saying is: follow the
Bible whatever church you go to,
00:56:41.20\00:56:43.75
whatever denomination
you're in, follow the Bible,
00:56:43.78\00:56:46.75
and the Bible only, God
will lead you, God will guide
00:56:46.78\00:56:49.60
you, He wants you to be
physically healthy, He wants
00:56:49.63\00:56:51.97
you to be spiritually healthy,
He wants you to be emotionally
00:56:52.00\00:56:54.28
healthy, He wants you
to be mentally healthy.
00:56:54.31\00:56:58.31
Someone says "David, are
you a Seventh Day Adventist? "
00:56:58.34\00:57:01.20
Yes, I am a
Seventh Day Adventist. Why?
00:57:01.23\00:57:04.42
Because they follow the
Bible most closely, and because
00:57:04.45\00:57:06.74
everything they teach comes form
a plain "Thus sayeth the Lord",
00:57:06.77\00:57:09.30
that's why I'm a
Seventh Day Adventist.
00:57:09.33\00:57:11.47
Do I also follow the
Bible prescription for health?
00:57:11.50\00:57:15.23
Yes I do, and I
would invite every one
00:57:15.26\00:57:18.01
of you to seriously consider
doing the very same thing.
00:57:18.04\00:57:20.40
How many of you say "If it's
in the Bible, I want to believe"
00:57:20.43\00:57:22.99
"it, I want to live
by what's in the Bible. "
00:57:23.02\00:57:25.45
Let us pray. Father
in heaven, we do want
00:57:25.48\00:57:27.77
to live by what's in
this Word, we do want to live
00:57:27.80\00:57:29.95
by what's between these pages.
Even if sometimes it cuts across
00:57:29.98\00:57:32.65
us, even if sometimes it's new
to us, Father, we want to live
00:57:32.68\00:57:35.31
by these great truths,
whether it has to do with our
00:57:35.34\00:57:38.54
physical health, or our
spiritual health, whatever it
00:57:38.57\00:57:41.50
might be Father, if it's
in Your Word, we believe it.
00:57:41.53\00:57:44.43
We want to live by
it, we want to love it.
00:57:44.46\00:57:46.43
Help us, oh God, in areas where
we're weak, make us strong,
00:57:46.46\00:57:49.53
where we're broken, heal us.
For we ask it in Jesus' name,
00:57:49.56\00:57:53.35
let everyone say amen.
00:57:53.38\00:57:55.76