True Knowledge of Self

Counter Pillar: Safely Having Fun -part 2

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Dwayne Lemon, Lance Wilbur

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Series Code: TKS

Program Code: TKS000038A


00:28 Hello, I'm Dwayne.
00:30 And I'm Lance and we like to welcome you
00:31 to another episode of TKS, a True Knowledge of Self
00:35 where we get to know ourselves from a biblical perspective.
00:38 Now we're gonna continue dealing with this
00:40 very important topic of safely having fun
00:43 or biblical recreation.
00:45 It was a principle that was outlined
00:47 as one of the cornerstones of hip-hop culture
00:49 but we're gonna look at some practical guidelines
00:51 that help us to really see
00:53 what God has established principle wise for us to,
00:58 you know, go by when we consider
01:01 how we are to conduct ourselves,
01:02 how we are to have fun,
01:03 how we are to engage in enjoyment and recreation.
01:06 Now we only were able to go through an initial principle
01:09 and we're just continue going through,
01:10 so Dwayne, let's go right into it.
01:13 I mean, what's another principle?
01:15 We talked about the first principle being,
01:17 make sure that whatever you're going to engage
01:19 in this form of recreation
01:21 does not violate your conscience.
01:22 Yes.
01:23 And we saw that your conscience is primarily informed
01:25 by the Word of God.
01:26 That's right.
01:28 But even if you have no knowledge
01:29 of the Word of God, the Holy Spirit,
01:30 God can still inform your conscience
01:32 to say this is wrong or this is not wrong.
01:34 That's right. We shared some stories.
01:36 But I want to go on
01:37 'cause we got a lot of principles
01:39 we need to cover.
01:40 But they are very practical
01:41 and they can be very fruitful if we apply them.
01:43 So what's another principle? Yeah, and I like practical.
01:45 So we're gonna go ahead
01:47 and take a look at another text of scripture
01:49 where we're gonna look at 1 Corinthians 8.
01:51 All right.
01:52 And I like this because we're looking at
01:54 how to take gospel principles and make it practical.
01:57 I believe that this is an area
01:59 where the church can do a lot better,
02:01 where we can really start saying young people
02:03 as well as older individuals,
02:05 it's not enough that we just simply tell you
02:07 what to do and what not to do
02:09 but point you to the power source
02:10 and give you practical examples from scripture on
02:13 how to get these things done.
02:15 So in 1 Corinthians 8,
02:16 we see another principle that can guide us
02:18 when we're seeking to have enjoyment.
02:20 I have to tell you that I'm thankful
02:22 that we serve a God, we serve a creator
02:24 that is interested in our enjoyment.
02:25 Yes.
02:27 I think, just that alone is a beautiful thing
02:29 because sometimes Christianity can be presented as something
02:33 where God just doesn't want people
02:34 to enjoy themselves and life has to be fairly bitter.
02:37 But that is not the God of heaven and earth.
02:39 And the Word of God tells us a principle in 1 Corinthians 8.
02:43 What happened, just as a background
02:44 'cause we're not gonna go through
02:46 all the verses is there were new believing gentiles
02:49 that were coming into Christianity.
02:52 And there were also Jewish brothers and sisters
02:55 who already converted from Judaism to Christianity.
02:57 And gentiles is a non-Jew. Yeah.
02:59 And a gentile is simply a non-Jew.
03:00 Yeah.
03:01 And when the Jewish brethren were coming in to Christianity,
03:06 they started to impose a lot of things
03:08 upon the new believing gentiles.
03:11 They would take some of the principles
03:12 of the laws of Moses
03:14 and still say, "You have to be circumcised,
03:15 you have to do this, you have to do that."
03:17 And the Bible says a lot on it.
03:18 But in 1 Corinthians 8,
03:20 it talks specifically about a practice
03:22 that the gentiles used to do before they were converted
03:25 and then as practice
03:26 they were doing after conversion
03:28 and Paul was giving counsel on how his Jewish brothers
03:31 who had a higher knowledge should know
03:33 how to respond to them.
03:34 It was on the point of eating food
03:35 that was offered to idols.
03:37 Gentiles, when they were worshipping devils
03:40 basically, they would go ahead and offer food to idols
03:43 and this was a way of appeasing and doing other things,
03:45 but when they came over into Christianity,
03:48 many of them as a result of always connecting these meats
03:52 being offered to idols and whatnot,
03:53 they would start to pull away from that all together
03:56 and just started eating herbs.
03:57 It was because their consciences
03:59 was very, very, weak at that time,
04:01 very, very infantile, very, very, you know, developmental.
04:05 So they were just
04:06 in the developmental stage of Christianity.
04:10 However, the Apostle Paul was speaking to his brothers
04:12 and saying, "Listen, guys, we know that
04:14 an idol is just a piece of wood, metal,
04:16 or whatever else, and if we saw food
04:19 that God's Word permits us to eat,
04:20 even though it might have been offered to an idol,
04:22 we know an idol is nothing so we can eat it."
04:24 But he make a point now
04:26 that we're gonna pick up in 1 Corinthians 8
04:28 and we're gonna look at verse 7
04:29 and see what his council goes on
04:31 to say as Paul is dealing with interaction with brothers.
04:35 All recreation is interaction with family, right?
04:38 You know, we call each other brothers and family, bro
04:41 and, you know, whatever.
04:42 We're using this family type language.
04:44 So Paul is giving us a counsel here
04:46 that we can apply in recreation.
04:49 It says in 1 Corinthians 8:7.
04:51 "Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge."
04:55 In other words, this knowledge that,
04:56 you know, these idols are nothing
04:58 and we can eat the food that's been,
04:59 'cause the idol's nothing anyhow,
05:01 if we need to eat, we can eat.
05:02 He says, "Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge:
05:05 For some with conscience of the idol
05:08 unto this hour eat it as a thing offered
05:11 unto an idol.
05:13 And their conscience being weak is defiled.
05:15 But meat commendeth us not to God, for neither,
05:19 if we eat, are we the better,
05:21 neither, if we eat not, are we the worse."
05:23 And then he says the key point,
05:25 "But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours."
05:31 In other words he's saying, you have a right to do it,
05:34 but just because you have a right to do something
05:37 does not mean that you should exercise
05:38 that right under every circumstance.
05:40 Right.
05:41 So He says, "But take heed..."
05:42 Be careful, "Lest by any means this liberty of yours
05:46 become a stumbling block to them that are weak.
05:52 For if any man see thee which hast knowledge
05:55 sit at meat in the idol's temple,
05:57 shall not the conscience of him
05:59 which is weak be emboldened to eat those things
06:02 which are offered to idols.
06:03 And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish,
06:06 for whom Christ died?
06:08 But when ye sin so against the brethren,
06:11 and wound their weak conscience,
06:13 ye sin against Christ.
06:15 Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend,
06:17 I will eat no flesh while the world standeth,
06:20 lest I make my brother to offend."
06:23 So here's a principle
06:25 that we can carry over into our recreations.
06:27 If I'm looking to participate in a recreational activity,
06:31 I must ask myself before getting engaged in it,
06:33 how will this affect my brothers?
06:35 Yeah.
06:36 What example am I leading for those
06:38 who are looking at me and those who are following me?
06:40 Do you understand it, if we thought more like this
06:43 as it relates to what activities we participate in,
06:46 there would be a serious process of elimination.
06:48 There would be a lot of things that would start going away
06:50 because we would start having a higher level of thinking
06:53 that is not just about me,
06:55 it's not just about what I want,
06:56 I have to consider how will this affect those
06:59 that I am called to be an example to.
07:02 So this is another principle that we get now from scripture
07:04 of how we can safely have fun, or enjoyment,
07:09 or better termed true biblical recreation.
07:12 So you're not only thinking about
07:14 how is this gonna affect me,
07:15 but how is this gonna affect anybody
07:16 who might happen to witness me doing this.
07:18 That's correct.
07:19 Especially, if I'm considering those
07:21 who I know, I mean, this verse is very deep
07:24 because it's a call to humility.
07:26 If I know you are weak
07:29 and I know I have a right to do this thing
07:32 that I want to do but because you are with me,
07:35 I have to understand, I can't look at you and say,
07:37 this week brother, "Look, man, you just have to deal with it,
07:40 I'm gonna to do what I want do."
07:41 That is actually countering what God's counsel says.
07:44 If that brother or sister is with you
07:46 even though they may be weak on a certain point,
07:49 we literally have to say, "You know, what?
07:51 We're not gonna do this recreation."
07:52 Even though it's okay to do,
07:53 but because it's gonna offend this individual here,
07:56 I'm gonna surrender my right.
07:58 Yeah.
08:00 Because I don't...
08:01 It's kind of like praying the prayer
08:02 and lead me not into temptation
08:04 but you're gonna lead others into temptation.
08:05 Right.
08:07 You don't want to pray, you pray to God,
08:08 "Lord, lead me not into temptation."
08:09 So don't be an instrument to lead others into temptation.
08:12 So whatever recreational activity
08:14 you're getting ready to do,
08:15 consider the group that you're with
08:17 and if you know you got some brethren in that group
08:19 that may be a little weak or not as developed as you are,
08:22 you have to consider that
08:23 when you have whatever recreational activity
08:25 you're gonna do.
08:26 So that way everyone can leave without their consciences,
08:31 without avoiding their consciences,
08:32 and violating, and making themselves feel like
08:35 they have sinned against God or even their fellowman.
08:37 All right.
08:38 So this is a very important principle
08:39 that we can also take from scripture.
08:41 Absolutely. Yeah.
08:42 And you know, we can move on to another principle
08:45 because there are several that we have to cover.
08:47 And one very important principle is found
08:49 in 1 Corinthians 6. Oh, yes.
08:52 So thus far we understand that
08:54 we are not to violate our conscience by anything
08:57 that we engage in for fun or recreation
09:00 and we are not only to consider the impact on us,
09:04 but the impact on anybody who is around us
09:07 or might witness what we're doing.
09:08 That's right.
09:09 So the next one here in 1 Corinthians 6,
09:11 if we could just read it,
09:12 1 Corinthians 6:19 and 20, it says, "What?
09:19 Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
09:22 which is in you, which ye have of God,
09:25 and ye are not your own?
09:26 For ye were bought with a price.
09:29 Therefore..."
09:30 Or in conclusion, "Glorify God in your body,
09:34 and in your spirit, which are God's."
09:37 Now this goes back to the same kind of thing,
09:38 we're in the Book of 1 Corinthians still
09:40 and there was a constant issue with those
09:44 that were coming in to accept the gospel,
09:46 coming into the church if you will
09:48 who were from pagan, you know, gentile backgrounds.
09:53 They didn't have a Jewish culture
09:55 or a Jewish orientation
09:56 so there are a lot of things that they did
09:58 were part of their culture
09:59 that were completely against scripture
10:02 and against the gospel.
10:03 So they were not only bringing these practices
10:06 like eating food that was offered to idols,
10:10 they were also engaged in other idolatry practices.
10:13 For example, there was an entire culture in these,
10:17 you know, Greco-Roman, Hellenistic cultures
10:20 that also engaged in what they call temple prostitution.
10:24 So the whole idea of prostitution, you know,
10:28 we think of it today in a certain sense
10:30 but prostitution actually started in ancient times
10:32 and it was always associated with religious,
10:35 you know, observance.
10:37 In other words, they created a culture,
10:40 if you will, cults that were surrounding,
10:44 you know, this worship of a particular deity
10:46 and the highest form of human intimacy
10:49 was considered the highest form of worship
10:52 toward whatever God.
10:54 So we all know what the highest form of intimacy
10:57 between two human beings, you know, sexual intercourse.
11:00 So they would have an entire,
11:04 what they would call temple prostitutes,
11:06 both male and female
11:07 that would stand in the place of the particular deity or God,
11:11 engage in sexual intercourse with worshippers
11:15 as a form of the highest form of religious devotion.
11:19 So this happen on the regular, I mean, this happened in,
11:22 if you wanted to go and you had, you know,
11:24 once or twice a year you bring your flock of sheep
11:28 to get sheared, and trading,
11:29 and, you know, making your money,
11:31 you would go and engage with a temple prostitute.
11:35 So the God could bless your business transaction.
11:38 I mean, it was a common practice,
11:40 it was just like a everyday thing
11:42 in that culture.
11:44 So when they became Christians
11:45 and they came into the churches,
11:47 some of them were still practicing
11:49 these cultural things
11:51 and trying to blend these two practices.
11:54 Trying to blend Christianity with this,
11:57 you know, pagan culture that they had come from.
12:00 And the Bible and Paul is dealing
12:02 with this over and over again in these large cities
12:04 where all of these converts are coming in
12:06 from different cultural backgrounds,
12:08 and he's saying that you have to understand
12:11 that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.
12:15 It's the temple of God.
12:17 God is literally going to come and dwell in you,
12:20 just as he came and dwelt in, you know,
12:22 the Jewish temple of the sanctuary
12:24 and the tabernacle of old.
12:26 Now because Christ has died and been raised to the dead
12:29 and is now ministering, He sent His Holy Spirit
12:32 and God is literally desiring
12:33 to dwell inside of each and every individual Christian
12:37 who accepts His promises.
12:39 When He dwells inside,
12:40 He's not dwelling inside of a corrupt temple.
12:43 He doesn't want to dwell inside of a dirty temple,
12:45 that was why there was so much of a meticulous, you know,
12:49 guidelines and governance for the Jewish temple.
12:51 There was no, you know, filth in the temple.
12:55 You know, the only filth that came into the temple
12:57 was via the blood which symbolized a sin.
13:00 We don't want to get to deep into it,
13:01 but that blood was a reminder of sin,
13:05 that blood had to be shed,
13:06 that was the only filth in the temple
13:08 and that got cleansed,
13:09 you know, once a year on the Day of Atonement
13:10 but nevertheless,
13:12 He's likening the human body
13:13 and the accumulation of human individuals,
13:16 the church to the temple of God where God dwells.
13:20 So you cannot just glorify God in your spirit,
13:23 you can't just say, "I accept Christ,
13:26 I accept all of these biblical points and principles,
13:28 I accept the gospel,
13:29 but I'm still gonna to do whatever I want with my body."
13:32 We talked about something in a previous episode,
13:35 one particular pagan practice,
13:37 and now I'm gonna talk about another
13:38 it's called dualism, right?
13:40 So we know that Greco-Roman culture,
13:42 again Hellenistic culture, you know, you think of Plato,
13:45 Socrates, Aristotle, you know, Alexander the Great
13:47 and then what became the Greco-Roman culture.
13:50 You know, they looked at this idea of dualism
13:53 where there was a complete separation
13:55 between the physical,
13:56 the animate and the metaphysical,
13:58 the inanimate, the things
13:59 that you can perceive with your senses.
14:01 And they believed, they taught that everything
14:04 that was animate, physical was evil.
14:09 Whether that be this table, whether that be this book,
14:12 whether that be your human body, it was evil.
14:15 Everything inanimate that couldn't be perceived
14:17 by the senses was considered spiritual, metaphysical.
14:21 So the human spirit, the human psyche,
14:24 you know, the human ego was considered spiritual,
14:26 and therefore, everything spiritual was good and holy.
14:30 So they believed that
14:31 the spirit was just one day desiring
14:34 to break free from the shell, you know, the physical body
14:38 and it would go off into a greater higher existence.
14:40 So it really did not matter what you did with your body.
14:44 So they could do anything they wanted to their body.
14:46 So the physical things
14:48 because they were inherently evil,
14:49 it didn't really matter how you treated them.
14:51 Paul and the Holy Ghost are coming
14:53 and saying here in the Word
14:55 that it's not just acceptable to glorify God intellectually,
15:01 spiritually, you have to glorify God also
15:03 in your physical frame, in your body,
15:05 the choices that you make,
15:06 the things that you do with your body.
15:08 And so now when we're talking about having fun
15:11 and recreation, we can't just say,
15:13 "Oh, you can do whatever you want, it doesn't matter.
15:15 We can do this, we do that."
15:17 What you do to your physical body,
15:18 what you do to other people's physical body does matter.
15:22 Our body is the temple of God.
15:24 It's something that God desires us
15:26 to glorify through His power and through His spirit,
15:29 not just in one sense but in every sense.
15:31 So we have to take that into consideration.
15:33 I think that's a vitally important principle
15:36 that we must understand.
15:38 So then what some applications of ways
15:40 to preserve your body
15:43 when you think about having fun?
15:44 Because there's lots of things people do right now
15:46 in the name of fun and again, they may say safely
15:50 but it may not be safe.
15:51 In other words, there's a need for clarification.
15:53 So what would be some applications
15:54 of how someone might abuse their body in having fun
15:58 and obviously the contrast of that
16:00 which is to not do those things?
16:02 I mean, the list is long, right?
16:03 So we don't want to go too far.
16:05 Right. Just a few.
16:07 In context of hip-hop culture, that's normally experienced.
16:09 Yeah.
16:10 I mean, part of hip-hop culture is, you know, obviously,
16:14 you know, you have two cans.
16:15 We've been talking about this.
16:18 We don't want to paint the picture like hip-hop is,
16:20 even though they call themselves universal
16:22 and international, they're not unified.
16:25 They talk about it, they're not really unified.
16:27 You know, there's some in there that,
16:28 you know, have a plant-based diet,
16:30 and there's some that don't,
16:32 there's some in there that don't drink or smoke.
16:34 In fact, when we talk about those contradictions
16:36 there are artists, many artists that make hit records
16:41 about smoking and drinking.
16:44 Yup. And they don't smoke or drink.
16:47 I mean, people would be shocked to understand that
16:49 these same people that are promoting
16:51 smoking and drinking,
16:53 and the same people that are listening to it
16:54 and going out and smoking and drinking,
16:56 thinking they're in solidarity with the artists that they,
16:59 you know, idolize that artist doesn't smoke or drink.
17:01 Yup.
17:03 Because they understand
17:04 that if they want to have some longevity,
17:05 they want to be healthy,
17:07 then they're not gonna smoke or drink.
17:08 So that's a perfect example.
17:10 There is a heavy undertone in all pop culture.
17:12 You know, in all genres of music and of drugs,
17:16 you know, and alcohol.
17:17 You know, the old, you know, cliche, sex, drugs,
17:20 and rock and roll, it's still the same in hip-hop,
17:23 there's no different, right?
17:24 So that is a direct violation of your physical principles.
17:28 And again, we don't have time to go into all the science
17:30 and everything like that, but I don't think in 2000
17:33 and, you know, in the modern era,
17:36 I don't think that it's, you know,
17:39 we have to go through a much of a stretch
17:40 and many mental gymnastics to understand
17:44 that smoking cigarettes is bad for your health,
17:47 or smoking weed is bad for your health.
17:48 And now, I mean, nowadays we're down into
17:50 a whole another level
17:52 because people aren't just smoking, you know,
17:53 weed they got, you know, vaporizers, and edibles,
17:57 and medicinal marijuana, and you can go to, you know,
18:00 now they've got vending machines,
18:02 you know, in certain states where you get marijuana.
18:04 So it doesn't matter.
18:05 The harmful chemicals
18:07 and the substances in the thing,
18:08 no matter what form you
18:10 put it into your body is harming your body.
18:11 So that's a violation.
18:12 So the idea, you know, I used to not think
18:14 I could have fun, unless I smoked,
18:17 you know, and drank.
18:18 The night wasn't fun.
18:19 I would start the night out by,
18:21 you know, before there was even a party,
18:23 you would just begin your night with a certain ritual
18:26 to intoxicate yourself, to get to a certain level
18:29 and then continue to do that all throughout the night.
18:31 And that was the, you know, that was the fun.
18:34 Without that, oh, everything is boring.
18:36 You don't see the world the same or can't even,
18:38 you know, those harmful poisons,
18:42 toxins, chemical substances, drugs, narcotics,
18:46 you know, barbecues, the pills, that people are taking now,
18:50 the thing that's being promoted with the, you know,
18:53 putting the codeine and the other,
18:56 you know, drugs inside soda.
18:58 Yeah.
18:59 You know, the syrup or whatever they call it,
19:01 lean, all that stuff.
19:03 They are literally, you know, destroying their brains,
19:08 destroying their bodies, on a level
19:10 that they are not really going to be able to measure.
19:11 Right.
19:13 You know, they are not gonna be able to understand
19:14 what's happening until they are 10-20 years
19:15 down the line in some cases.
19:17 So those things are being promoted,
19:19 you know, those things are being highlighted,
19:21 those things are detrimental.
19:23 That is a violation of the principle
19:25 of the glorifying God in your body.
19:26 There is a whole another side
19:27 that we don't have time to talk about,
19:29 but, you know, there is an adverse effect
19:32 that stress has in the human body, right?
19:36 Stress hormones, you know,
19:38 anyways they are stress hormones
19:40 that's get released
19:41 when we have a stress response, right?
19:43 Well, stress response is designed to help us to escape,
19:45 you know, immediate danger, or immediate harm,
19:47 or help us to cope with deadlines,
19:50 and, you know, things happen in traumatic experiences
19:52 so there is such thing as healthy stress, right?
19:55 Because it comes, and then it goes away.
19:57 So the hormones come to help us cope,
20:00 and then they go away, that's normal,
20:02 God has build, you know, built that in us.
20:05 But then there is something called chronic stress
20:07 where that stress is unremitting
20:08 and when those hormones,
20:10 certain hormones are in your blood stream
20:11 and they don't go away,
20:13 it has a negative effect on your entire system.
20:16 Whether that be your reproductive system,
20:18 your immune system, every system
20:20 that's not needed for survival is shut down by these hormones.
20:24 So if it's chronically in your body,
20:26 you are chronically breaking down your body.
20:28 So there is lots of things that people do for fun
20:30 that creates stress, you know.
20:35 Anyways, things that people do for amusement.
20:36 Give an example, brother.
20:38 Hey, we are indicating, so go ahead.
20:40 Things that people do for amusement,
20:41 you know, I remember when I used to go to,
20:44 like a, you know, Disney World or Six Flags.
20:47 Yes, sir. You have your favorite ride.
20:50 When you get on that ride, you don't just go once.
20:53 I don't know, there might be some people
20:54 that do that but if I wait in line for something
20:57 and it surpassed my expectations,
21:01 you are going on that ride again.
21:02 You get right back on that line, yup.
21:03 You go ride on that again, you go again,
21:05 I remember one time, I went on a certain ride
21:06 may be like ten times in a row...
21:08 Yup.
21:09 'Cause it was close to closing and the line was no line,
21:10 I just kept running around, running around, running around.
21:14 That stress, you know, that idea,
21:16 that "Oh, I'm gonna die."
21:18 No, you are not.
21:19 You know, you're not gonna die, everything is okay.
21:20 You are going through a stress response.
21:22 And you go through that over, and over, and over again,
21:25 maybe for six hours out of your day, in a long day,
21:29 that's not good for your body.
21:30 So then are you basically saying
21:32 that going to amusement parks...
21:34 Yeah.
21:36 To, you know, get on these rides
21:38 and all these other things
21:39 that are creating this incredible stress
21:41 and releasing these hormones and keeping it there,
21:43 far beyond the time limits or frames
21:46 that it would be in the body and under the God's program
21:49 that this is something that is wrong.
21:51 This is not true biblical recreation.
21:54 It is a violation of physiological principles.
21:57 Yeah.
21:58 It doesn't promote health and longevity.
22:00 That's right, okay.
22:01 I mean, that's just the way it is.
22:03 So again, it's the innocence of desiring to have fun.
22:06 And again, these are all just things that,
22:08 you know, people do in various cultures.
22:11 And there is nothing wrong with having fun.
22:12 There is nothing wrong with doing something that brings,
22:14 you know, momentary exhilaration,
22:16 or happiness, or joy.
22:17 The question is what is it doing
22:19 and is it balanced.
22:20 We are going to get into another principle
22:22 about balancing temperance.
22:23 I want to build on a point in this.
22:25 You know, see, there may be some of our views
22:27 especially who can hear what you are saying
22:29 and say "Man, that sounds deep, that might even be extreme."
22:32 Right. They can say that.
22:33 But let's consider this, and I'm gonna consider this
22:35 from the text you just used in 1 Corinthians 6, right?
22:38 In 1 Corinthians 6:19, God says "What, no ye not,
22:42 that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost
22:44 which is in you, which ye have of God."
22:45 And this is how He closes it. Yes.
22:47 "And ye are not your own." Why?
22:51 Because you have been bought. Yup.
22:53 Now of course, this is speaking to the Christian,
22:55 this is speaking to the community
22:57 that has said, "I have accepted Christ,
22:59 I have accepted the atonement."
23:00 If you rejected Christ,
23:01 then this verse does not apply to you.
23:03 But if you and I say I accept Jesus Christ
23:05 as Lord and Savior,
23:07 I profess myself to be a Christian...
23:08 Yeah.
23:09 Then God is saying, then that means,
23:11 you have been bought.
23:12 You were bought with the precious blood of Christ
23:14 which means, you are not your own,
23:15 which means, you can't do
23:17 what you want to do with your body.
23:19 That's right. You have to go to the owner.
23:21 If I walk up in your store and I just take what I want,
23:24 there is a word for that in our society,
23:25 it's called stealing.
23:26 And the eighth commandment says "Thou shalt not steal."
23:28 And to break God's commandment is sin.
23:30 Yeah.
23:31 So therefore, they are ways that we can sin against God,
23:33 and sin against our bodies, when we do with
23:36 and what we want with our bodies
23:38 without consulting the owner.
23:40 And that is a hard pill to swallow for many people.
23:43 Very hard.
23:44 Because you know, as Christians especially we will say,
23:47 you know, we will say amen and rejoice,
23:49 when we talk about the world, you know,
23:51 the non-Christians and say
23:52 "Oh, Well, this is a contradiction."
23:54 Or we say "Oh, well, you know,
23:56 it's absurd for you to promote this practice,
23:59 but then violate it on the other side."
24:02 To say that we can be gods
24:04 and you don't have the right to say that.
24:06 God created you.
24:07 God, you know, is the only reason you exist.
24:09 You know, the Christ died for you,
24:11 and we get offended by that.
24:13 But then when, you know, as Christians,
24:16 we also don't understand that we are not at liberty.
24:18 We talk about that dependence verses independence.
24:21 And we say, "Yeah, you out there in the world,
24:23 you can't be, you know, independent from God.
24:26 You have to have total dependence."
24:28 And then in the church sometimes,
24:29 we come and rationalize
24:31 and we say "Oh, yeah, God doesn't care about that."
24:33 You know, we can be independent.
24:35 The Bible says we are not at liberty.
24:37 That's right.
24:38 We don't have the right to do whatever we want to do
24:40 spiritually or physically.
24:42 And then, you know, we can then apply
24:44 that to the mental, emotional, social, all that stuff.
24:46 We don't have the right to do all these things.
24:48 So that's what the text is saying,
24:50 it's an important principle that we have to understand
24:53 and, you know, often times
24:55 we use it in the context of diet
24:56 and, you know, nutrition, you know, diet choices,
24:58 and you know, that kind of stuff.
25:00 It goes far beyond that.
25:01 It's literally in everything 'cause the context of it
25:02 is dealing with temple prostitution.
25:04 You know, it's dealing with melding cultural practices
25:08 with Christianity that's unacceptable.
25:10 And we're gonna talk a lot about that.
25:12 So we can't just say, use the excuse,
25:14 "Oh, that's my culture."
25:16 That's fine, if that's your culture
25:18 but the question is,
25:19 if your culture violates biblical principle,
25:21 it has to go.
25:23 Yeah, because one or two has to go,
25:24 either we are gonna say,
25:26 we'll get rid of biblical principle,
25:27 so I can maintain my culture
25:29 or we're gonna have to surrender things
25:30 with my culture to maintain biblical principles.
25:33 For the Christian, the answer is very simple.
25:35 Man shall not live by anything else
25:39 except by the Word of God. Yeah.
25:41 Man shall live by the Word of God.
25:42 So that means that, whatever I am practicing
25:45 that violates God's word has to be surrendered.
25:47 And I appreciate this point because
25:50 in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, the Bible says "I pray God."
25:53 Talking about the second coming of Christ...
25:55 Yeah.
25:56 It says, "I pray God your whole spirit, soul,
25:59 and body be preserved blameless
26:03 at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
26:05 So that means that I really do have to consider
26:08 how does this affect me,
26:11 when I am getting ready to participate
26:12 in this recreation activity?
26:14 How will this affect my physiology?
26:15 How will this affect my body?
26:17 What's it going to do to my mind?
26:18 Can I stay focused?
26:20 Can I still whisper a prayer at any moment
26:21 and stay connected to Christ?
26:24 Or is what I am doing, drowning out the voice of God
26:27 and all I'm doing is being focused in the moment.
26:29 You know, is it hurting me, literally physically causing,
26:33 you know, my blood pressure to go up, you know, I mean,
26:35 we can really get deep into this thing.
26:37 That's right.
26:38 But, it's a principle
26:39 that God lays before us as His people,
26:41 that He says "Pay attention to these things,
26:43 and by His grace as we do it, we will have good recreation.
26:47 We will have good enjoyment.
26:49 We will have good as simple,
26:51 as the simple vernacular says, fun.
26:52 We will be able to do these things
26:54 without a problem.
26:55 Friends, we have been going through the word here
26:58 and you know, this is getting deep,
27:00 and it's gonna get deeper
27:01 because we have so many principles
27:03 that are in the Word of God that gives instruction on
27:06 what constitutes biblical recreation,
27:09 God's concept of safely having fun.
27:11 And you can see, it's a lots more detailed,
27:14 it's a lot more succinct, it is a lot clearer
27:17 what God wants
27:18 and He knows that He had to do this
27:20 because He knows the human frailty.
27:23 He knows that we have hearts that are bent towards doing
27:27 that which is wrong rather than that which is right.
27:29 And God love you, and He loved me,
27:31 and He loves all of us too much to let us function
27:34 by our own interpretations of what is fun or enjoyment.
27:37 And therefore, He teaches us His words
27:39 and when we apply them,
27:41 the Bible says something beautiful,
27:42 it tells us "Happy are ye."
27:45 And this is what God wants for all of us to be happy.
27:48 And we will talk more about it in our next episode
27:50 because we actually still have more.
27:51 We have more, we want to give it to you
27:53 and I know the Lord will bless.
27:55 So until the next episode, continue to be faithful,
27:58 remember the words of Proverbs 2:6 that tells us,
28:01 "It is the Lord that gives us wisdom,
28:03 and out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding."
28:07 God bless you.


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Revised 2017-07-14