Participants:
Series Code: PTL
Program Code: PTL000010A
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00:49 - Hello, I'm Jim. - I'm Ginnie.
00:52 We are the Hakes. 00:54 And we want to welcome you to, Pathway to Life. 00:58 Whether you are watching on YouTube, 3ABN, 01:02 or live streaming, or Good News TV, 01:06 welcome to the Paradise Valley Seventh-day Adventist Church. 01:10 We are in for a very special treat tonight. 01:13 Paradise Valley's own Mary Norman will share 01:16 her musical talents for special music tonight. 01:19 In fact, her special music is an original piece that she wrote. 01:25 It's entitled, Free Indeed. 01:28 And following that, Pastor Lomacang's message of, 01:31 Abundant Living. 01:33 But before we invite Mary to come out and sing for us, 01:37 as our practice, let's begin with a word of prayer, shall we. 01:41 Gracious heavenly Father, we thank You for the privilege 01:46 to come and to hear beautiful music, 01:49 to open the Word of God, to gather, to be blessed 01:52 by Your plan and purpose for our life. 01:54 And so it is indeed our prayer that Your Holy Spirit 01:58 will lead and bless in everything that is done here 02:02 in this meeting today. 02:04 And we thank You, for we've asked it in Jesus' name. 02:08 Amen. 02:28 Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty; 02:36 there is freedom in the glory of the cross. 02:44 For the love of God is there revealed 02:47 on that cross of Calvary 02:51 where the Son of God has died to save the lost. 03:00 We're freed from guilt and condemnation 03:07 when we accept God's great salvation. 03:14 Free, free, we are all set free. 03:21 At the cross of Christ, what glory and salvation. 03:29 Free, free, we are all set free. 03:37 In Christ we're free indeed. 03:47 While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 03:55 And by His death He won the victory. 04:02 Through the presence of His Spirit He abides in us, 04:09 till face to face His glory we shall see. 04:18 Christ Jesus was our perfect sacrifice; 04:25 dying our death that we might live His life. 04:32 Free, free, we are all set free 04:39 At the cross of Christ, what glory and salvation. 04:47 Free, free, we are all set free. 04:55 In Christ we're free indeed. 05:02 And if God's before us, who can be against us? 05:09 We are more than conquerors through Him that loves us, 05:17 through Him that loves us. 05:23 Free, free, yes we are all set free. 05:31 At the cross of Christ, what glory and salvation. 05:38 Free, free, we are all set free. 05:46 In Christ we're free indeed. 05:54 In Christ we're free indeed. 06:18 Thank you so much. 06:20 - Can we say amen again? ~ Amen. 06:22 What a beautiful song. 06:23 Good evening, everyone. 06:26 I know there are more of you than that. 06:27 - Good evening, everyone. ~ Good evening. 06:30 Glad to see your smiling faces. 06:32 I won't tell our viewing audience what night it is, 06:35 because it's a different time all over the world. 06:38 And you may not know that, but this is being seen 06:42 in Asia, the Caribbean, Australia, New Guinea. 06:47 You just name it, it's all over the world. 06:50 God has given us an opportunity to say hello 06:54 to those and welcome to those who are joining us 06:56 from all over the world. 06:57 This is Paradise Valley, Phoenix. 07:02 But tonight we're going to talk about abundant living. 07:05 And we want to ask for the Lord's blessing to be with us. 07:08 So as on each night, let's pray together. 07:13 Loving Father in heaven, thank You for the blessing 07:15 of abundant living. 07:16 And we pray tonight as we open Your Word 07:18 that yes, You'll open our hearts. 07:21 Send Your Holy Spirit, not only into this place, 07:23 but into the hearts and lives of all who are watching 07:26 and listening to this program. 07:28 And we pray for Jesus to be uplifted, 07:30 for the truth to be clear, 07:32 and for us to find an abundant relationship 07:36 with Christ, our Lord and Savior. 07:38 In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 07:43 I don't know of anyone who doesn't want to be healthy. 07:46 I really don't. 07:49 People may not make that decision to be healthy 07:51 while they are in the prime of their lives, 07:54 but I've never visited anyone in the hospital 07:57 that said, "I wish I was more ill." 08:02 It's amazing how much we think about health 08:04 during the closing moments of our lives 08:05 or when something tragic happens that we are 08:08 no longer in control of. 08:09 That's why we have to remember that Jesus is 08:12 not only the Savior, but He wants to be 08:15 the Lord of our lives. 08:17 And the Lord of our lives is the one who is in charge. 08:21 The Landlord of our lives is the one who wants to 08:24 be in charge of our lives. 08:26 And He has a wonderful plan for every one of us. 08:28 So we need to understand a number of other reasons 08:32 why Jesus came. 08:33 Notice one of the reasons that He states 08:35 in the book of John 10:10. 08:38 Jesus said... 08:54 Today when we think about one of the greatest challenges, 08:57 not only in our nation, but around the world 09:00 is the health crisis. 09:03 There's always some kind of political controversy 09:06 or debate about health issues in America. 09:09 But what people don't realize is, many of the things 09:12 that affect our health are preventable if we simply 09:16 connect those things to lifestyle. 09:19 That's why I really appreciate Dr. Lela and all our health 09:21 presenters every evening. 09:23 They talk about ways... 09:24 These are not pre-programmed presentations. 09:26 But these are benefits to every one of us 09:29 if we would follow the plan that God established 09:33 from the very beginning. 09:35 When we go back to the Bible, we notice that God gave the best 09:38 health plan in the book of Genesis. 09:41 On the heels of creation, the Lord said... 10:01 Now we know, as we look back, God gave man what I call, 10:06 the optimum diet. 10:08 When we think about expensive cars... 10:10 And I don't own an expensive car. 10:12 As a matter of fact, the car that we rented 10:14 we had to put air in the tires on the way over here. 10:17 But whether it's a $5000 car a $100,000 car, 10:22 it comes with a manufacturer's warranty 10:25 and an owner's manual. 10:28 If we follow the owner's manual, as the manufacturer establishes, 10:32 then we know the warranty will not be void. 10:35 But if we ignore the warranty, 10:37 or ignore the manufacturer's manual, 10:41 which in fact for us is the Bible, 10:43 then the warranty could be voided. 10:45 If you put sugar in the gas tank, 10:47 and oil where the gas should be, and gas where the oil should be, 10:51 you could destroy the most expensive vehicle. 10:54 But the thing about that is you could replace a vehicle, 10:56 but you cannot replace your body once it breaks down. 11:00 So if we would treat, if we would give... 11:03 If you had a million dollar horse, would you give him 11:06 Fritos and Coca-Cola the night before his best race? 11:10 You really wouldn't. 11:12 You'll say, "He needs the best diet and sleep 11:15 in order to win the race the next day." 11:17 God wants us to win the race. 11:19 Can you say amen? 11:21 And we have to understand, when He created us 11:23 the reason why He gave us the kind of plan He did 11:25 is because each one of us is created in His image. 11:29 In other words, what amazes me is God put together 11:32 a fantabulous divine plan. 11:36 We are, as it were, made in the image. 11:41 When you think about it, from the Creator's hand 11:44 God meticulously carved us out, put everything in us 11:48 we would need, and then He gave us 11:51 His image to reflect. 11:53 Notice how Genesis 1:27 says this. 12:07 And when I think of the fascinating capability 12:10 of the mind, think of the things that man can create. 12:13 I mean, we can come up with... 12:14 If you look at all this equipment and all these 12:16 cameras, and all the wireless devices we have today, 12:19 that's what man can conceive. 12:21 We've got an intellect that's not coincidental, 12:25 did not happen by happenstance, 12:27 but it happened by a plan that is phenomenal. 12:31 Tonight let me walk you through something that may amaze you, 12:34 as it amazed me, when I talked about just one of the most 12:37 simplistic aspects of why the human body functions 12:41 so magnificently. 12:43 Something called, DNA. 12:46 Deoxyribonucleic Acid. 12:51 Say that together with me. Deoxyribonucleic Acid. 12:55 Now that you've swallowed your tongue, you can listen. 12:59 DNA; we all know this as DNA. 13:02 And I'm not a doctor, but information is available today. 13:06 And when I studied what I did and learned what I did 13:08 about DNA, my mind was captured. 13:13 Now I don't want to be a doctor. 13:15 I praise God for doctors. 13:17 But the Doctor of doctors of doctors is Jesus Christ. 13:21 And notice the machine that He made. 13:24 Let's look at DNA. 13:27 Some facts about DNA. 13:42 Every animal has DNA, every plant has DNA. 13:46 Everything God created has a DNA code. 13:50 Let's keep going. 14:09 One percent. 14:13 And they'll say, there is no chance in 99 million, 14:17 or 1.6 billion, or whatever the numbers are, 14:20 they'll narrow it down so much they'll say, 14:22 "There's no way that you could not have been there. 14:25 Because this matches your DNA." 14:29 You've heard that before. 14:30 But let's look at something else fascinating. 14:36 That's why whenever there's a question about 14:38 who the parent is, they say, "Let us take a DNA test." 14:43 Because God put a signature in there 14:46 that you cannot hide. 14:48 You may have seen some of these shows about crimes that 14:51 were committed like 20 years ago, or before DNA, 14:54 and they go and exhume the body and they take little samples, 14:58 like even from ashes. 15:00 I was amazed, I saw one where they took ashes of somebody 15:03 that has been cremated shortly after the crime 15:06 because the person perpetrating it thought 15:08 if you burn them up, you can't find out about it. 15:11 But in the ashes was preserved molecular chemical compositions 15:17 that identified that, even that body after being burned up, 15:22 it still maintained that DNA code in the ashes. 15:26 Isn't that amazing? 15:28 Let's keep going. 15:44 I know your head is hurting. 15:45 I know that. I understand that. 15:47 I mean, this is fascinating to me. 15:49 So when a doctor stands before me and they take lab, 15:55 you know, they say, "We've got the lab results." 15:57 I look at the long list of lab results. 16:01 How much blood I have, how much my iron is. 16:05 And you know, all the other things that they get. 16:07 I'm fascinated. 16:08 And they find that out with just little drops of blood. 16:13 God is amazing, is He not. 16:15 Since I'm fascinating you, let me keep it up. 16:34 Now I just introduced a phrase you may not know. 16:36 The human genome. 16:37 Let's look at this. What is the human genome? 16:55 So when that DNA is working, it is saying, 16:58 "Do this. Don't do that." 17:01 "Don't do that. Do this." 17:02 And by the way, this is one of the reasons why 17:04 when I spoke to a person that was an atheist, 17:06 and I talked to him about DNA. 17:08 And then science has verified that all of the components 17:12 needed to build a cell had to be present at the same exact time. 17:19 They could not be present a year later 17:21 or a million years later. 17:23 They could not evolve. 17:24 For that organism to come into being, 17:26 every enzyme needed had to be present at the very same time. 17:30 Amen? 17:32 Think about it. 17:33 How many of you like cabbage? 17:36 Well you should like cabbage more after I tell you 17:38 the very next statistic. 17:47 ...common DNA. 17:48 That may explain why we think the way we do. 17:55 Not any other thing, not any other vegetables. 17:57 We are all cabbage heads somehow, somewhere. 18:00 But when you think about this magnificent statistic, 18:03 I understand why David the psalmist said, 18:05 read this with me, Psalm 139:14... 18:20 I mean, we've all had injuries at one point or the other. 18:23 You get a cut, and in a matter of time the body says, 18:27 "Fix that." 18:28 So it sends all the white blood cells, 18:31 it sends an army of physicians to that spot, 18:34 and in a matter of time it closes up, the blood clots. 18:37 And in a matter of days you start saying, 18:39 "Well, I feel pretty good." 18:42 Even though a scar may remain, the body is programmed 18:45 in such a way that it preserves itself. 18:48 That's why when you are about to die 18:50 there are certain things that happen. 18:51 And when you have a trauma, all of a sudden this adrenaline 18:54 boost comes in because the body says, 18:55 "We need help." 18:58 And God did that. 19:00 That could not have been a coincidence. 19:03 But let's think about the most important factor 19:05 of why our bodies really don't belong to us. 19:10 Paul the apostle says in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20... 19:33 When we think about that fact, when we think about this 19:37 magnificent Designer... 19:39 The guy that made Ford, or Tesla, or Porsche, 19:43 they often talk about these inventors, and we say, 19:45 "It's an honor to meet you," the man that made Porsche, 19:48 "It's an honor to meet you," the man that made 19:50 the Shelby engine for Ford. 19:52 We feel honored to meet that individual. 19:54 But they die off and pass away. 19:57 And somebody else comes along with a better invention. 19:59 But nobody has been able to come up with a better invention 20:02 than the human body. 20:05 And the Maker, by the way, He's still alive. 20:09 So we have to abandon this idea that we belong to ourselves. 20:16 When you think about all the things like Brussels sprouts, 20:19 and watercress, and spinach, you'll discover also 20:25 that after sin entered in the world, before sin entered 20:28 we were primarily fruits, grains, and nuts. 20:32 Before sin entered the world. 20:33 After sin entered the world the bitter herb was added. 20:37 That's why some people don't like 20:38 certain kinds of vegetables. 20:40 They say, "Ugh." 20:41 They don't like the way it tastes. 20:43 It was not a part of the original diet. 20:44 But when you think about the time of the flood, 20:46 you'll discover also, in preparation for 20:49 what was going to happen on the other side of the flood, 20:52 knowing that all vegetation would be destroyed, 20:55 God had a plan. 20:58 Notice what it says in the Bible, Genesis 7:2. 21:01 He said to Noah... 21:15 The great question is, clean for what and unclean for what? 21:19 And let me pause right here and say something. 21:21 There were no Jews in the days of Noah. 21:26 There were no Jews in the Garden of Eden. 21:29 And the reason I say that is because a lot of people say, 21:32 "Well when you follow the dietary plan of the Bible, 21:35 you're following that old Jewish code." 21:38 They say the same thing about the Sabbath. 21:39 "Oh that Jewish law." 21:41 Well you know what? It's not bad to be a Jew. 21:43 Amen, somebody. 21:46 God gave them the oracles that if they had 21:48 shared that with the world, the world would have been 21:51 far more advanced now in many other areas 21:54 than it is right now. 21:56 So don't make it seem like it's a bad thing to be Jew. 22:00 All the Bible writers, think about their origin. 22:03 But clean for what and unclean for what? 22:04 The Bible is clear on this also. 22:06 God instructed Noah to bring both clean and unclean 22:09 animals into the ark. 22:10 Why? Here is what the Bible says in the book of Leviticus. 22:24 Notice, both dividing the hoof, having cloven hoof, that is, 22:29 and chewing the cud. 22:30 It can't have just one or the other. 22:32 Like a camel has one, but it doesn't have the other. 22:35 A pig has one, but it doesn't have the other. 22:38 Let's follow carefully. 22:49 Meaning, one or the other. 23:01 "It is unclean to you." 23:02 When you think about this, let's go on. 23:05 Leviticus 11:5-7 23:32 You know what's amazing today? 23:33 Sometimes you go to restaurants, if you hear the word, "club," 23:37 anytime you buy a sandwich and you hear the word, "club," 23:40 that means it's going to be some kind of pork in it. 23:43 Double cheese club. 23:45 "Club," that means it's bacon in it. 23:50 The pig... 23:53 And let me tell you why God said not eat these. 23:56 God created His own sanitation department. 24:04 Really, think about it. 24:06 He knew that there are places that humans can never go. 24:09 Can you imagine if there was not a sanitation department 24:15 in the ocean, we could never clean it. 24:19 You will see buzzards... You ever seen buzzards? 24:22 When you see a buzzard, what do you know? 24:24 Something died. 24:26 So the buzzards say, "Hey, there's a dead whatever 24:30 on wherever. 24:31 Let's go clean it up." 24:33 And in a matter of time, there they are. 24:36 When you see sometimes a carcass on the ground, 24:39 all of a sudden in a matter of time you see maggots. 24:42 They know that's their job. 24:43 I'm not going to get you sick tonight, 24:45 but if you do get sick, we do have a doctor in the house. 24:48 Dr. Lela, I'll call on you in just a moment of necessary. 24:52 But the point of the matter is, God has a sanitation department 24:57 already in place. 24:59 You can spray cologne on a pig, give him a bow, 25:02 buy him a bicycle, do whatever you want, 25:05 but the moment you let a pig go, they go right to the, 25:08 "Oink, oink, oink." 25:09 Right to where the garbage is. 25:10 It's their nature. God made them that way. 25:13 So now, we wouldn't eat garbage. 25:17 So why do we eat what eats garbage? 25:23 I didn't even ask for one, but thank you. 25:25 Praise the Lord. 25:26 This pig, they just like garbage. 25:29 And you know what? 25:30 A poisonous snake could bite a pig, and it will not die. 25:37 Because it doesn't have a vein system like ours. 25:40 It just absorbs the poison. 25:41 Because God created it to absorb the poison. 25:45 It's a garbage can with four legs. 25:48 And you know what? 25:50 The pig is the only animal that people eat every part of it, 25:55 from the tail to the snout. 25:58 From pig tail to pig nostrils. 26:06 What about the ocean? 26:07 Deuteronomy 14:9-10 26:18 Let's go on. 26:25 That's why you think of lobsters, crabs, shrimps, 26:30 scallops, muscles, octopus; the list goes on and on. 26:34 Seahorse; the list goes on and on. 26:37 God has a massive sanitation department 26:41 to keep the ocean clean. 26:43 Sharks. 26:46 They'll eat anything. 26:47 Sharks have been opened up and they have found cans in there, 26:51 phones in there, plastic bottles. 26:54 Whatever falls in the ocean, if they just open their mouth 26:56 and swim by, it's all in there. 26:59 And it doesn't kill them. 27:02 Because they are designed to be a sanitation department 27:05 for the ocean. 27:07 Let's go on further. 27:08 Look at what's not on God's menu. 27:20 I hope I'm not eliminating your diet. 27:29 We live in southern Illinois. 27:33 I'm just laughing thinking about it. 27:36 And we had some guys come by that was going to give us 27:38 a price to cut our trees down in the back yard. 27:42 And he came into our living room and we have a nice view there. 27:45 You can see a little pond in our back yard. 27:47 And we feed the squirrels. 27:49 We don't eat them, we feed them. 27:52 We feed the raccoons, the squirrels, 27:54 the birds of every kind. 27:55 We have a raccoon friend that comes every night. 27:59 He knows us so well, he takes the food out of our hands. 28:04 We feed all the animals. 28:05 They love us. 28:07 So this guy is looking at our squirrel. 28:10 And he said with that southern Illinois accent, 28:12 "That's some real good eatin' right there." 28:16 I said, "What?" 28:18 He said, "That there squirrel right there." 28:20 He said, "I eat many of 'em." 28:22 I can't do it all because I'm from New York. 28:24 I'm like right now going through a crisis right now. 28:27 But he said, "That there is some good eatin'." 28:30 And I said, "You eat squirrel?" "Oh, all kinds of squirrel." 28:33 He said the best kind is the red ones. 28:35 And I thought, "Is there a difference?" 28:37 He said, "All kinds of them. We eat them all the time." 28:39 And I thought, "Don't eat our squirrels." 28:43 And they know us. 28:44 While we're eating breakfast sometimes our squirrel 28:47 will come, if we forget to put his black oil seeds 28:49 out there he'll come and look at us like this... 28:53 And if we can't catch it, he'll wag his tail real fast 28:56 so we can see it, like, "I'm here. 28:58 You're eating. I need to eat." 29:00 God says, "Don't eat them. Be nice to them." 29:05 Now, nobody here tonight, I can probably be sure, 29:12 would say, "Honey, tonight, I'm on my way home, 29:16 I would like to have a mouse for dinner." 29:23 Now you're laughing. 29:25 And I'm not laughing, but I'm going to tell you something. 29:28 I'm going to tell you something. 29:29 It might be something that you don't even think about, 29:32 however, around the world it's a delicacy. 29:38 It is a delicacy around the world. 29:41 Let me change the slide before all of you guys 29:43 become vegetarians instantly. 29:46 Would not be a bad thing, by the way, 29:48 because that's the best diet. 29:49 But so you think you wouldn't do that. 29:54 But there they are. 29:56 Now why does God give us the kind of plan He does? 30:00 Notice what He said in Psalm 84:11. 30:15 You wouldn't do that to... Things... 30:18 I mean, some of the things we eat in America. 30:20 I've traveled, my wife and I have traveled around the world. 30:23 There are places... 30:25 Just before the program one of our guys was saying 30:27 he saw a guy recently just pick up a frog 30:29 and threw it in my mouth while he was alive. 30:33 And to be a man in some of the Asian countries, 30:36 they give you soup with hissing roaches in it. 30:40 And you've got to pick, to be a man you've got to pick it up and 30:43 bite it and kill it, and then swallow it. 30:48 We're going to get a lot of vegetarians out of this program. 30:52 But you know what? 30:54 Your plate should be a place where you receive strength, 30:59 not where you are poisoning yourself slowly, 31:02 and then wondering many, many years later 31:04 why you're so ill. 31:06 Often times you don't need medication. 31:09 You just need to eat differently. 31:12 And God's got the best plan. 31:14 You don't have to worry about, "Well now, what should I eat? 31:16 What shouldn't I eat?" 31:17 And by the way, if you think this is just a Bible message, 31:20 or an Adventist message, or a Christian message, 31:22 atheists, people that worship trees and rocks, 31:28 are predominately in many cases better vegetarians 31:32 than Christians. 31:34 So this is not about, this is not just a 31:37 message about what God has said. 31:39 This is about health. 31:41 If you want to be in health and you want to have the lowest 31:43 medical bill, make sure that you put things 31:47 on your plate that's going to be good for you 31:49 and not poison. 31:50 But some people say, and I've heard Christians 31:53 that have argued with me, that, "No, God changed these 31:57 principles in the New Testament." 31:58 And one of the stories that they use is found 32:01 in the book of Acts. 32:03 God says of all of us, in 3 John 1:2 He says... 32:16 In other words, if you have a financial blessing, 32:18 if you have a nice house, if you have a nice car, 32:22 if you have a great education, if you're living a good life, 32:24 he says the things that will really be a benefit 32:26 above all of that is if you have health. 32:30 What sense is there to have a nice car 32:31 and you can't even walk? 32:34 Or you have all these good things and you can't enjoy them 32:37 because you are so ill? 32:39 But here's one of the reasons why... 32:41 This is one of the passages in the Bible, by the way, 32:43 that many Christians use to try to say that God changed His idea 32:48 about what we should and should not eat. 32:50 In the book of Acts there's a vision by Peter. 32:53 We find this in Acts chapter 10. 32:55 We're going to walk through it all the way to verse 28, 32:57 but I've taken out components. 32:58 You can read the entire story. 32:59 But I've left nothing main out of this approach tonight. 33:04 Peter was hungry. 33:06 Peter was hungry, he was looking for something to eat. 33:18 That's noon. 33:24 That's why most Christians get hungry at noon. 33:29 Not really. 34:02 Now I've seen people tell me this story, 34:05 and a lot of pastors, they stop right here. 34:08 And they say, "See, we can eat anything." 34:11 But I say, "Keep on reading." 34:16 But Peter said... 34:32 They say, "Yep, see, God cleaned it all up." 34:34 If a mouse is running across your plate, hit it, eat it. 34:40 I mean, why not? 34:41 If everything is clean, eat anything. 34:45 Watch out for your little, you know, toy dogs. 34:50 If this concept is accepted, 34:51 even your little dogs are in trouble. 34:53 But go on. 35:00 The Bible not only gave the story, but Peter, 35:05 after this vision someone came to the house 35:07 where Peter was staying and said to him, 35:10 "The Lord has sent me here for you to go and talk to somebody." 35:14 And the Jewish leaders that were with Peter said, 35:18 "Where you going?" 35:19 He said, "I'm going to the house of a Gentile." 35:22 They went with him because they did not believe that the 35:25 Jews and the Gentiles had any right to communicate together. 35:31 So just to show that Peter was being legit, 35:34 they sent representatives with him to make sure he was not 35:37 doing something that they did not authorize. 35:40 That's why the vision was given. 35:42 Notice the rest of the story. 36:09 This was not about dietary restriction. 36:12 This was about racial restriction. 36:17 The Lord was trying to get His disciples ready to carry 36:19 the gospel to the world. 36:21 How can you go to the whole world if you don't like 36:24 people of other races? 36:26 That's the reason why eventually, and you'll read 36:29 the story in the Bible, that's the reason why 36:31 eventually the Lord had to abandon the Jewish leaders 36:35 and pick Him some fishermen and some hard-headed people 36:38 and convert them and send them to the world. 36:40 Because the very nation that He entrusted the message to, 36:43 they were prejudiced. 36:45 They didn't like other races. 36:47 And today, and today... 36:48 We have a lot of good friends when I go to BH 36:51 in New York City. 36:52 B&H is an electronic store that is owned by Jews. 36:56 They'll do business with you, but they don't mix 36:59 with people that are not Jews. 37:02 In New York City, go to Brooklyn. 37:04 Brooklyn has so many Jews living in Brooklyn. 37:06 Wonderful people, great businessmen. 37:08 But they won't mix with people that do not share the same 37:12 convictions that they do. 37:14 That's why, let me share something. 37:16 We could learn a lesson from that. 37:19 We must share this message with people who believe 37:22 or don't believe what we believe. 37:25 Let me say it again. 37:27 God has not called us to be an exclusive club. 37:30 God has called us to be an ambassador to everybody. 37:34 "And the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached 37:36 in all the world as a witness to all nations." 37:40 But that's not the only part. 37:42 When you think about the beauty of it, 37:44 you think about another area. 37:46 God gave specific instructions in other areas. 37:49 That's why he says in Galatians 3:28... 38:05 But here's the question tonight. 38:07 What about wine and alcohol? 38:10 What about wine and alcohol? 38:12 The Bible also gives instructions in this area. 38:16 Notice what the Bible says in Proverbs 20:1. 38:29 But the wise man Solomon continues in Proverbs 23:31-33. 38:41 That means, it's in the process of fermentation. 38:56 I know that to be a fact. 38:58 Not that I got drunk, but I use to drink casually. 39:03 When I was in the party scene, the club scene, 39:05 when I was a disc jockey, I would drink those mixed drinks 39:08 like the slow gin fizz and tequila sunrise. 39:10 They put sweet stuff so that you don't taste the gin. 39:13 But I walked across the highway one Friday night 39:15 in Long Island New York, almost got hit by a car. 39:18 I didn't know until my friend yelled my name. 39:21 I said, "I'm not drunk." 39:23 He said, "That car almost hit you." 39:25 And all I felt was it brushed my long coattail. 39:28 Beeeep... 39:30 You know how the horn beeps. 39:34 But I said, "I'm not drunk." 39:38 Many of us don't understand the impact of alcohol. 39:41 And let me share something tonight. 39:42 Even if you don't know Greek, or Hebrew, or Aramaic at all, 39:46 listen to those who are not Christian 39:49 about the research of alcohol in moderate forms 39:53 as well as in extreme forms. 39:55 It's amazing. 39:57 The effects of alcohol by the CARON Treatment Centers. 40:00 To get this information in full so that you could see that 40:03 I'm not putting this together to kind of leave out certain facts, 40:06 you can go to this website yourself. 40:08 caron.org 40:10 This is a center that treats people that have been moderate, 40:15 heavy, or extremely heavy alcohol users. 40:19 From wine coolers all the way to gin and to vodka. 40:24 They've put together this research. 40:25 And they have centers all over the nation 40:27 that treat people that say, "Well I'm just a moderate user." 40:29 Look at what they said. 40:52 And they talk about this in the sense of moderate. 40:54 Let's go on. 41:05 That's why unfortunately some guy that has ill intentions, 41:08 they'll go to a club and they'll try to get a girl drunk, 41:12 or they'll try to get her to drink, 41:13 because they know it begins to affect you right away. 41:23 Let's keep going. 41:24 This is alcohol in moderate use. 41:34 That's why the police always say, "Walk a straight line." 41:47 And this is in moderate use, this is not extreme. 41:50 Let's keep going. 41:51 This is the effect of alcohol in stages. 42:02 And let's keep going. 42:03 And the short term impact of alcohol. 42:20 When you see a person that has had alcohol 42:22 even casually throughout the years, 42:24 you'll notice the skin is drying up. 42:26 The same impact that smoking has. 42:36 That's why when people start drinking, they say, 42:38 "I'm getting warm." 42:40 Going on, what about the impact to the muscle? 42:57 So when you drink alcohol, even beers and wine coolers, 43:01 that's exactly what's happening to the human body. 43:03 It's going through the impact of these things 43:08 on the body system. 43:10 When I was growing up, I never bought beer. 43:15 I didn't like beer. 43:16 I wouldn't drink strong drinks. 43:18 And I would never label myself as a person that was 43:21 involved in alcohol at all. 43:23 But I noticed the number of things that take place 43:27 when a person gets involved in alcohol. 43:30 It always begins in moderation. 43:34 I must admit a few things publicly. 43:37 And you know, they said confession is good for the soul, 43:40 but hard on the reputation. 43:41 I was raised in a home where the lady raising me was a 43:44 Seventh-day Adventist Christian, but her husband wasn't. 43:47 And during Thanksgiving he would buy Manischewitz, 43:50 which was Jewish wine. 43:52 He would like to have that with his meal. 43:54 And whenever we would put the dishes away, 43:59 he'd leave a little bit in the cup and we'd sip it, 44:00 and I'd go... 44:02 Whoa. 44:03 I didn't understand just little sips. 44:06 My wife and I, when we lived in California, 44:08 she'd have family that would come and visit us. 44:11 And they'd say, "We want to go to Napa Valley." 44:14 Napa Valley is known for what? 44:15 Some of the best wine country in the nation. 44:20 So I would say, "Okay." 44:22 So when I took them to Napa Valley, 44:24 they would give me a sticker. 44:25 I was the designated driver. 44:27 Because I'm not going to drink. 44:30 So I'd come home, and after the people we took 44:35 went through all these different wine tastings, 44:37 they're fast asleep in the back seat of the car. 44:41 And I had a Honda Prelude at the time. 44:42 I little sports car, five speed. 44:45 And we're getting close to home, and you know, 44:47 one person is sleeping this way, 44:48 the other person sleeping that way. 44:50 And they were not drinking bottles of alcohol. 44:52 They were just sipping these little glasses, 44:55 little things here and there. 44:56 But it knocked them out. 44:57 Every sign that you saw talked about there, 45:00 it affected them in that way. 45:02 And I saw when it was coming on because 45:04 they'd be talking to me, and I'd say, "What did you say?" 45:06 "I don't remember what I just said. 45:10 I don't know. What did I say?" 45:11 And I'd repeat it back to them. "Did I say that?" 45:13 And before you know it, they're sleeping. 45:15 But I told my wife, I said, one day I was bringing 45:17 her cousin back and her friend, and I said, "You know what? 45:19 I'm going to wake them up. 45:20 Nobody is sleeping on me while I'm driving." 45:23 So there is close to Benicia, California 45:28 they were working on the road, and the road kind of 45:30 goes like this and it has a sudden dip, 45:32 and it comes back up. 45:33 Well most people that live in the area know 45:35 that is where you're most likely to go airborne safely. 45:39 So I decided they are not going to sleep on me, 45:42 not while I'm driving. 45:48 So I went ahead and just kind of shifted down and 45:51 coming down the hill, and went airborne just slowly. 45:54 Safe enough to land on all fours. 45:56 And they woke up and they said, 45:58 "How long have we been sleeping?" 46:00 And I said, "About almost an hour and a half." 46:03 Let me tell you something. 46:05 It always begins in, what you may refer to as, 46:10 a casual way. 46:12 And everything that we begin as a practice, follow me carefully, 46:17 becomes a habit. 46:18 A habit becomes a character, a character becomes a destiny. 46:23 A destiny determines which way you go. 46:26 And what I thought about when I put this together, 46:28 I thought to myself, it is amazing that we look at the 46:31 Bible in the way we do. 46:32 You know that the wine coolers, these intoxicating drinks, 46:36 it's not about moderation, according to the Bible. 46:39 It is about abstinence. 46:41 Look at some powerful scriptures that you may have 46:43 never thought had any impact on what we put in our bodies. 46:48 For example, let's look at John the Baptist, his birth. 46:53 Luke 1:15, notice what the Lord said 46:56 about a man that He called to preach the gospel. 46:59 Notice what He said. 47:01 Speaking of John the Baptist, speaking to his parents... 47:15 So somebody might say, "Well that was not alcoholic wine." 47:17 The Lord said, "I don't want him to drink either one." 47:20 Now follow me carefully. 47:21 Why did He say what He did? 47:23 Why did He say neither wine nor strong drink? 47:25 In their day they did not have the preservation 47:28 like we do today; we have refrigerators. 47:30 Like when you make, my family use to make 47:33 homemade grape juice. 47:36 Or sometimes for thanksgiving have you ever made 47:38 homemade apple cider? 47:40 You ever had that fresh apple cider? 47:42 It's nice and cold. 47:43 But you forget to put it in the fridge when you open it, 47:45 so you leave it out overnight. 47:47 And the next day you open the top, and it goes, sshhh. 47:51 And you say, "We'll just get some ice and drink it." 47:53 You know what I'm talking about? 47:55 And all of a sudden you say, 47:56 "Whoa, it tastes better than it did yesterday." 47:58 Because it starts fermenting immediately. 48:02 The Lord said, now this is very powerful, 48:04 the Lord said don't drink neither wine nor strong drink. 48:07 Because in those days... 48:09 When you talk about the parable, Jesus says, 48:11 "Do not put new wine in old wineskins." 48:15 The reason why He said that is because 48:17 the fermentation begins immediately. 48:20 If you don't drink it the moment you turn it into juice, 48:23 fermentation begins immediately. 48:26 That's the reason why Jesus waited to the last day 48:32 of the wedding feast to turn the water into wine. 48:37 Because if He did it on the first day 48:39 it would have fermented for six days. 48:42 And the last day they would have said... 48:45 And I do not want to be sacrilegious. 48:47 But you can look back at that and you could accuse Jesus 48:50 of creating a situation where the people got fermented 48:53 and drunk and intoxicated from wine He made at the 48:57 beginning of the feast. 48:58 Understand the principles. 49:00 He waited till the end. 49:03 And they said, "This is the best." 49:06 He saved the best for last. 49:09 He gave them fresh fruit of the vine. 49:12 But let's even go deeper than that. 49:14 Let's look at how the Bible makes this point 49:16 very, very clear. 49:17 That's John the Baptist. 49:19 But what about Jesus at the time of His crucifixion? 49:24 Mark 15:23 49:27 When Jesus was on the cross in agony, His body is in pain, 49:32 writhing, even saying, "My God, My God, 49:35 why hast Thou forsaken Me?" 49:39 Jesus said, "I thirst." 49:41 And what did they do? 49:43 They put a rag, they dipped it in... 49:45 The Bible tells you here. 49:52 Matthew says, "...with gall." 49:58 He did not drink it. 50:00 Let me tell you why. 50:04 This is the amazing aspect of the plan of redemption. 50:09 The devil knew that all that Jesus had to be 50:12 was a defiled sacrifice. 50:16 I want you to hear me carefully. 50:18 He's a lamb without spot and without blemish. 50:22 But if the devil could have led them to do anything to 50:26 make Him a defiled sacrifice, 50:31 at the moment of His greatest agony, 50:33 what would you want more than anything else 50:36 when you are thirsting and hanging on a cross, dying, 50:39 with all the sins of the world on your shoulder? 50:41 "I thirst, I thirst." 50:44 The devil says, "Good. We've got Him now. 50:46 Give Him some alcohol." 50:48 And they gave it to Him, but He would not drink it. 50:52 Why did He not drink it? 50:54 He didn't drink it because He all of a sudden lost His thirst. 50:56 He did not drink it because He knew even the slightest, 50:59 hear me tonight, even the slightest 51:04 in His body temple would have caused Him 51:09 to be a defiled sacrifice. 51:13 Now hear me, brothers and sisters, 51:15 those you of listening and watching. 51:19 If Jesus refused in the moment of His greatest agony 51:24 even a smidgen of ingesting alcohol or any kind of 51:30 wine in His system, why would Christians seek 51:34 to participate in what Jesus rejected all together? 51:40 But they say it's moderation. 51:42 With that principle in mind, you know what we're saying? 51:44 When we say, "It's not about getting drunk, 51:47 it's about moderation," well you tell that to the researchers 51:50 who say even moderate use of alcohol begins to 51:53 impair our judgments, lower our inhibitions, 51:57 and begins to destroy brain cells that are not replaceable 52:00 by any medical means whatsoever. 52:04 Why would Christians insist on participating in 52:09 what Christ Himself repulsed and did not participate in at all? 52:16 And here's the other question. 52:18 If He told John the Baptist's parents not to give him wine 52:22 or strong drink, why would Christians want something 52:31 that will do to them what it would have 52:32 done to John the Baptist? 52:34 The spirit that we should be filled with, 52:36 like John the Baptist, is not wine spirits, 52:40 or beer spirits, or wine cooler spirits, 52:43 but the Holy Spirit. 52:46 God wants to communicate to us. 52:48 And any impairment at all would disqualify us 52:52 from being a fit vessel for the Lord 52:55 to communicate to us. 52:57 That's why tonight this is not about just whether or not 53:01 I can handle it or not. 53:02 With that moderation idea, are we saying that we should 53:07 smoke in moderation? 53:08 No. Should we eat pork in moderation? 53:11 No. Should we take drugs and cocaine in moderation? 53:16 No. 53:17 The same thing applies to anything that debilitates 53:20 the human body and compromises its ability 53:24 to be at its optimum health. 53:26 That's why let me be clear tonight, 53:28 since you're going to hang me anyway. 53:31 There are some of you that worship and you are 53:34 hooked on caffeine. 53:39 Hooked hopelessly on caffeine. 53:42 Because any time you say to the body, 53:45 "No, I can handle this," and you decide to start 53:47 getting off of caffeine, the body immediately goes through 53:50 what they call a withdrawal. 53:52 And it's the most painful thing when the body starts to 53:56 try to purify itself. 53:57 Why would it be so painful 53:59 if what you did to it was not harmful? 54:02 The Bible says, once again, what about smoking? 54:04 "Though shalt not kill." That includes yourself. 54:07 Any explanation there? 54:09 When the surgeon general says it will cause you death and cancer, 54:12 why put it in your body at all? 54:14 And here's the overwhelming principles 54:16 to everything I covered tonight. 54:18 Together, the Bible says in Romans 12:1... 54:33 And finally, the Lord says... 54:44 You could not use a defiled lamb for the sacrifice. 54:48 The Lord wants us not to be defiled, 54:50 but to be used for His service. 54:56 And finally, in an hour when the world is not 54:59 giving God glory, and He says, 55:01 "Fear God and give glory to Him," 55:03 did you not know 1 Corinthians 10:31? 55:08 The Bible says, let's read this together... 55:20 While what we eat and drink is important, 55:23 how we live our lives sometimes is not what you're eating, 55:27 but it's what's eating you. 55:29 Emotional health is also important. 55:32 Tonight I'm going to ask for the song to be sung, 55:35 Live Out Thy Life Within Me. 55:37 That's tonight's message. 55:38 Allow the Lord to live out His life within you. 55:51 Live out Thy life within me, O Jesus, King of kings! 56:01 Be Thou Thyself the answer to all my questionings. 56:11 Live out Thy life within me; in all things have Thy way. 56:22 I, the transparent medium, 56:28 Thy glory to display. 56:35 As the song is played softly, how many of you want to 56:37 live out the life that the Lord wants you to live? 56:41 If you want to be a Cadillac with the best performance, 56:45 you want to be a Mercedes with no hindrance, 56:47 but even more than those things that rust and fade away, 56:50 you want to be a vessel of honor to God. 56:55 I pray that tonight the message was not only clear, 56:58 but that the Lord opened your heart to say, 57:01 "I want to be a person that experiences abundant life." 57:06 I pray that you have accepted the Word of God 57:09 as He has made it clear to you, and that one day when He comes 57:14 you'll meet Him in peace because you have lived 57:16 that abundant life in Christ. |
Revised 2018-10-31