Participants: Dwayne Lemon, Lance Wilbur
Series Code: TKS
Program Code: TKS000023
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00:30 Hello, I'm Lance Wilbur.
00:31 I'm Dwayne Lemon. 00:33 And we'd like to welcome you to another edition of TKS, 00:35 a True Knowledge of Self, 00:37 where we get to know ourselves from a biblical perspective. 00:41 Now as we continue our discussion 00:44 regarding appetite 00:45 but specifically eating and drinking. 00:48 We've covered a lot of things. 00:50 We've talked about what the Bible says 00:52 generally about the matter. 00:53 We've discussed what the Bible says 00:55 specifically about the matter 00:56 and now we've even touched upon objections, 01:01 common objections when people say, well, yeah, 01:04 the Bible says this but what about that? 01:05 Hasn't it changed the rules, 01:08 changed the instruction that God has given? 01:11 Didn't God make everything clean 01:13 or possible for men to eat, 01:16 or we looked at Acts 10 and saw that, that wasn't so. 01:19 But that vision that God gave Peter 01:21 was actually referring to his acceptance of men, 01:24 non-Jewish men. 01:26 The idea that he is not to call any man common or unclean 01:31 and so he went to the Roman officer Cornelius' house 01:35 and was able to deliver a message 01:37 and share space with him, 01:39 with them which previously, he would never have done 01:42 because it was unlawful for a Jew to do those things. 01:46 And we saw some other things about clean and unclean. 01:48 Is it a Jewish principle? No. 01:50 We saw that in the Bible 01:51 all the way back in the time of Noah. 01:54 There was no Jewish man existing on the earth 01:56 but there was an understanding of clean versus unclean. 01:59 And we saw that those things 02:00 are dealing with healthy versus unhealthy. 02:04 Now, we know in the inner city communities 02:10 and in the hip-hop culture, 02:13 we're affected by chronic illness 02:16 and chronic disease at a rate much higher 02:19 than the general population statistically, 02:21 and I think and I know and trust that 02:26 if we were to follow God's principles of health, 02:30 God's principles of how we are to govern our body temples 02:34 that we would not see the massive amount of disease 02:38 and early death that we see in our communities. 02:41 So I think God has something here for us 02:43 and it's not necessarily just for us, 02:46 it's for all of humanity, 02:48 and I think the time has come for us to take another look 02:52 and not only to take a look but to actually be willing 02:55 to make some changes, not by our own will power 02:58 but by the grace and power of God. 03:01 Now, Dwayne, we are not, 03:04 we spend a lot of time talking about eating. 03:07 I remember, I made a point early on, 03:09 in an earlier episode that the two main things 03:13 that we do as human beings in the span of our life. 03:16 If we added up all the hours of the average lifetime, 03:19 we eat and drink, excuse me, 03:21 we eat and sleep more than anything else. 03:23 And so, you have to adjust the eating thing 03:25 because people do a lot of it. 03:27 That's right. 03:28 And it is dramatically affecting our health. 03:29 That's correct. 03:31 And not only is it affecting our physical health 03:32 but we understand that it is affecting our mental 03:34 and emotional health, 03:36 and therefore it's affecting our social health 03:37 and most importantly our spiritual health. 03:39 That's right. 03:41 So we've made all these connections. 03:42 We saw, we've seen all these things. 03:44 What about drinking? 03:46 What about the other things 03:47 that we're putting into our bodies 03:48 that I used to put into my body, 03:50 you used to put it in your body. 03:52 And in hip-hop culture, you're not down 03:56 if you don't do certain things. 03:58 That's right. 03:59 You know, there was a time, I remember 04:01 of course years ago. 04:03 I'm in the world, I'm doing everything 04:05 that I think is right in my own eyes 04:06 and I found myself at a house party. 04:08 In at a house party, you know, 04:10 house parties are little different than clubs. 04:12 You know, in the clubs, you have a bar 04:13 and you can just go ahead and pay for whatever you want 04:16 and get something to drink or to eat. 04:18 But in a house party, they just have, maybe a table 04:21 and that table will just have food there or drinks there 04:24 and you can just grab whatever you want. 04:26 Well, I remember one time I was at a party 04:29 and, of course, I love to dance, 04:31 and I find myself dancing, dancing, dancing 04:32 and it got to a point I was thirsty 04:34 and I remember that... I saw this big bowl, 04:38 you know they use these bowls and this is the time 04:40 when fruit punch, you know was still a hit. 04:42 The punch bowl. Yeah, the punch bowl. 04:44 So, you know, here it is that I'm seeing this bowl of punch 04:47 and I'm like, okay, well, I'm gonna get some of that 04:49 and what they did was they would pour cups 04:51 and you have them set aside so you didn't have to go 04:54 and use the scooper and just pour, 04:55 you could just grab a cup and take it. 04:57 Yeah. 04:58 Well, I saw one of these cups available 04:59 and I took it and I began to drink it. 05:01 When I drank it, I realized, I said, 05:03 you know this is not a fruit punch. 05:05 You know, I know a fruit punch tasted like, 05:06 know what a Kool-Aid taste like 05:08 but this was different from all of that. 05:09 So I'm just drinking this thing but I like it, you know, 05:12 it had a buzz to it, you know 05:15 it's kind of making me feel good. 05:17 So I start drinking it 05:18 and as I'm drinking, drinking, drinking, 05:21 they used to have something 05:22 and I'm sure they still have it today, 05:24 but there was something called slow jams, 05:26 you know, the slow songs in this way 05:27 everybody can dance with their girlfriends 05:30 and get close, you know. 05:32 And I remember, there was a dance style 05:34 called the running man, 05:35 and the running man was a dance style, 05:37 you know, you move real fast, real fast 05:39 and you know, I remember that, they were playing a slow jam 05:44 and I was doing the running man 05:46 and I just started doing the running man 05:48 and I just started making noise and kind of talking silly 05:50 and everything and walking all throughout the house 05:53 and everybody was looking at me like I was crazy. 05:55 Yeah. 05:56 Eventually, I kind of sobered up and I realized, 05:59 I asked somebody a day or so later. 06:02 I said listen, what was that in that drink? 06:05 And they said this, that was something called Cisco 06:07 and they... 06:09 You know, there was a term that they used 06:11 in the neighborhood calling Cisco, 06:13 they said Cisco was equivalent to like liquid crack. 06:16 Yeah, crack juice. 06:17 Crack juice, yeah. Now, hold on. 06:18 Let me get this straight. So it wasn't fruit punch. 06:20 It was not fruit punch. 06:21 The whole bowl was Cisco. 06:22 The whole bowl was filled with Cisco. 06:24 So just about all of us got drunk that night, 06:27 and I can only imagine what everybody else did 06:29 because I just had this one cup and I'm dancing 06:31 and I'm going crazy and eventually, 06:33 I just remember everything kind of blanking out 06:35 and then I find myself home and then, next thing, 06:37 you know a day or so later. 06:38 And this is kind of my introduction to alcohol 06:41 and my father, you know, he was big on drinking alcohol. 06:44 We would have this big shelf in the house downstairs 06:47 and he had a lock to it. 06:48 And he would have 06:49 just a lot of different alcoholic beverages there. 06:53 Just about all the name brands that you can imagine. 06:54 A liquor cabinet. 06:55 Yeah, just a liquor cabinet, exactly. 06:57 And I found the key and I found the key 06:59 and I knew how to be sneaky. 07:01 So I would get the key, make sure dad wasn't looking. 07:04 Unlock the door and I started trying 07:06 all these different alcohols and before you know it, 07:09 I found myself enjoying these things, 07:11 and alcohol became a real strong part of my life 07:15 for a period of time. 07:17 And it's interesting 07:18 because even when you go to a club today, 07:21 when you go to a party today or what have you, 07:23 it is almost strange to be in an environment 07:27 where hip-hop culture is being demonstrated 07:29 specifically through the music and entertainment, 07:31 and alcohol is not part of the package. 07:32 Right, and they have something, 07:34 even people who don't drink normally, 07:36 they have social drinking. 07:37 So I don't drink normally but, hey, I'm at a party 07:40 and so I'm gonna have a little wine 07:41 or, hey, I'm at a party and I'll have a beer. 07:43 I'm gonna have a little this or little that. 07:44 Even though I don't normally do it 07:46 but in this context, in this environment, 07:48 I'm just gonna do it because that's what you do. 07:50 Exactly. 07:51 So, you know, at this point now, 07:52 I'm looking at this and I'm saying, 07:54 you know, it's not just the eating habits 07:55 but it's also the drinking habits 07:57 that's affecting society at large, 07:59 specifically the urban communities 08:01 and definitely in the hip-hop culture. 08:03 Now, and do we think it's a coincidence 08:07 that we're talking about the health and the food aspect. 08:11 Now we're talking about the alcohol. 08:12 You know, I watched the documentary, 08:13 I won't mention it, you know, it's a mainstream documentary 08:18 looking at health in black America, right. 08:20 Yes. 08:21 And they interview a lady that lives somewhere in, 08:24 I forget which borough, it might have been Manhattan 08:27 or maybe it was Bronx, I'm not sure, 08:28 a certain borough in New York. 08:30 And it's an older lady and she was explaining 08:33 how she has to take a two hour ride on the metro 08:36 just to get fresh tomatoes. 08:38 Yeah. 08:39 Yet you can walk in any borough, in any, 08:43 you know, even the poorest neighborhoods, 08:45 you know, it seems like almost every other block 08:47 on some places more than one on a block, 08:50 liquor stores all over the place. 08:51 Yeah, isn't that something? 08:53 I mean, you know, and therefore we have to understand that, 08:56 yes, there are powers that be, 08:58 that are beyond even our control to a large degree 09:00 anyhow where there is a debilitation 09:04 that is consistently being introduced to the people 09:06 in urban communities and what have you. 09:08 Those things need to be addressed, 09:10 but there is a decision we can make right now, 09:13 even if the liquor store is right down the block for me, 09:15 and again it comes from true education. 09:17 It comes from understanding the Word of God, 09:20 because alcohol is responsible for several accidents 09:23 that we see taking place throughout our world 09:25 especially in our country, where individuals get drunk 09:28 and they do drunk driving. 09:29 And then, of course, we have alcohol 09:30 being behind several of the most horrific crimes, 09:33 homicides, robberies and things of that nature. 09:35 So alcohol is a very destructive drug 09:39 quite honestly, and yet this is something 09:41 that has become the regular drink 09:43 for those of us or those individuals 09:45 who are in the hip-hop culture, those who may even be involved 09:49 in other forms of new age 09:50 and those who are not even religious of any kind. 09:52 Right, and for those of us who used to, you know, 09:55 get into that and be, I could say, I was alcoholic. 09:57 I drank just about everyday, you know, as a young child 10:01 going all the way into my teenage, 10:02 late teenage years. 10:04 You, I guarantee, those of, you know, 10:08 the viewers and as in my experience, 10:11 you found yourself doing things, 10:14 some of the worst moments in your life or doing things 10:16 that you would never do normally when you were drunk. 10:19 That's right. 10:20 And it almost becomes a joke, 10:22 you say, oh, you tell the story, oh man 10:23 I was drunk last night and XYZ. 10:26 And but it's, some of the most grotesque 10:29 and detestable and destructive things 10:32 that you could do to yourself or to other people 10:34 happen in that circumstance. 10:35 That's right. 10:37 And you know, we have to understand our value 10:38 because it's possible that you can go to somebody 10:40 and say, listen, when you drink alcohol 10:42 even in moderation, it destroys thousands of brain cells 10:45 that cannot be revived. 10:46 And when a person can hear something like that, 10:49 they can say, well, that's interesting fact 10:51 but they are not moved. 10:52 In other words, I don't care. 10:53 I like it and therefore I'm gonna go ahead and do it. 10:56 So we have people who have this kind of mindset 10:58 and that's why while scientific facts 11:00 definitely hold their place, 11:02 we want to take them to other facts as well. 11:05 And one of the facts that I like to present 11:06 to individuals is to let them know, listen, 11:08 first and foremost, when God looks at us, 11:12 He looks at us in a very special way 11:13 and it's found in the Book of Zechariah 2, 11:15 and I like to talk about this 11:17 because when an individual can understand 11:20 something about their value in the eyes of God, 11:22 I believe it helps them as it relates to, you know, 11:26 how they should be viewed and how they should, 11:29 you know, function in life. 11:30 Yes. 11:31 In the Book of Zechariah 2, 11:33 I want you to notice what it says in verse 8. 11:34 Zachariah 2:8. 11:36 The Bible says, "For thus saith the Lord of hosts: 11:39 after the glory hath he sent me unto the nations 11:42 which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you 11:46 toucheth the apple of his eye." 11:48 I always love to let people know 11:49 that God when He looks at us 11:51 and when we are willing to receive Him in our hearts, 11:54 He looks at us and He says to us, 11:56 you are the apple of my eye. 11:58 You know, there has been songs that have come out years ago 12:00 that talk about you are the apple of my eye 12:02 in secular world. 12:03 And that phraseology is about you're special, 12:07 you mean something to me, you are dear to my heart. 12:10 God has made it known to us that we are dear to His heart. 12:12 That's why He sent His Son. 12:14 While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 12:16 And we find that God looks at us and says, 12:19 I find value in you, 12:20 and that's why I was willing to let My Son die for you. 12:22 So when we look at ourselves, we have to see ourselves 12:24 through the eyes of God. 12:26 We have to see that God loves us. 12:27 We have to see that God looks at us 12:29 and He says, you're the apple of my eye, 12:30 and not only that but then God says, 12:32 I also want you to be My ambassador. 12:37 You know, to be an ambassador, 12:38 you're representative of a nation. 12:39 Right. 12:41 You know, in this case, we are representative 12:42 of a heavenly country and God says that 12:44 I want you to represent Me when you go to other people 12:47 and therefore when we go to other people, 12:48 we want to give a clear picture of who God is, 12:52 so that way when they behold us by God's grace, 12:55 they can see Christ in us, the hope of glory. 12:57 We need to let our friends know in our urban communities 12:59 and in hip-hop culture to say, listen, 13:02 when Jesus came to this earth, He had you on His mind. 13:04 Yeah. 13:05 And when He died, He had you on His mind, 13:07 and when He rose, He had you on His mind, 13:08 and He said when He's coming back, 13:10 He has you on his mind. 13:11 So throughout the ages, God has us on His mind, 13:14 and as a result of that it should help a value system 13:18 to come into me that says, listen, 13:20 God has an expectation for me and by the grace of God, 13:23 I want to be ready when He comes. 13:24 I want to live for Him. 13:26 And so that's very important, because, you know, 13:28 that's one of the tenants, you know, 13:30 that's one of kind of the hooks 13:31 for this knowledge of self in the street 13:34 and, you know, all these other groups 13:36 that we talked about 13:37 that, that knowing yourself, knowing your true identity, 13:40 your true value, your true worth 13:41 and racial pride and all these things. 13:43 Yeah. 13:44 That's not where the security lies. 13:46 It's not in racial pride. 13:48 It's not in black power or whatever other power. 13:51 It's understanding our true value 13:53 in the sight of God will give us all those things 13:56 that every human being needs and desires. 13:58 That's right. 13:59 Now when I understand that God has called me 14:03 to be an ambassador, 14:04 representative of Him to others, 14:07 then that automatically means 14:08 that there is certain behaviors about my life 14:10 that should be different from others. 14:11 So that I can understand that 14:13 I'm not called into this world for a common task. 14:14 I'm called into this world for a special task. 14:16 I'm a representative of God. That's what I'm called to be. 14:19 Now, one of the instructions 14:20 that God gives to His representatives 14:22 is He says, I want you to give Me glory. 14:24 Remember, we talked about that in the first angel's message, 14:27 "Fear God and give glory to Him." 14:29 One of the ways we do that practically 14:32 is found in 1 Corinthians 10:31. 14:34 In 1 Corinthians 10:31, the Bible says, 14:39 "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, 14:44 do all to the glory of God." 14:47 So it's not that I'm just simply to give God glory, 14:50 God says in my eating and drinking habits, 14:54 I'm also to give him glory. 14:56 Now, that has to be broken down 14:59 because I can either go through a private interpretation 15:01 or I can go through a biblical interpretation. 15:03 Yeah. 15:04 I believe the biblical interpretation is better. 15:06 Okay. 15:08 We saw in Exodus 33:18. We reviewed it. 15:12 And we saw that Moses came to God and said, 15:14 Lord, show me Your glory. 15:17 God responded by saying, I'll show you My goodness 15:19 and proclaim My name in verse 19. 15:22 Then in Exodus 34:5-7, Gods reveals His glory. 15:28 He reveals His goodness. 15:30 He proclaims His name unto Moses 15:32 and he says the Lord, the lord God, 15:34 merciful, gracious, long suffering, 15:37 abundant in goodness and truth, 15:38 keeping mercy for thousands, 15:40 forgiving inequity and transgression and sin 15:42 and will by no means clear the guilty, 15:44 visiting the inequity of the fathers unto the children, 15:46 unto the third and fourth generation. 15:47 So God is revealing His character. 15:49 Yes. His character. 15:51 So to give God glory is to reflect His character. 15:55 Well, now that I understand that, 15:58 then to eat and drink to God's glory 16:01 would be to eat and drink things that enable me 16:05 to reflect God's character. 16:06 Okay. 16:08 To eat and drink things 16:09 that are reflective of God's character. 16:12 Right, so things that help and not harm. 16:13 That's right. 16:15 Things that encourage, not retard the process. 16:16 Well, let's think about it this way, 16:18 an attribute of God's character. 16:19 God says that He is life. 16:21 Remember that, Deuteronomy 30:19 and 20. 16:23 Yeah. God says, choose life. 16:24 Verse 20, He says, "I am life." 16:26 John 14:6. John 14:6. 16:30 Jesus says, "I'm the way, the truth and the life." 16:32 John 11:25, "I am the resurrection and the life." 16:36 So over and over again, God says I am life. 16:40 So watch this. 16:41 So then whatever I eat or whatever I drink 16:44 it should reproduce life in me, not death. 16:48 Psalms 46:1 and 2, 16:50 "God is our refuge and strength, 16:53 a very present help in trouble." 16:55 So therefore I look at that and I say, hmm, 16:57 God is my refuge and strength. 17:01 So therefore whatever I eat or drink, 17:03 it should strengthen my body not weaken it. 17:07 Another one, God says in 1 Corinthians 14:33, 17:11 He says, "I am not the author of confusion, 17:16 but of peace, as in all the churches." 17:19 So if I put something in my body 17:21 that puts my body in a state of confusion, 17:24 I know that I can say, 17:26 wait a minute, this is not good. 17:27 If I put something in my system that causes my heart 17:29 to begin to have unnatural beat rhythm, 17:31 so palpitate. 17:32 I can say, wait a minute, I don't think this food item 17:34 is something I should be putting in me. 17:35 It puts my body in a state of confusion. 17:39 But God says, I'm a God of peace, 17:42 so therefore whatever I put inside of my system, 17:44 it should keep my body in a state of peaceful, 17:46 normalcy that my body can function, 17:49 the way God had designed it. 17:50 This is eating or drinking to the glory of God. 17:52 So now, I look at alcohol and I say, 17:54 well, does alcohol fit the bill. 17:56 Yes. 17:57 Well, Proverbs 20 has an answer for that. 17:59 Let's go to Proverbs 18:00 and we're gonna look at chapter 20 18:02 and let's notice what the Bible says. 18:03 Proverbs 20 18:05 and we're gonna look just at Proverbs 20:1 18:08 and here is what it says. 18:09 It says, "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: 18:15 and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." 18:21 The Bible is clear that wine 18:24 and in this context it's speaking of alcohol, 18:26 'cause we gonna look that word wine in just a moment. 18:28 Yeah. 18:29 When speaking of alcohol, 18:30 it's talking about that it has a mocking effect. 18:33 Now, we know that God does not represent 18:36 such a character as this. 18:37 We know, there is one 18:38 however who was a mocker, is that right? 18:40 Yeah. 18:41 So therefore wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging 18:45 and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. 18:48 Right, and essential that theme there is not wise, you know, 18:52 we've been speaking about that almost every episode. 18:54 That's right. 18:55 The true wisdom of God, the knowledge 18:57 and the true knowledge of self, if you partake of these things, 19:01 it's the opposite. 19:03 That's right. 19:04 So this is why we have to understand 19:06 that God is trying to introduce a thought process to us 19:08 that when I drink, I'm to drink to His glory. 19:11 His glory is His character. 19:13 So whatever I drink, 19:15 it should reproduce His character within me. 19:17 It should have something about it 19:18 that helps me understand 19:20 or tells of the experience of God's character. 19:22 When I drink water it has a cleansing effect. 19:25 That's what water does to the body. 19:27 It cleanses, it hydrates and it cleanses out. 19:29 So it is that Jesus, in His character, 19:31 He is one whose blood cleanses us from sin. 19:34 So I can look at water and say, I can see benefits 19:37 that come from this that are in harmony 19:39 with the attributes of God's character. 19:41 But when I look at alcohol, it's a mocker, 19:44 it's raging and it's deceptive. 19:47 None of that is reflective of God's character. 19:49 So why would I want to drink something like that. 19:51 Right. Proverbs 23. 19:53 In Proverbs 23:29-35, 19:56 it also talks about alcohol and its effects upon us. 19:59 And here's what it says, Proverbs 23:29-35. 20:04 It says, "Who hath woe? 20:06 Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? 20:10 Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? 20:14 Who hath redness of eyes? 20:17 They that tarry long at the wine: 20:21 They that go to seek mixed wine. 20:24 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, 20:28 when it giveth his color in the cup, 20:30 when it moveth itself aright. 20:32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, 20:34 and stingeth like an adder. 20:36 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, 20:38 and thine heart shall utter perverse things. 20:42 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down 20:45 in the midst of the sea, 20:46 or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. 20:48 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, 20:50 and I was not sick, 20:52 they have beaten me, and I felt it not. 20:55 When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again." 20:59 I mean, this is literally the story 21:01 of the experience of alcohol. 21:03 I know, you got experiences. 21:04 Well, I mean, we've gone through these experiences, 21:06 the strange women and finding yourself in places, 21:08 you're saying, where am I? 21:10 The redness of eyes. Yeah. 21:11 All of these effects that come upon an individual 21:14 when God's Word all along says, don't do this. 21:16 And then you sober up and do it again. 21:18 And then you sober up and then we seek it again. 21:21 Where is some more, where is some more? 21:22 But that's because it's a drug 21:23 and it's having chemical reactions in us 21:25 that creates, you know, 21:27 an addiction towards these things. 21:28 And so we find that the Bible, I believe is very clear on it 21:32 that God does not want us 21:34 to partake of this type of drink 21:36 because it's not to His glory and whatever God gives to us, 21:39 it should be for His glory. 21:41 Now of course, you're gonna have people 21:43 who will say, "Didn't Jesus turn the water into wine?" 21:45 Yeah. 21:46 That's what people are gonna say. 21:48 They say, "Jesus turned water into wine in John 2." 21:49 Now this is why the word wine has to be understood, 21:54 because when you look up the word wine, 21:55 especially, if you look it up in the New Testament, 21:57 the Greek word oinos, when you look up that word, 21:59 it actually can apply both to alcohol 22:04 or non-alcohol 22:07 or unfermented grape juice. 22:09 Alcohol is basically the fermentation of the grapes. 22:12 It's going through a rotting process 22:13 and eventually the alcohol content builds up 22:15 and hence it becomes 22:17 more of this poisonous type of substance. 22:18 But more so, grape juice, we know is that which is fresh. 22:21 Yeah. 22:23 Now the question is, which one did Jesus give 22:24 because the word can go in either direction. 22:26 It can either be alcohol 22:27 or it can also go in the other direction. 22:30 It can be grape juice. 22:32 I believe, it's very simple to find out 22:33 which one did Jesus provide. 22:35 Okay. 22:36 When we study the Bible carefully, 22:37 we will find that Jesus did not just come on the scene 22:41 amongst human beings when He was born through Mary. 22:44 Jesus was very interactive with humanity 22:47 before the birth. 22:50 The way we know that is when you read 1 Corinthians 10. 22:52 In 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, the Bible shows 22:56 that when the children of Israel were leaving Egypt, 22:58 it says, as they left Egypt, 22:59 you know they went through the Red Sea. 23:01 It says, eventually they were going and it says, 23:03 and there was a rock that followed them 23:06 and it says and that rock was Christ. 23:09 That's in 1 Corinthians 10:4. 23:11 So the rock that, that followed them, 23:14 it says that rock was none other than Jesus Christ. 23:16 So Jesus was interactive with the people of God 23:19 because Jesus did not begin His existence with Mary. 23:22 He preexisted that. 23:24 Now understanding that principle then, 23:26 that means that the same Jesus who was with His people 23:30 while they were on their journey 23:32 from even Egypt to Canaan land, 23:33 guiding and instructing and so on, 23:35 it's the same Jesus that was with Solomon 23:38 when Solomon was inspired to write wine is a mocker 23:41 and strong drink is raging. 23:43 Yeah. 23:44 All scriptures come by inspiration of God. 23:46 So as a result of that, 23:48 would God one minute say to Solomon, 23:51 tell everybody that wine is a mocker, 23:53 strong drink is raging, when you look at the redness, 23:55 don't look upon it, don't drink it, 23:57 don't do this, don't do that. 23:58 Would God give those instructions in one place 24:01 and then at a wedding, which by the way marriage 24:04 is a holy institutions that existed before sin 24:06 even touched this earth. 24:08 Would God at such a holy institution 24:10 now go ahead and literally give to the people 24:13 the very thing that He inspired others 24:15 to tell them was poisonous, I think not. 24:17 It makes no sense. 24:19 There is no variableness with God, 24:20 the Bible says in James 1:17. 24:23 So therefore I believe firmly that there is no way 24:26 anyone can truly say that Jesus provided alcohol. 24:30 However, in Isaiah 65, 24:33 the Bible does say something about wine. 24:34 Let's notice this one. 24:36 "Thus saith the Lord, 24:38 as the new wine is found in the cluster 24:41 and one saith, destroy it not for a blessing is in it: 24:45 so will I do for my servants sakes 24:47 that I may not destroy them all." 24:50 The Bible shows that there is a wine 24:53 that is definitely a mocker and is raging 24:56 and is deceptive and all these other things 24:58 that we read in Proverbs. 24:59 That's the alcohol, that's the fermented grape juice. 25:02 But in this case, this is the grape that's... 25:05 This is the juice that's coming out of the grape 25:06 while it was still in its cluster. 25:07 So this is dealing with the fresh grape juice. 25:09 Yeah. 25:10 And the Bible says that there is a blessing in it. 25:12 When Jesus came to the wedding, 25:14 we find no evidence that He wanted to condemn or curse. 25:17 He wanted to bless and He did. 25:19 And so we find that consistent with Bible teaching, 25:22 consistent with God's character, 25:24 He would have provided grape juice 25:26 in comparison to alcohol. 25:28 Another point that's very important is remember, 25:31 Jesus uses wine to also reference His blood. 25:36 Remember that the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 11 25:39 when Jesus, when the Bible talks about communion 25:41 and it talks about how when we drink, 25:43 the drink it was to be a representation of God's blood 25:47 or the blood of Christ that was spilled. 25:49 And so we find that the blood of Christ, 25:51 1 John 1:7 cleanses us from sin. 25:53 Yeah. 25:54 So we would dare not use something 25:55 that God associates with sin like alcohol 25:59 to suddenly say that this is representative 26:01 of the blood of Christ. 26:02 So the blood of Christ has a cleansing, 26:04 a purifying ability to it or a power to it 26:07 and therefore it is consistent that the grape juice 26:10 would have been that what Jesus provided 26:11 in comparison to, you know, 26:14 these alcoholic type of items that many people think. 26:17 Right. 26:18 In fact, when we really think about it, 26:20 if we carefully study the Bible, 26:22 you will find that the Bible records history 26:24 of individuals who partook of alcohol 26:26 and the detrimental things that took place thereafter. 26:28 You have Belshazzar in Daniel 5. 26:31 And Belshazzar, he was there, taking the vessels of God 26:35 and filling it with alcohol and then he was drinking it, 26:37 and it was on that same night of that festive party 26:39 while they were all drunk that the Bible says 26:42 Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin. 26:43 You have been weighed in the balances 26:45 and you have been found wanting 26:47 and his kingdom was gonna be went from him. 26:49 You also have the story in the Book of Leviticus 10 26:53 specifically verses 8-10, 26:55 and it talks about the children of the priest 26:58 that was supposed to be the servants of God, 27:00 but as a result of partaking of alcohol, 27:03 their minds became so debilitated 27:05 that they began to profane the very worship service of God 27:08 and they offered strange fire in comparison to God's fire 27:12 and they were consumed on that very day 27:15 in the sanctuary as a result of this horrible act. 27:18 Of course, we have Noah in Genesis 9:21-25. 27:23 And in that story we find also 27:25 that Noah was partaking of alcohol 27:27 and here it is this deplorable thing took place 27:30 amidst even his own children. 27:33 Absolutely powerful, brother. 27:35 And we want to encourage you to come again 27:38 and see what God is willing to teach us 27:42 if we are willing to learn and listen. 27:45 Thank you for watching TKS, a True Knowledge of Self. 27:48 And remember in Proverbs 2:6, it says, 27:50 "It is the Lord who gives wisdom 27:52 and out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding." 27:55 God bless you. |
Revised 2017-09-05