Participants:
Series Code: TMC
Program Code: TMC000020A
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00:15 Dona Klein tonight is going to play a medley of two songs:
00:19 On the Jericho Road and A Boy Called David. 00:23 And you'll be blessed as she plays tonight. 00:27 So enjoy the music of Dona Klein. 03:58 Heavenly Father, 04:02 tonight we thank you 04:05 for the great sacrifice that You made for us 04:09 on the old rugged cross. 04:12 We ask, Lord, that this evening as we 04:17 look at the provisions that You've made for us 04:21 to be healthy, to be happy, 04:25 we pray that You will give us understanding. 04:29 Give us the wisdom that we need 04:32 that we might seek Your guidance and Your direction 04:38 and give us the faith to follow. For this we pray 04:43 in Christ's name, Amen. 04:53 Gordon and Dona Klein and myself 04:56 had gone over to a town. 05:02 We were looking for some material... 05:04 material to put in some curtains in a motorhome. 05:10 And we had gone to this particular store 05:12 and was looking at the material. 05:16 And the young lady that was waiting on us 05:20 was quite obese. 05:22 I mean... quite large. 05:24 And in the course of the conversation were talking 05:28 about it and she was telling us what 05:32 a problem it was to her being so heavy and all. 05:37 And we found it to be interesting with the comment 05:41 that she made. And I think it kind of illustrates 05:45 some of the thinking that we have today 05:47 because she said that when she was in school 05:51 she had a terrible time when it came time for a prom 05:56 or something like this that she couldn't find a dress 05:59 to fit her. Just couldn't find one. 06:01 And so she said: "I solved my problem. " 06:05 And we said: "Well, how did you solve your problem? " 06:07 She said: "Oh, I learned to sew! " 06:10 And I think that's pretty much the concept today. 06:14 Rather than to take a look at what I'm doing 06:18 and what's causing me to put on the weight 06:22 say: "Well, I'll just learn to sew. " 06:25 No... God's Word makes some things very very clear. 06:31 I'm going to share with you 06:32 some of the circumstances and some of the things that we face 06:36 today as people in this country 06:38 and why I refer to this subject as The Fattening of America. 06:42 To begin with: 06:53 OK? Fifty-five percent 06:57 of the adult American population 07:00 is overweight today. 07:03 What does that mean? 07:05 Being overweight... does that carry any consequences? 07:09 Or should I just simply say: 07:11 "Well, that's genetically the way I am and I can't help it. " 07:16 What consequences does it carry? 07:20 Well, obesity is on the rise. 07:24 In the last ten years... in the last ten years 07:28 obesity has risen 32% 07:33 in the last ten years. 07:35 So that in itself should tell you and I 07:38 that we're doing something... we're doing something 07:43 that's causing this. 07:45 I mean, there has to be a reason for this. 07:49 And so what is bringing that about? 07:51 Well, look at this: 08:05 Put it down: premature death. 08:08 How does that affect? I was invited 08:11 to speak to a convocation of retirees 08:16 and I went there. 08:18 Walked into this room to speak to these people 08:20 but here were about 300 of them. 08:23 And I looked out across the audience 08:28 and in the entire audience of 300 people 08:32 I saw 22 men. 08:38 All the rest were women. 08:42 And there wasn't one heavy man among those 22. 08:48 I don't know if you're getting what I'm trying to tell you. 08:51 All the rest of them had died. 08:55 I'm just trying to be very honest with you tonight 08:59 and face where we are. 09:11 So if you and I are carrying excess body weight 09:15 then dear friend, don't think that it isn't 09:17 going to affect you. 09:37 All that because of excess weight. 09:45 "In the United States... " This is by Hamer and Copeland. 09:48 Kenneth Copeland that has done a tremendous amount of study. 09:51 This is what he says: 10:03 Now folks, if you don't under- stand... What I'm trying to get 10:06 across here is American people - 10:10 people in this country - 10:12 we have the greatest amount of obesity of any country 10:18 and we spend more money on exercise equipment 10:22 and on diet food than anybody in the world! 10:27 You talk about something that's not right! 10:30 I mean, we buy all kinds of exercise equipment. 10:34 We buy diet foods. 10:36 We do all this and yet we're the most obese people on earth! 10:43 Why? 10:46 This is what he said... Copeland, Hamer and Copeland: 10:57 The only thing that's growing faster. 11:00 So where are we and what does this mean 11:04 to you and I tonight? 11:06 Watch. This is what's happening, folks: 11:30 OK... watch, watch: 11:34 Begin to understand what's happening in this country. 11:37 This kills most of our people in this country, OK? 11:40 Watch: 11:51 58% of all the people that died 11:55 in 1998 died from non-communicable diseases. 11:59 OK? I'm saying worldwide! 12:04 Now... look: 12:16 81% of the people that die in rich countries 12:21 die from non-communicable diseases. 12:24 That is cancer, heart disease, 12:27 diabetes... and that is directly in relationship 12:31 to how you eat. 12:35 That's directly in relationship to how you eat. 12:46 So in poor and middle income countries 12:48 far less people die from non-communicable diseases. 12:54 Why? 12:56 Because they can't eat. 13:02 See? They're poor. 13:05 We can eat and so we kill ourselves 13:10 with our mouths. 13:13 We need to learn what God has to say about it. 13:17 How do we stand? What takes place because of this? 13:29 The average American male adult 13:34 has 53% more body fat 13:39 than is what is ideal for him. 13:42 And the women aren't much better. 13:54 That's the situation that we find ourselves in today. 13:59 So what's the problem? What's causing this? 14:02 Well... let me tell you what's causing this. 14:13 Now why... why for the last fifteen years 14:18 has the medical community 14:21 and the nutritional community 14:23 pushed a high carbohydrate low fat diet? 14:28 Why have they pushed that? 14:30 Well, they pushed that because they felt they needed 14:34 to lower... to try and do something to lower 14:38 the healthcare costs in this country. 14:43 They felt if they could lower the healthcare costs 14:46 then that would help the whole country tremendously. 14:50 And so they felt that was the way to go. 14:52 And so you now have what is called a food pyramid. 14:56 Have you looked at your food pyramid? 14:58 Well, your food pyramid says have high carbohydrate 15:02 low fat diet. And people have tried to follow that. 15:06 And because they've been following that, as a result 15:10 the weight has been going up. 15:14 That's what brought it about. 15:17 Now what is the case? 15:19 Well, you have what is called macronutrients. 15:27 There are three of them. 15:29 You ought to learn those three 15:30 and they have a great great effect upon you. 15:35 Those three are simply this: 15:49 Those are the three macronutrients. 15:54 Carbohydrates, protein, fat. 15:59 If you eat a high-carbohydrate diet, 16:04 low-fat diet, 16:07 what is wrong with that? 16:11 Huh? 16:13 Well, you just bypassed protein. 16:17 Now folks, let me just tell you a simple little fact here: 16:22 you can say all you want to tonight 16:24 you will never convince me differently, OK? 16:29 What I'm trying to tell you is God knew what He was doing 16:33 when He made you. 16:36 OK? And when God made you 16:38 He gave you certain things to eat, 16:41 but He gave them to you to be eaten balanced. 16:48 They have to be balanced. 16:50 And if I have anything to stress to you tonight 16:53 it is you have to take these macronutrients 16:57 and balance them. And if you don't balance them, 17:00 you're in trouble. 17:01 Carbohydrates... OK, let's take a look. 17:05 Carbohydrates: given to us to eat. 17:08 What are carbohydrates? 17:11 Do you know what carbohydrates are? 17:15 Well... bread, pasta, 17:21 OK? 17:23 Cake, cookies. 17:28 You ought to know... Can you name some other carbohydrates? 17:32 Let me name some most people don't think about. 17:35 Fruit, 17:38 vegetables, 17:42 those are all carbohydrates. OK? 17:47 So you have to balance what you're going to eat. 17:50 Your muscles - muscles in your body - 17:53 will store 300-400 grams of carbohydrates. 17:58 That's the MOST it can store. 18:01 OK? That's ALL you can store. 18:06 I want to ask you a question: 18:07 what happens if you sit down 18:10 to a great big meal of pasta, 18:15 and in that meal of pasta you eat about 700-800 grams 18:21 of carbohydrates? 18:23 All that your muscles can store is 300 to 400 grams. 18:28 OK? Your brain... your brain: that's all it uses 18:34 is glucose which is a carbohydrate. That's all. 18:37 And all that your brain can use is 80 to 90 grams 18:42 of carbohydrates. That's all your brain can use. 18:45 So here I've eaten 700-800 grams of carbohydrates 18:49 in pasta and my muscles take 300-400 grams, 18:54 my brain 80 to 90, 18:56 what's going to happen to the rest of it? 18:59 It all goes to your body. 19:08 That's where it goes. 19:11 You see, you have a hormone in your body 19:15 that when you eat too many carbohydrates 19:19 it raises the insulin in your body. 19:23 Insulin in your body, folks, lowers blood sugar. 19:28 OK? Carbohydrates raise blood sugar. 19:32 So God made you. 19:33 Said: "Oh these people have lost their cookies. 19:36 They're eating too many carbohydrates and I've gotta 19:39 do something! " The Lord gave your body insulin 19:42 so it lowers it. 19:43 But insulin does a double whammy on you. 19:46 Insulin says: "Take all those carbohydrates 19:50 and store them as fat. " 19:54 And then the insulin says: "Don't let them out. " 20:01 That's the reason you have a hard time losing weight, 20:04 see, 'cause the insulin says: "Don't let them out. " 20:07 That's carbohydrates, OK? 20:11 All carbohydrates, as I mentioned to you, are fruits, 20:16 vegetables, grains, pasta and so forth. 20:19 All these carbohydrates have what is called a glycemic index. 20:26 Let me try to explain what a glycemic index is. 20:29 Glycemic index just means how fast those carbohydrates 20:35 enter the bloodstream. 20:37 Some enter the bloodstream much faster than others. 20:42 OK... that's what glycemic index means. 20:45 And there are basically three types of carbohydrates. 20:51 One is called glucose. 20:53 Now folks, all your brain uses is glucose. 20:58 That's it. 21:00 It's a "glucose hog, " OK? 21:03 So that's all your brain will use is glucose. 21:06 So if you eat some carbo- hydrates that are glucose 21:11 then that goes directly into your bloodstream 21:14 and to your brain. It enters it very very fast. 21:18 That is called a high glycemic index. 21:22 You with me? 21:23 OK. There are others that don't have as high 21:29 as glucose does, 21:32 and one is called fructose. 21:35 Why does it not have as high a glycemic index as glucose 21:40 is because your brain only uses glucose. 21:44 So when you eat fruit 21:47 it has to go to the liver and be converted into glucose 21:51 before it can go to your brain. 21:53 So it goes into the bloodstream much slower. 21:56 OK. The other type of carbohydrate 22:00 is that that is called galactose. 22:03 That comes from milk products. 22:05 And again... same thing. 22:08 Got to go to the liver, be converted, before it can go on 22:12 to the brain. So it has a lower glycemic index. 22:18 I'll give you an illustration. 22:19 I have a friend who 22:25 worked out where I lived. And so I invited him 22:29 any time he was out there to come and stay with me. 22:31 And he did. 22:33 My friend's quite heavy. 22:35 And I came home, and he came in a little bit later 22:41 and as he came in he was carrying three bags 22:45 of rice cakes. You know what I'm talking about? 22:48 Rice cake things? 22:50 And I said to him, I said: 22:52 "What are you doing with those? " 22:53 He said: "Oh, I'm having such a hard time 22:56 with this weight problem. " He said: 22:58 "I'm just going to eat rice cakes tonight. " 23:01 He said: "That way it's high carbohydrate, low fat. " 23:05 And I said: "You know, you'd be much better off 23:10 to take those back to the store 23:12 and buy you a half a gallon of ice cream. " 23:18 And he looked at me like I was crazy. See? 23:22 You see, the highest glycemic index there is rice cakes. 23:30 See? He would've been better off 23:32 to have bought a half a gallon of ice cream. 23:34 We do things, folks, that are foolish! 23:37 Absolutely foolish! And then we wonder why we struggle 23:42 with the weight problem that we have. 23:44 And it's simply because we are not doing what God 23:48 laid out for us to do. 23:51 OK? What's God's original diet? 23:55 Now follow carefully what God gave man to eat. 24:19 So when God created man He gave him fruit, grains, nuts. 24:25 That's what God gave man to eat. 24:29 Now folks, say whatever you want to say 24:33 but you're not going to improve on that diet. 24:37 You're not going to improve on it. 24:39 That's what God gave for man to eat. 24:42 Now, true enough... you've got to use your head 24:46 as to how you do it. God didn't give you just 24:48 carbohydrates to eat. 24:50 Or He didn't give you just grains to eat. 24:53 He gave all three of those. 24:56 And God just simply says they're to be eaten. 24:59 You see, fruit is carbohydrate. 25:02 But fruit... It's carbohydrates but it's also 25:08 OK. Two things happen when you eat fruit. 25:12 One: it cannot go directly into your bloodstream. 25:15 It has to go to the liver and be converted to glucose 25:18 before it does. And secondly: fiber also 25:22 slows down it's entrance into the bloodstream 25:25 so the glycemic index on fruit is much lower. 25:30 OK? God understood that; He made it that way! 25:34 So that's one reason fresh fruit's good for you. 25:38 Secondly: God gave grains. 25:42 Complex... listen to me: complex carbohydrates. 25:48 What are complex carbohydrates? 25:51 Complex carbohydrates are such things as: 26:07 All those are complex carbohydrates 26:12 but they also contain protein. If you don't believe me, 26:17 then when you go to the store - 26:19 OK - when you go to the store 26:21 get a can of beans. Turn it over to the back 26:24 and on the back it will list how many carbohydrates are in it, 26:27 how much protein's in it. 26:29 And you'll see that it has carbohydrates. 26:32 It has a good amount of protein in it. OK? 26:36 So they contain both. 26:38 All right? He also gave you nuts to eat. 26:44 Nuts contain two things: 26:52 So God just simply gave that. 26:55 All three of those macronutrients are there. 27:00 So if you eat too many carbohydrates 27:02 what's going to happen? 27:05 Your blood sugar's going to go up 27:09 and your body's going to have to secrete insulin 27:12 to lower it. OK? 27:16 But if you eat protein - 27:18 which you need to eat - 27:20 well then that affects a hormone called glutathione 27:26 and the glutathione raises blood sugar. 27:29 So that balances the insulin and the blood sugar. 27:33 OK? Fat... unbeknownst to many people... 27:38 fat is neutral. 27:39 It doesn't raise your blood sugar, 27:41 it doesn't lower your blood sugar. 27:42 All it does is it's quite high in calories 27:45 but you have to have some fat, folks. 27:48 And I can't go into all the details of that. 27:51 Because you have a hormone in your body 27:55 that's extremely important. You have a whole family 27:59 of hormones in your body 28:02 that are tremendously important. 28:04 And much of the medical research 28:06 today that's being done is in this area. 28:09 And this family of hormones is called eicosanoids. 28:13 And eicosanoids can only operate in a fatty acid base. 28:20 And if you don't eat fats they won't work. 28:22 And you really... I'm sorry - some people are going to think 28:26 I'm crazy - but you can't really lose weight unless you eat fat. 28:32 So you've gotta have some fat. 28:34 Don't misunderstand me. I'm not talking about a lot. 28:37 But you've gotta have it balanced if it's gonna work. 28:41 OK. Now folks, 28:44 if you take what I've just given you 28:47 and you go home and study it, 28:49 it can change your life! 28:52 Now I'm sure that there's some of you sitting out there 28:54 that are saying: "Well, uh, what about meat as a protein? " 29:01 What about meat as a protein? 29:05 Well... let's see. 29:06 It is a source of protein, OK? 29:10 But the Scripture - the Word of God - 29:13 has something to say about meat. 29:17 And if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, 29:21 then you need to understand what the Scripture says about meat. 29:25 OK? Let's look and see what it tells you. 29:36 That means it goes on forever. 29:44 Number one: God says 29:47 "Don't eat fat or blood of an animal. " 29:53 And you and I don't really need a big explanation 29:56 about that. We understand that if you eat animal fat 29:59 it raises your what? 30:02 Your cholesterol. 30:04 We understand that blood 30:06 chances of disease are much greater. 30:09 So God just simply said: "If you're going to eat an animal, 30:11 you don't eat the fat; you don't eat the blood. " 30:15 And I have some dear people say to me: 30:18 "Oh Brother Cox, that was written for the Jews. " 30:21 Well let me tell you something: 30:23 the only difference I know between my stomach 30:27 and a Jew's stomach is mine might be a little bigger. 30:30 That's the only question I know. OK? 30:34 God said: "Don't eat it. " 30:36 And that is simply what He meant when He said: "Don't eat it. " 30:39 All right... let's go on, though. 30:40 God says there's some animals that are clean. 30:46 That means as far as Scripture is concerned 30:50 they're OK to eat. OK? 30:55 And God says there's some animals 30:58 that are not to be eaten. And the Scripture calls them 31:01 unclean. 31:03 They're not a very inviting list. OK? 31:07 They're unclean. Scripture says don't eat them. 31:11 And I can tell you right now, dear friend, 31:13 your health will be much better off 31:17 if you listen to the Lord. OK? 31:20 Let's see what the Lord has to say about it. 31:23 I have people like I said that say: "Well that 31:26 clean and unclean business, that was given to the Jews. " 31:28 Not it wasn't. It was given before the Jew existed. 31:33 Have you ever read about Noah? 31:36 Huh? 31:37 Listen to what it says to Noah: 31:50 You were told, weren't you, 31:52 the animals went into the ark two by two. 31:55 No they didn't. 31:57 THE UNCLEAN went in the ark by twos. 32:00 The clean went into the ark by sevens. 32:12 So God just made a clear distinction way back then 32:15 in the beginning that the clean were there 32:18 and the unclean there. And God has never changed that, 32:22 friends, at all. 32:24 So when you go to the book of Leviticus 32:26 you begin to see what the Scripture says. 32:35 OK, Leviticus. This is what it says about the animals. 32:51 Very simple. 32:53 If an animal is clean, it has to divide the hoof 32:58 and it has to chew the cud. 33:00 Those are the two things it has to do. 33:03 Not one or the other but both of them. 33:06 OK. God named some of them for you. 33:22 I don't see very many people eating camels. 33:27 Have you ever looked at a camel? 33:30 Huh? They are strange animals... camels are. 33:35 You know, really. 33:37 You know what they remind me of? 33:39 They remind me of a horse 33:41 that's been put together by a committee. 33:43 That's what they remind me of. 33:45 But God said: "Don't eat them; leave them alone. " 33:49 OK? Secondly: 33:53 That's the rock badger if you don't know what that is. 34:00 So God says: "Don't eat the rock badger. " 34:05 That's the rabbit, OK? 34:15 That's the pig. This is the one we eat - 34:19 Mr. Piggy - from the tail to the snout, you know. 34:22 OK? 34:34 God says: "Do not eat it... unclean! " 34:43 When I became a Christian 34:46 I had a real problem here. 34:50 My problem was as I told you another night 34:55 I belonged to something called the FFA. 34:58 Future Farmers of America. 35:02 And one thing I had done is I had bought a pig. 35:07 I don't know if you know what a registered duroc jersey 35:10 pig is, but if you ever go to the county fair 35:13 you can go look at them. They're red colored. 35:15 That's what they are. I had bought one to raise 35:18 and show at the county fair... 35:20 and had won at the county fair with it. 35:24 My father also had one, and so we both had sows 35:28 that we raised pigs from. 35:30 I got to reading God's Word. 35:32 You know, I was just a young person 35:35 and I was reading Scripture. 35:36 And here I began to read what it had to say about the pig 35:39 in here. And from reading that 35:42 I decided it wasn't right for me to eat it. 35:46 And then I got under conviction 'cause I didn't know what 35:49 to do with the pig. See? 35:52 And my father was not a Christian. 35:54 My father was violently opposed to what I did. 36:00 And I knew that if I killed that pig he'd kill me. 36:07 So I didn't know what to do with it. 36:08 A fellow offered to trade me a calf for it. 36:10 I wouldn't even do that. 36:12 I just didn't know what to do with it. 36:14 That plagued me, folks. Bothered me. 36:18 Finally one night I went in the bedroom 36:21 and I shut the door. 36:24 And I got down on my knees and I said: "Lord, 36:26 I don't know what to do with this pig. " 36:30 I know that my dad would just... 36:34 no telling what he would do if I killed that pig. 36:37 And I said: "I don't know what to do with it. 36:39 I don't feel right about keeping it. 36:43 I don't know how to get rid of it. 36:45 So Lord, I've made up my mind 36:48 I'm giving it to You. It's not my pig any more. " 36:54 And that's what I did! 36:56 Just gave it to Him and said: 36:57 "It's Your pig... not mine. " 36:59 The next morning I went out on the back porch, 37:03 picked up the slop bucket 37:05 to go out to feed the pigs. 37:07 Walked out there and mine was laying in the pen dead 37:11 and Dad's was running around. 37:14 Took care of it. 37:15 See? What I'm trying to get across to you 37:18 is God is very clear, folks. 37:21 He just tells you and I we're not to eat it. 37:24 Let's go on. 37:34 OK? 37:35 What about sea life? 37:37 What does the Scripture say there? 37:39 God gave you two rules for an animal. 37:42 They have to divide the hoof; they have to chew a cud. 37:45 When it comes to sea life He gives you two rules. 37:47 Let's see what they are. 38:02 So the rule is they've got to have fins and scales. 38:07 Both. Not one or the other... 38:09 they've gotta have both. 38:23 So God says if they don't have fins and scales 38:26 can't eat them. 38:28 And if you look at most of them, folks, 38:30 they're scavengers. 38:32 OK? I have people say to me: 38:35 "Well, why did God create the pig? " 38:38 Well very easy! 38:40 For a garbage disposal. 38:43 That's why He created the pig. 38:45 That's also why He created such things 38:48 as crabs and oysters and catfish 38:52 and these things that don't have fins and scales 38:55 'cause they're scavengers. They are what cleans up 38:59 the bottom of the river and the bottom of the pond. 39:01 And God says: "Don't eat them. " 39:04 If they have fins and scales they're clean... 39:07 clean to be eaten. 39:09 OK. When we take a look and it says: 39:18 Now when it comes to the birds 39:19 God doesn't give a rule... He just names them: 39:23 what you are not to eat. 39:25 Among the birds that shall not be eaten: 39:33 The kite, cormorant, cuckoo, pelican. 39:35 Goes on and names them. 39:37 Says these are unclean. Most of them, folks, 39:41 are birds of prey. 39:43 That's what most of them are... 39:45 birds of prey. And God says: "Don't eat them. " 39:49 OK. So that's simply when it comes to meat - 39:52 if you're going to talk about meat as a protein - 39:55 those are the things that God counsels us concerning meat. 40:01 So if you're going to use meat as a protein, 40:05 then you need to follow the scriptural injunction about it. 40:08 And I'll just say when God wrote that 40:12 He told you to begin with that His diet for you 40:18 was fruit, grains, and nuts 40:21 and later He added vegetables. 40:23 In this day and age I think you take great risk 40:29 with meat being as diseased as it is. 40:33 I think you run great risk. 40:35 OK? So you need to be clear on what the Scripture says. 40:39 All right. And by the way, 40:43 the ones that are unclean like the camel 40:46 and the pig and the 40:52 seagull and the mouse, you know, 40:55 I don't find them served in the best restaurants. 40:59 Do you? 41:00 I don't find people going in ordering roasted camel 41:04 or seagull à la king or breaded mouse, you know. 41:10 Most of those things are things that God says: 41:13 "Leave them alone; don't eat them. " 41:16 What does the New Testament say about it? 41:18 People say: "Well that's Old Testament. 41:20 We don't go by the Old Testament we go by the New Testament. " 41:23 Well, let's look at the New Testament. 41:25 See what it says. 41:39 So he makes it very clear when he says: "What agreement 41:42 has the temple of God with idols? " 41:43 He's talking about what? Talking about you; 41:47 he's talking about your body. 41:48 OK. You are the temple of the living God. 42:09 God is very clear in the New Testament. 42:12 He said: "Leave it alone. Don't be touching, don't be 42:16 eating what He lists as unclean. 42:19 That's not to be eaten. " 42:22 You say: "Well... " 42:28 You say: "Well, didn't Peter... 42:31 Didn't Peter have some kind of vision 42:34 where he cleaned it all up? " 42:35 Huh? Have you ever read Acts 10 42:38 where Peter had this vision? 42:40 This sheet was let down out of heaven, and in this sheet 42:43 was all manner of unclean animals. 42:47 And a voice said: "Rise Peter, kill and eat. " 42:52 And Peter said: "Not so, Lord! 42:55 I've never eaten anything common or unclean. " 42:58 That was done three times. 43:01 And the voice said: "Peter, what I have cleansed 43:05 don't you call common. " 43:16 Peter can't figure this out, folks. 43:19 He can't understand because this is direct contrary 43:24 to the Word of God. 43:25 And so it says in Scripture while he's trying to get all 43:29 this put together there's a knock at the door 43:32 and there's some men there from Cornelius's house. 43:36 Cornelius is a Roman soldier. 43:38 He's a centurion. 43:41 He's had a dream. 43:43 And in the dream he's been told to send these men to Peter 43:47 and get Peter from Joppa. 43:50 Bring Peter back. 43:51 So he sent them there. They knock on the door. 43:54 Peter invites them in and they tell him that Cornelius 43:57 has had the dream. And so they spend the night with Peter 44:00 and the next day Peter goes with them back to Cornelius's house. 44:05 Cornelius is a Roman soldier, folks. He's a Gentile! 44:10 Do you understand that? 44:12 OK, listen... listen to the words of Peter. 44:16 He'll tell you what the dream is. 44:45 God wasn't trying to say "Peter it's OK to eat the pig. " 44:49 He was saying: "Peter, you need to take 44:52 the gospel to the Gentiles. " 44:54 That's what He was telling him. 44:56 He wasn't telling him unclean animals were now clean. 44:59 He was saying: "You need to take the gospel to the Gentiles. 45:02 Preach it to them. " That's what it was about. 45:05 You see, the New Testament says in I Corinthians 6:19 45:21 So when you accept Jesus Christ 45:24 this body of yours becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit. 45:29 That's what the Scripture says. 45:30 You are not your own. 45:33 Your body belongs to the Lord. 45:37 It's His... and He gives you some very good counsel 45:41 about taking care of it. 45:55 Said: "You've been bought with a price. " 45:57 Glorify God in your what? In your body. 46:02 That means that I'm to keep this body as healthy 46:06 as I possibly can keep it for the Lord. 46:09 That's what it means. 46:29 You see, your body... What makes your body holy? 46:36 Do you know that? What makes your body holy? 46:39 The Holy Spirit. 46:42 The Holy Spirit dwells within you! 46:43 And because He dwells in you 46:45 that's what makes your body holy. And God says: 46:48 "You need to take care of it. " 46:49 "You need to treat it right. " 46:51 "You need to make sure that it's cared for 46:53 as it should be. " 46:55 So I am not to put in things that harm it. 46:59 And in this country, we do a lot of things that harm it. 47:03 We put things in our body. 47:05 Christ would not go along with that. 47:07 Jesus hanging on the cross. 47:10 I told you the other night about the tremendous agony 47:13 that He went through. What crucifixion was like. 47:17 They offered to Him... they offered Him 47:21 sour wine mingled with gall. 47:25 Do you know what gall is? 47:27 Hmm? 47:28 Gall's a poison. 47:31 That's what it is. 47:33 Also deadens pain. 47:36 They offered Him that. 47:49 Wouldn't drink it. 47:51 Now dear friend, God makes it very clear in the Word 47:57 that you and I are not to put things into our bodies 48:00 that are harmful to them. 48:02 And one of the things that we do quite often 48:06 is that of tobacco. 48:09 Tobacco is an insidious poison. 48:16 Tobacco has 27 poisons in it... 48:23 nicotine being the worst. 48:27 You and I should not harm our bodies that way. 48:44 You know what I'm saying? 48:47 Cigarettes in 1998, folks, killed over a half a million 48:52 people in the United States. 48:59 Half a million people! 49:02 If we had a half a million people dying from some disease, 49:06 we would call that an epidemic! 49:09 And yet we go right around here and we manufacture them 49:12 and we pass them out to the children 49:14 so they can get hooked on them. 49:16 And we think that's all right. 49:35 Hmm. 49:38 Boy, you talk about watered down. 49:41 That is really watered down. 49:44 It shouldn't say that. 49:46 It should say: 49:49 That's what it needs to say: THIS WILL KILL YOU! 49:52 No question about it. 49:56 God doesn't expect us and doesn't want us 50:00 to use something that's poison- ous and harmful to our body. 50:05 Very clear on that. 50:07 Cigarette smoking... what does it do? 50:22 I'm just telling you what cigarettes do. 50:24 You talk about them being good for you? 50:32 All that from smoking. 50:43 All that happens by smoking. 50:49 Now dear friends, the Lord came to 50:54 help you in that respect. 50:57 Came to give you life and give it to you much happier. 51:03 We take hundreds... hundreds and hundreds 51:07 and hundreds of people off of tobacco every year. 51:12 Every meeting we hold 51:13 we take people off of tobacco. 51:16 And starting Friday night, right here 51:20 we will be conducting a program. 51:22 If you want to quit it, we'll be glad to help you. 51:25 And I'll just tell you this: if you do what we tell you to do 51:28 for five days you'll be off completely and feeling good. 51:33 Promise that. 51:34 So we'll talk more about that. 51:37 Something else that we are faced with, 51:41 some things that we do that the Bible says 51:44 this is what wise people do. 51:56 Wise people do that! 51:58 Their lives get better and better because they avoid 52:01 what would cause their death. 52:03 OK. The other thing is that of alcohol. 52:10 Folks, you can give me all the excuses in the world 52:16 for using alcohol 52:19 and I'll tell you that you are ill informed. 52:26 You're ill informed. 52:28 I'm... I will say this: 52:31 I'm glad that one of the candidates 52:34 that's running for the president of the United States 52:37 had enough sense to say: "I will not drink. " 52:45 At least glad that one does 'cause there's no way... 52:50 All you gotta do is take a walk with me in a certain section 52:53 of town and I'll show you what alcohol does to people. 53:34 Scripture's very very clear on that: 53:38 I cannot use that kind of thing 53:41 and make it into the kingdom of heaven. 53:43 Proverbs... listen: Proverbs 23:31: 53:59 God says: "Don't use it when it is intoxicating. " 54:04 That's what that text is saying. 54:06 When it moves itself God says: "Don't use it. " 54:22 I mean the Scripture is crystal clear on this question, folks. 54:46 And you hear the country talk about doing something 54:50 about the drugs... and that needs to be done, 54:52 don't misunderstand me... 54:53 but they don't want to say anything about the alcohol. 54:59 This is the problem that we face. 55:03 The Bible says that you and I are to abstain from it. 55:08 That means leave it alone. 55:11 It won't help you. It doesn't make you healthy. 55:14 It doesn't make you happy. 55:16 It does not contribute to your life. 55:20 Just doesn't do that. 55:31 Ten percent of every person that dies 55:34 in the United States is a result of alcohol. 55:40 What does the Lord want to do for you? 55:43 This is what He wants to do for you. 55:51 OK? 56:00 You want to be happy? 56:03 You want to be healthy? 56:04 You want to enjoy life? 56:07 Well then, dear friends, listen carefully 56:10 to what God says about what you're to eat. 56:15 Balance... as the Scripture gives it... balance what you're 56:19 eating. Leave the tobacco, 56:25 the alcohol, the drugs alone. 56:30 Dear friend, let me tell you something: 56:32 if you'll do that, you'll find your health will increase 56:36 immensely. You'll find yourself happy. 56:40 You'll find that the whole thing will change. 56:43 God will simply come in and touch your life 56:47 in a very special way. 56:50 Listen as Maddy sings He Touched Me. 56:55 Shackled by a heavy 57:01 burden 57:05 'neath a load of guilt 57:09 and shame 57:15 Then the hand of Jesus 57:21 touched me 57:25 and now 57:28 I am no longer 57:32 the same. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. 57:36 Heavenly Father, we thank you 57:40 that not only do You love us, 57:43 not only do you provide salvation for us, 57:47 but You've given ways in which we can be healthy, 57:50 we can be happy, we can enjoy this life. 57:53 We pray that You'll bless each one here. 57:56 May they find in Christ constant help. 58:00 May they lean upon Him 58:02 and may each one of us by faith follow You. 58:07 For this we ask in Christ's name, Amen. |
Revised 2019-05-23