More Word to the World

In our pursuit of living for God, we are to be driven by the Spirit that lives within us. It is called “walking in the Spirit.” We are to be continually filled with the Spirit. In the following verse, the phrase “be filled” has a meaning that translates from the Greek more correctly as, “be being filled” or continually filled. It is like consuming food and water. We have to continue being filled in order to survive. The same is true of the Spirit. We must continually fill up with the Spirit.

Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

But here in this verse, we see that what stands at opposition to being Spirit filled is being drunk with wine. Why? Because the alcohol has a controlling influence and leads the drinker by its own power. Paul described some of that here:

1 Tim 3:3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;

So to qualify as a Spirit-driven candidate for leadership in the kingdom, we must stay away from that misguided influence and control:

Titus 1:7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;

The destructive results of alcohol consumption are seen over and over again all around us. Solomon observed this truth:

Prov 23:21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

Some people say they do not have enough money to pay their rent or to provide proper food or clothing for their family, but they have enough to purchase alcohol, cigarettes, and lottery tickets. Why? Because they have become led by another power other than God. Let the Spirit be the controlling influence not some chemical substitute. That is the pursuit of someone who wants to live for God.

We conclude this topic today on “How can I live for God?” and tomorrow will begin a very difficult subject: holiness in our talk.

Peter reminded us that as servants of Christ, we are a “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9). There are some ways of our priesthood that we can learn from priestly instructions in the Old Testament. For instance, the priests had a prohibition against drinking:

Lev 10:8-9
8 And the LORD spake unto Aaron, saying,
9 Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:

Years after Aaron, Isaiah rose up to repeat that prohibition and explain why it is important. Their vision and judgment are impaired:

Isa 28:7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.

In the days of Jeremiah, he also mentioned the prohibition and noted a family that was very committed to it:

Jer 35:5-6
5 And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.
6 But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:

Tomorrow we will look at companion verses in the New Testament.

Should someone who has a desire to please God be a consumer of alcoholic beverages?

Some will do drink alcoholic beverages will point to some passages of where Noah, Jesus, or Timothy drank wine and infer that drinking is acceptable for us. Especially considering that Jesus turned water into wine on the occasion of a wedding.

But then on the side of abstinence, there are many passages that speak of the evils of alcohol and even forbid its use. What is the proper interpretation and application of the subject for someone who is simply hungry to live in obedience to God? The best interpretation of these passages will lead one to abstinence.

First it is important to remember that the same words that are translated “wine” in the Old and New Testaments can refer to either unfermented or fermented fruit drinks. The distinguishing factor is where some references are to “new wine” (unfermented) or to a passage that refers to drinking that leads to drunkenness (fermented).

Let us look at some principles on the subject that help us decide. Consider he plight of this poor soul who took the first drink and was led down the path to drunkenness.

Prov 23:31-35
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast .
35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

Another question a maturing Christian will honestly consider is, “Should I drink liquor or other alcoholic beverages? Depending on your background, this may or not be important. But for those of us who have had to deal with the strong influence/control of the stuff, it can be a defining question. What about it? Is drinking alcohol ok? The best answer is no. Let’s examine why.

We are King’s kids—that makes us princes and princesses!

Prov 31:4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:

Strong drink has power over the drinker and also indirectly influences the lives of many others. As “princes”, we remember that we are King’s kids and must live responsibly under control over our actions. Our actions DO influence others.

More next time…

We must also remember that we are the temple of the Holy Ghost as we make decisions about how to live for God. God dwells in this body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Here is a good example of how to apply this scripture. Since my body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, should I be puffing a cigarette and pouring poisons into my Holy Ghost temple? Consider what is in cigarette tobacco: Cigarettes contain over 4000 chemicals including tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide, radioactive compounds, irritant substances (for example, hydrogen cyanide, acetone, ammonia, arsenic, phenol, naphthalene). The main ones that cause problems are tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide. Tar is the main cause of lung, mouth and throat cancer in smokers and aggravates bronchial and respiratory diseases.

Nicotine is a highly addictive drug that first stimulates the brain and then depresses it and is also a poison, it has a dramatic effect on the circulatory system, increasing the heart rate and constricting small blood vessels. Carbon monoxide is an odourless, colourless and very poisonous gas that is taken up faster by blood in the lungs than oxygen. This causes the blood to have less oxygen to supply the cells of the body.

Cigarette smoke causes the smoker to smell bad and causes other people to suffer around them. In perspective, that does not make for a proper way to treat a holy temple. It is disrespectful to its sacredness. That is why many churches have a healthy tradition of teaching against smoking. It is a hallowed respect for the temple, our body.

Application of the offense principle

There are plenty of things that we may stay away from because we don’t want to sin against our brother. Some things are just a bad idea for kingdom-minded Christians:

1 Corinthians 6:12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient [useful, helpful, beneficial]: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

Worldly events and entertainment venues where one is brought “under the power” of the mob is not beneficial to our spiritual walk. While some venues of entertainment/recreation that may not necessarily be a sin in and of themselves, and may even be good for our health, yet they may also have another side that is evil. Is that recreation or form of entertainment engrossed by gambling, immodesty, lust, drunkenness, idol worship, and violence? These are things which a maturing Christian will want to stay away from.

Back to 1 Cor 6:12, drinking alcohol and taking mood altering drugs fits under the last part of this verse because they bring users under their power. When making choices of entertainment or recreation, consider if participation in that thing is a hindrance to your faith or can cause someone to stumble or lose out on their faith or damage their testimony:

1 Cor 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

When should traditions of the church affect our living for God?

I would like to introduce what may be called the offense principle. In 1 Corinthians chapters 6 and 8, Paul describes another principle that affects our standards of conduct (holiness standards)—concern for others. Even if there is not a precise verse that says “thou shalt not do this”, there is a principle that says, “thou shalt not make thy brother to offend or stumble.”

In his day, many if not most Christians had been converted from Judaism, including Paul himself and all the other apostles. And, sticking to their Jewish roots, they would avoid meat markets that were owned by idolaters. The meat in those markets, for example, the beef, had been killed and dedicated by the butcher as a sacrifice to a pagan deity. Then after the ceremonial offering to the deity, the butcher would sell that meat in their street market. Eating meat from such a market was an offence to the faith of many of the Jewish/Christian believers.

With this in mind, while with such a person, Paul would not eat that meat:

1 Cor 8:13 Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.

Paul said to do so was sinning against your brother, and by sinning against your brother, you sin against Christ—that is serious. This is where the religious traditions of your companions/associates come into play in decisions you make.

1 Cor 8:12 But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.

So another underlying principle of holiness is to not only watch what you do, but also watch for the appearance of what you are doing because of the association with evil.

1 Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.

Warning about traditions

Let’s first observe a warning about traditions. Churches can develop traditions for which there is no solid biblical basis. Somewhere in the past, someone with a heart to please God felt conviction about something and then preached it to a congregation. The conviction may have been based on a scriptural principal, a misinterpretation of a scripture, or maybe was not based on scripture at all.

I heard of the following examples from elders that these were once considered a sin by some: wearing a colored shirt, a neck tie, open-toed shoes, or panty hose, drinking coffee, listening to the radio, eating meat on Friday, or shopping on Sunday.

There is a danger of teaching our traditions as if they are equal to a doctrine of scripture.

Mark 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Some church traditions may actually be contrary to the principles of the Word of God:

Mark 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

As an example, some church traditions include praying to statues while the scriptures strictly forbid that. Jesus said that was when it was wrong to keep these traditions. Going to a particular church because it is family tradition may be a bad thing if that church does not teach the whole Bible, or if its teachings are based on incorrect applications or interpretation of scripture. Let the Word of God speak for itself. It will be your guide on how to live for God.

What about church traditions?

When we are making lifestyle choices on how to live for God, a resource for help can be found within the church, through our pastor and elders. They can be a valuable resource for spiritual guidance to help steer us onto the highway of holiness. As Paul said, some important standards are passed on by traditions of our elders:

2 Thess 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

As Paul mentioned here, there were some traditions that he wrote down in his letters that became part of the Word of God, and others about which he only spoke while preaching at their the churches.

Traditions that are passed down from generation to generation to help people avoid temptation and sin are worth looking at. Rev. Jack Cunningham, while serving as a national director of home missions, gave me this sage advice on the subject:

“Before we younger preachers decide to tear down a fence, we ought to figure out why it was put up in the first place.”

An event in Moses’ life provides a good example of how spiritual traditions can be set by a spiritual leader. God came down on Mt. Sinai to give Moses the commandments. God told Moses to set the boundary around the mountain of God that people should not pass:

Exodus 19:12 And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:

God gave Moses the job of marking the line that no one should cross. It was obvious how far was too far but where was the point where it got too close for safety? God said, Let the man of God decide.

But isn’t there a danger in giving such power to humans who are subject to failure or corruption? What if they are wrong? Let’s examine this tomorrow.

Does the Bible say anything about makeup?

We have been exploring the depths of the subject, “How can I live for God?” That subject touches every area of our lives. When a maturing Christian asks the question, “Is there anything wrong with wearing makeup? Should I be concerned if there is there anything in the Bible either in favor or against?” How shall we answer that?

In scripture, makeup is associated with the shame of the adulterer and wicked people. We learn from history that cosmetics had their origin in Egypt . It is not a coincidence that Ezekiel mentioned that, among many things, jewels and makeup are part of the wickedness that the Israelites picked up from Egypt .

Ezekiel 23:27, 40
27 Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt : so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more.
40 And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,

In addition to the command to cease from participation in the lewd things of Egypt , including makeup, we also find that wearing makeup was one of the trademark behaviors of the woman who is spoken of as perhaps the most wicked woman in the Bible, Queen Jezebel:

2 Kings 9:30 And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.

In the light of the scriptural view of cosmetics, someone pursuing godliness should avoid using them. Products in this category include things that color the face, eyes, lips, and nails.

Another way of decorating the body that is spoken against by the Lord is tattoos:

Leviticus 19:28 Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

The Lord says, “I am the Lord, don’t do this.” God has set standards against putting on ornaments, painting the flesh and printing marks on the body.