Strong Drink

Pro 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. 

The Bible is a book of tremendous wisdom.  It is not the wisdom of man, but the wisdom of God.  Modern society has lost its shame when it comes to the use of alcohol.  I'm not that old, but I can remember a time in our nation when it was an absolute shame for a woman to even buy alcohol.  You would never see a woman even buying it.  There were laws in place that did not even permit the purchase of alcohol on Sunday, the Lord's Day.  There were dry counties and places that didn't even permit the selling of liquor by the drink.  Our nation has drifted a long way from its moral foundations.  Every year our nation sees the costs of alcohol on our society.  People die on our highways driving and drinking every day.  The costs of addiction to our society is staggering.  How wise the Word of God when it says, "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging:  and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."

Who are you living for?

2Co 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. 

We see in this single verse of Scripture the scope of the Salvation offered through the Lord Jesus Christ.  He died for all.  Christ died for every man, woman and child that has ever or will ever live upon this earth.  Salvation is a free gift that is offered to all.  Jesus carried the sins of the whole world upon Himself when He died on the cross at Calvary.  God demonstrated His love toward us by allowing His only begotten Son to die for us at Calvary.  Christ demonstrated victory over the grave when He rose again on the third day.  If Christ was willing to lay down His life for us, the least we can do is live our lives for Him and not for ourselves.  If Christ has forgiven your sins through salvation, are you living for Him or yourself.  We all tend to be far more selfish than we should be.  If we're not careful we will expend all of our time and energy living for self and neglect what God wants us to do.  Let's pray and ask God to refocus our lives exactly where he wants it to be.

Finding Favor

Pro 3:1 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:

Pro 3:2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

Pro 3:3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 

Pro 3:4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

 Everyone wants to live a long and prosperous life.  Many times our idea of prosperous is different than God's idea of prosperous.  God considers our life prosperous when we are living a life that is yielded to Him for His honor and glory.  If we will keep God's commandments in our life day by day our life will be greatly blessed.  Sin takes a toll on those that practice it day after day.  Think about the alcoholic or drug addict that has indulged in their sin for any length of time.  The sin shows in their countenance.  It isn't hard to tell if someone has been an alcoholic for years.  It shows on their face.  God challenges us through His Word to not let mercy and truth forsake us.  We should bind mercy and truth about our neck and write them upon the table of our heart.  If we will remember God's mercy at work in our life everyday and take time to study God's truth it will bring us to a place of truth in our life.  Not only can we know God's peace, but we learn that we will find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.  We find favour in God's sight because we are being obedient to Him.  We find favour in the sight of man because they see Christ manifested in our lives as we live our lives for Christ.

Ashamed of the Gospel?

Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 

Are we ashamed of the Gospel of Christ?  The Gospel is the death, burial, resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The word "Gospel" means "Good news".  One might wonder how a message about death and burial could be good news.  It is good news because Jesus Christ paid the redemptive price for our sins on the cross by His shed blood.  He suffered and died for us, but that's not the end of the story.  Christ rose from the dead on the third day.  The Bible declares for us to be saved we must repent of our sins and believe these things about Christ and then we can call on Christ and be saved.  

As Christians we have experienced the good news of the Gospel, but are we sharing it with others?  Christ came to die for the sins of all mankind!  We have an incredible responsibility to go and to preach the Gospel to every creature.  To share the Gospel we have to tell it everywhere we go.  It's not enough to think that someone else is going to tell it.  God will put people in your path that I will never meet in this life.  I can't reach those people.  God has given you that responsibility.  Don't ever be ashamed of the Gospel, remember what it did for you and gladly share it with others.

Grace, then Peace

Php 1:1 Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
Php 1:2 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Php 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
Php 1:4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
Php 1:5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;

Php 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Time after time in the Pauline Epistles we see Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, as he greets the churches use the phrase Grace be unto you and then peace.  The order of these two words is significant.  We have to experience God's grace through salvation before we can ever know the peace that God offers.  We live in a world of turmoil and distress where there is very little peace, but God offers peace to those that will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul was thankful to God on every remembrance of the church at Philippi.  The church is a wonderful thing in the life of the believer.  It is a means that God uses to edify us as believers and to encourage us to continue our walk with the Lord.  It is a place where we gain strength for the spiritual battle ahead.  It's where we bear one another's burdens.  Paul was grateful for the place that the Philippian church held in his heart.  Paul's continual prayer for the church was that they would continue in their fellowship in the Gospel.  That is the true foundation that the church has for fellowship, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  If a church or person doesn't believe the Gospel we should have no fellowship with them.

Paul's confidence rested in the fact that Christ would continue to perform His work in the lives of the Christians of Philippi.  When Christ saves us it is simply a starting point.  Christ begins a work in our life to conform us to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ day by day as we walk with Him. 

 

A Righteous Man

Gen 7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. 

Gen 7:4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. 

Gen 7:16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. 

In Genesis 7 we see a very familiar story in the Scriptures.  It is the story of God's anger at a generation that had completely turned its back upon Him.  The Lord told Noah to build an ark because he was going to destroy all mankind, because of their wickedness.  When the appointed time came God called Noah into the ark along with his family.  The reason that Noah was saved is because God saw him as righteous.  He was righteous because he trusted God entirely, by faith.  He believed what God said and who God was!  God miraculously caused the animals to go to Noah on the ark and when the animals and Noah and his family were boarded the Bible tells us that the LORD shut him in.  

What a perfect place of peace and security.  We can get no more secure than when God seals us in.  God was going to keep this righteous man safe from the pending judgment that would fall upon the face of the entire earth.  God preserves His righteous from destruction.  In Sodom God sent angels to Lot to warn him of the pending disaster.  In the Book of the Revelation in chapter three, verse ten we see that God will keep His righteous people safe from the terrible time of judgment that will fall during the Tribulation.  

Children Obey Your Parents

Eph 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.

Eph 6:2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) 

Eph 6:3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

We live in a selfish generation.  A generation that is very adept at putting self first.  We want our way at the exclusion of every other person, including our parents.  Somehow as young people we think we have all the answers.  We've reached some magical state of maturity at the age of twelve where we know everything about anything.  How can our parents dare suppose that they can tell us what we should do?  Who do they think they are?

Paul reminds the children at Ephesus of a very important biblical principle.  Children are to obey their parents in the Lord.  If their parents are walking with the Lord they have acquired godly wisdom as they have studied the Scriptures and walked with God.  Paul declares by inspiration of the Holy Spirit that for children to obey their parents is right!  Not only should children obey, but they are to honour their parents.  The word "Honour" means to esteem, to have a high estimation for.  We should hold our parents in high regard if they love God and want to live for God.  We should have a high estimation for their wisdom, their love and care for us.  They loved us and cared for us when we couldn't care for ourselves.  

Paul explains that if we'll do these things it will go well for us.  We are promised a special blessing of prolonging our days upon the earth if we will honour our parents.