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You mean so in 1st Timothy chapter 4 I want to look there at verse 6 where it reads if thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things Thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ nourish up in the words of faith and of good doctrine Where unto thou hast attained so Paul's telling Timothy here that in order for him to be a good minister He has to put the brethren remembrance of these things and of course, what are the these things there? Well, it's everything in the preceding verses right that in the latter time some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing Spirits and doctrines of devils speaking lies in hypocrisy having their conscience seared with a hot iron Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain for meats which God hath created to be received at Thanksgiving of them Which believe and know the truth? So he's saying look if you remind them if you'll put them remembrance of the fact that in the latter times There's going to be this group of people that come out and these are the type of things that they're going to teach You will be a good minister, right? Reminding them that there's going to be false prophets in the world who command to who do all these things But specifically what I want to look at is in verse 3 it says where they command that they are commanding to abstain From meats. Okay, they're commanding to abstain from meats and you know, this is something that's part of false religion You know that you get the Catholic Church, right? Like isn't it every Friday where they say hey no meat on Friday meatless Friday, isn't that a thing? I know back in Michigan, you know, we had a very Catholic community and we had a lot of fish fries You know all the restaurants, you know They have an all-you-can-eat perch fish fry and Friday and me even as a non Catholic I really enjoyed that, you know, but I always kind of thought to myself. Is this really suffering for the Lord? Is this what you count as suffering like? Oh, I have to go eat battered fish instead of a steak Like to me is a pretty good trade-off So I don't you know I was kind of thankful for the Catholic Church on that note to be honest that they did that because then all these fish Fries around, you know 12 bucks all you can eat perch man. That's a good deal But look the point is this is that this is something that's taught within the Catholic Church that they command That you abstain from each and there's a lot of other things in this passage that describe the Catholic Church to a tee Isn't there and I don't want to preach all that, you know the forbidding to marry having their conscience here with the hot iron Speaking lies and hypocrisy, you know, these are things that we could talk about regarding the Catholic Church But also, you know other religions Hinduism they command to abstain from meats, you know Don't eat the sacred cows and all on things like this and even today, you know in the non religious world, you know We see that Vegetarianism and veganism is something that's being heavily promoted. Okay. Now, let me say this, you know Vegetarianism and veganism is not inherently sinful, you know If you know somebody who's a vegetarian or somebody who's vegan? It's a plant-based diet or a plant centered diet or whatever they're calling it Now that does not necessarily make them a sinful person Okay But I do believe that you know It's it is a kind of an end times doctrine that we're seeing pushed over and over and over again I mean I got on Google and just in my Google newsfeed just out of nowhere It's just article after article after article is you know plant-based the wave of the future. I'm driving down the road You know Burger King is all is Advertising their meatless burger. It's this is meatless. This is meatless. This looks like meat, but it's not meat, you know It's like this big push out there Against meat. Okay, and I'm a Baptist. I'm gonna stand up for me All right, we're gonna stand up and we're gonna take a stand But look the reason I'm reason I'm preaching this is because it does say if thou if you put the brethren in remembrance of these Things thou shalt be a good minister and I've even known you know Baptists, I know it's hard to believe that have practiced vegetarianism and veganism and look again. There's nothing wrong with that There's nothing sinful about it, but I don't believe that this is a biblical diet This is not something that God's people should try to follow it is Unbiblical and unbib it's an unbiblical diet. That is what gaining in popularity Okay, so I thought I want to preach at it You know out of the context of you know The religious element that we see here in first Timothy 4 just kind of narrowing in You know that there's this abstinence from meat that is going to be prevalent in the latter days And isn't that exactly what we see happening in our world today? I mean when I was growing up which wasn't that long ago, you know, it was just vegetarianism There was in their vegan didn't I didn't know if that existed back then if it did it was a very small minority I'd never heard of it, you know until and then it seems like recently, you know, vegetarianism wasn't enough now We got to go full vegan. Okay, and look I understand that within vegetarianism and veganism There's all different, you know branches of that people are more strict than than others, but the Bible says here in verse chapter 5 Excuse me first chapter 4 it says that every creature of God is good that every creature of God is good and that's the title of the sermon every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with Thanksgiving so People can certainly make their own decisions obviously about what they choose to eat But we can never go to place and say that it God has commanded us to abstain from me So that God is promoting a vegetarian or vegan diet. It's just not in there The Bible says the exact opposite in the New Testament It says right here that every creature of God is good and it's talking about eating them You know, it's not talking about that. They all make a good pet, you know, it's talking about that They all make a good meal. Okay, and nothing to be refused So the Bible does not promote any type of veganism. It does not promote any time of Vegetarianism Now again, let me just say this this does not Mean that if you are one who practices this that you are necessarily a sinful person, you know We shouldn't hold that against people right because you know, we might have this knowledge, but you know knowledge puffeth up and charity edify Right. We don't want to just say well We know that the Bible doesn't promote that the Bible says every Creature of God is good and then kind of look down on people and people tend this is something that could happen You know someone comes in here and has one of these, you know These type of diets it could be that people want to kind of think poorly of that person What you should do is just be thankful that you know at the barbecue you get their portion, right? There's gonna be an extra burger on the grill. There's gonna be more hot dogs for you, right? But what we don't want to do is start to look down on them or think that they're in some kind of sin Okay, because they're not go over to Romans chapter 14 Romans chapter number 14 Romans chapter number 14 I'll begin reading in verse 1, you know being a vegetarian or being vegan does not make you a sinful person It says in verse 1 him that is weak in the faith receive even not to doubtful disputations You know, we should receive people that are weak in the faith, you know, this would be people, you know What does that mean that maybe they have doubts about? Certain things about the Word of God or they have a lot of questions You know They have they maybe they're not grounded and firm and firmed up and shored up on the doctrines of the Word of God They're they're new to the faith. They're new to church They're not really, you know, they haven't been nourished up on the in the words of faith and doctrine They haven't had the you know, the the milk of the word and been given the chance to grow there by You know what that says that we should receive them, you know We shouldn't just mock them and say oh, you don't know that already because look we all started out that way, right? We all started out not having knowledge. We had to learn things and we are all still in that process of learning You know, none of us has completely arrived and knows everything about the Word of God and knows everything there is to know about You know living the Christian life There's a lot of things that we have to learn and experience and go through so we should when you know Somebody comes in that's weak in the faith. We should receive them. But what's the exception not to doubtful disputations? You know if they just want to keep bringing in false doctrine and trying to sow False doctrine the church and being are being corrected and corrected and corrected. Yeah, then we have to deal with that But you know Paul it narrows it down here to you know, specifically about diet, right? Says look one that is weak in the faith receive them but not to doubtful disputation for one believeth that he may eat all things Amen, right? That's that's that's us one believeth that he may eat all things another who is weak eateth herbs Okay, so it doesn't say that one who eateth herbs is in sin It doesn't say their backslid doesn't say they're right with they're not right with God It doesn't see they need to they need to fix that. It just says what that they're weak Right, maybe they're weak in the faith or you know, even weak physically, you know I'm sure there's plenty of exceptions out there that prove the rule and there's plenty of Vegetarians and vegans out there who are living very healthy lives and are in great shape But you know what? There's also a lot of them out there that are very poor physical health, you know And the majority that I've met the ones that I've known personally they usually have some kind of an ailment I mean if I've seen YouTube videos where people just chronicle the different vegetarian and vegan Youtubers over the years where you just watch these people become more and more, you know Just emaciated their teeth start to fall out hair falls out. They have health problems because they're not eating right. What are they? They're weak. Okay Physically weak. Okay But again, that doesn't make them sinful, you know, it doesn't make them wicked people It just means that they're mixed up on this and they need to get it right For their own sake more than anything it says for one believe it that he made all things another who is weak eateth Herb let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not so he's saying look If there's someone who comes in and eats meat eats all things don't despise the person who doesn't eat. Okay? For God, excuse me Let him not judge that which him which eateth and vice versa and let not him which eateth not judge him That eateth for God hath received him who art thou that judge another man's servant So again this eating of herbs, you know and really in Romans 14, you know We're and with other scripture we get we're getting into the eating things which are sacrificed unto idols. I understand that Okay Please you also we could apply that to the fact that there's one who eateth all things Right all meats and there's one who just eats herbs and the guy who eats herbs. It makes them weak. It makes them unhealthy So, you know, this is one so I'm just making the point that the Bible does not promote a vegetarian diet And you say I already know that, you know, I'm looking around here. Everyone's everyone looks like they're they're eating just fine All right. In fact, I know some of you ate pretty good today So and there was no, you know, there was plenty of dairy and and meat and animal products and everything that we ate You know, but this is something that we need to preach because well, you know, what about the kids? You know The kids are gonna grow up and they're gonna be taught different things people and this is being pushed in our society this vegetarian plant-based You know Philosophy that's out there, you know a lot of people it's it's it's they caught they say it's for ethical reasons You know I remember being told by a vegetarian and this wasn't I didn't even I knew this person for years I know they had been a vegetarian in the past, but I thought they'd you know gotten over it That they had stopped being a vegetarian, but they hadn't and then one day over dinner Well, I'm just you know stuff in my face with you know Whatever they had at the Chinese buffet, you know, the all the all the good meats that they had there I said, you know just rice aren't you gonna have you know, the Dumpling aren't you gonna have the you know, the beef on that on the stick whatever they call that, right? Are you gonna have the pork roll? Aren't you gonna have the you know, the the the chicken and whatever and they told me I Don't eat anything that has a face I don't eat anything that has a face and you know They said it in such a way where it's like you should feel bad about eating stuff with a face Right, like I should feel bad about the fact that I ate something that had a face Now look I'm gonna eat things that have a face And I don't care what kind of face they make Then I saw this picture of this this fish these people caught the other day's fishermen caught a fish What else would they catch and then? And the thing had teeth I'm not kidding you it looked like human teeth And this was like in a Google News feed somewhere This was like this wasn't like some you know, you're like what you stand up late watching YouTube and eating pizza What do you what are you doing over there? You can know but this is like a legit news article This this fish had human looking teeth now. I don't know if I'd eat that fish But not because of the fact that it has a face but because of the face that it has right and it's got human teeth You know that might be a little bit eerie, right? Well look vegetarians, you know Or those that you know observe, you know, this this vegan type of diet, you know, they they are not more spiritual either Okay, because that's how it worked there in Romans chapter 4 root 14 It said there let not him that eat it despise him that eateth not and let not him which eateth not Judge him that eateth, right? So look this is kind of sounds to me like it's a matter of preference. I Mean the Bible definitely takes aside and says look you eat herbs. You're weak That you know every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with Thanksgiving and prayer Right that God has given us these things and we'll look at some other passages But you know even that even that being the case that you know, the Bible kind of seems to come down on the side of meat-eating You know neither side should judge one another over this You know and it's important for the people who are you know The vegetarians the plant-based people to also understand that this does not make you a more spiritual person, okay Or you and people who will say, you know, they're not vegetarian They're not vegan, but they still observe some of the you know, Levitical dietary restrictions, you know And I've heard I've heard people, you know venerate Preachers of the past and preachers of the past themselves get up and just say, you know I don't eat pork because God just doesn't like pork. It seems to me I read the Old Testament and God told his people not to eat pork, you know And I know it's been done away in Christ, but I'm just gonna go ahead and keep on not eating pork You know more pork for me, I guess right but I'm not you know And they say it with this air of that They're more spiritual because they observe some dietary custom that has been done away with Christ Look that doesn't make you more spiritual because you pass on the bacon Okay, it just means that you're missing out on some bacon that's all it means Right and even and even the people that it's not even the people that do that then you have other people who look at them And say I just really admire that about old preacher so-and-so of yesteryear how he just you know Despite it being done away in Christ. He just he just refused to eat pork because God didn't like it now It's not that God had something against pigs if anything, you know, it seemed like God had something against the children of Israel I mean refusing them pork. That's like that's like the greatest meat But we understand we'll get in here a minute that you know, that was all symbolic There was a the reason behind that wasn't to you know Cuz God had something against pigs or that God wanted to just deprive people of something good It was because of this was these were all symbolic things. There was purpose behind all of that So to sit there and to say well, you know, maybe you're not vegetarian Maybe you're not vegan, but you still observe these dietary restrictions to some degree You know that doesn't make you more spiritual, okay, that just means you're missing out and that you're trying to you know Live on an old program, okay The Bible says if you would we'll look at Leviticus 11 real quick There's a lot there, but we'll look at Leviticus 11 go over there And people want to think that they're holier or they're better just because they might observe You know these Old Testament dietary restrictions or maybe they don't eat meat at all they think that they're you know, somehow better than other people and In the Bible says Jesus said Matthew 15 not that which goeth into the man defileth a man But that which cometh out of the mouth this defileth the man, you know What what really makes you defile before God and man is what comes out of your mouth and not what goes into it You know, it's the complete opposite Now the Bible does command, you know that there were there were dietary restrictions now at first, you know We just read it first Timothy every creature of God is good. So we already know that that's been taken off No pun intended the table right or it's actually been put back on the table, right that we have We are no thing is off-limits to us anymore Okay, but that wasn't always the case and we understand, you know I don't know. We won't take the whole time read all of Leviticus 11 if you really want to know the details of What was and wasn't allowed under the Levitical law, you know, here it is, okay, but you know real quick, you know Verse two speak unto the children of Israel saying these are the beasts which he shall eat among Excuse me The children of Israel saying these are the beasts which you shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth Whatsoever parteth the hoof and is cloven footed and chew at the cud among the beasts that shall ye eat so that's what's allowed right things that are Parting the hoof are cloven footed and that chew the cut. Okay, so there's those three stipulations and We won't get into the whole zoology here about which animals do that jump down to verse 9 These shall you eat of all that are in the water whatsoever hath fins and scales in the water in the seas and the rivers And them shall you eat so, you know the the lobster the shrimp off-limits Okay, because it doesn't have this it does has you know I guess you would say a lobster has a fin but doesn't really have the scales Verse 13 and these are they which he shall have an abomination among fowls, right? so he gets into the birds and this also applies to The insects if you look at verse 21 Yet these may eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four which have legs above their feet to leap with all upon the earth either of them may eat the locust after his kind the bald locust after his kind and The beetle after his kind and the grasshopper after his kind no, that's a very limited amount of insects that are allowed Okay, and I you know if there was any part of Levitical priesthood I could bring back It would be this one because you see people that are eating like termites and all kinds of just weird bugs You know This is it's it's it's kind of creepy even some of these these creatures that people eat out of the ocean these these squids and octopuses They're just biting the heads off of them brains and everything It's just like it, you know in some in Asian countries. It seems like it's a real delicacy that they enjoy We're pretty squeamish about it over here because we just never ate that kind of thing, right? But he says look if you're gonna eat insects, this is it if you're gonna eat You know that which is in the waters. This is it beasts. This is it fowls. This is it and God is putting these restrictions in place right Look at verse 29 He's also shall be unclean unto You among the creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth the weasel the mouse and the tortoise after his kind and the ferret now I had a pet ferret. I don't know why anyone would want to eat a ferret And the chameleon and the lizard and the snail and the mole. Okay, these are all things you weren't allowed to eat back then Now I don't know that again people want to say well You know people sometimes they read this and they think well Maybe there's something inherently bad about these animals like God just knows that if we eat them, they're not good for us We know that's not the case because at first Timothy said every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused So what is it the New Testament God God is just saying you know what it's bad for you, but go ahead and eat it Anyway, you know, that's not that's not what's going on here. What's going on? Is that these restrictions? They are symbolic And you know, there's probably some real specific Symbolism you could draw out of these specific animals You know, you could talk about what it means to part the hooves and to chew the cud. There's a lot of symbolism there But really just you know, generally speaking The overarching symbolism here is that God's people are to be separate than the other nations And this is how God did that Look there in verse 44 for I am the Lord your God You there sure shall therefore shall sanctify yourselves What does it mean to sanctify to be separate right and he shall be holy for I am holy Neither shall you defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth For I am the Lord that God that brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God Ye therefore shall be holy for I am holy for this is the law of beasts and a foul and of every Living creature that moveth in waters and of the creatures that creepeth upon the earth to make a difference between the unclean and the clean And between the the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten So the symbolism is that he wants there to difference between clean and unclean now go over to go over to Go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 And God is saying look you're my people. So what's the symbolism here? Is that we are to be separate from the world, you know that we are clean in God We've been made clean in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are separate from other people. We're not like the world. We're saved. We're clean They are unclean You know and this would have been a testimony back then, you know, this would have been something they would say Well, I don't eat that. Well, why not? Well, because the Lord God has forbidden it and let me tell you about the Lord God, right? this was a This is what I believe this was just a simply a testimony that God's people had back then To show that they were different that they were different from the unsaved heathen that around them that ate all these other things Okay, it was nothing that there I don't think it's that there was anything inherently bad with these animals that God was just You know trying to preserve the children Israel's health here or something like that It's just that he's saying look there needs to be a difference between the clean and unclean there needs to be a difference between you and between the world It says in Deuteronomy chapter 14, which is another passage which sums all of this dietary restriction up It says in verse 1 year the children of the Lord your God You shall not cut yourselves nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead for thou art and holy people in the Lord thy God and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself above all the nations that are upon the earth He's saying look you're you're different. You're peculiar. You're different than all the other nations upon the earth He's saying you are going to be a light unto the Gentiles Okay, and what does he say in verse 3 thou shalt not eat any abominable thing now? They're abominable because God has called them abominable He's saying look these that this is what is abominable to me if you eat these things you are unclean These are unclean animals simply because he has decreed them to be unclean not because there's anything inherently bad about them Okay, because again first Timothy 4 we know what that says all creature everything every creature of God is good. Okay So he's saying look you're not getting any abominable thing because you are in holy people unto the Lord your God you're different, okay? And I believe this is symbolic of New Testament salvation You know, which is the same as Old Testament salvation, but it's it's made clear in the New Testament that we are saved in Christ Okay, we're always saved by faith. We understand that but that God's people are supposed to be different from the world. Okay? You're second Corinthians chapter 6 to have you go there second Corinthians 6 it says at first Peter 1 But as he which hath called you as holy so be holy in all manner of conversation Because it is written you'll be holy for I am holy, you know, God wants us to be like him And what is God God is holy, you know, he is separate. He is not like this world Okay, he is he is he's separated from the world the whole world lieth and wickedness, you know, God is holy It says in second Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14 be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers For what fellowship hath righteousness with Unrighteousness and what hath can what communion hath light with darkness and what concord hath Christ with Belial or what part he that believeth with? an infidel and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols for ye are the temple of the living God as God has said I will dwell in them and walk in them and will be their God and they shall be my people Wherefore come out from among them and be separate saith the Lord and what does he say here and touch not the unclean thing? He's referring back to the Old Testament Dietary restriction saying don't touch that don't eat that which is unclean Okay And he's using that as an illustration that we as God's people are Separate from the world that we should not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Okay? And he said verse 18 if you do that, I will be a father unto you You should be my sons and my daughters saith the Lord Almighty So you say what was the purpose between the Old Testament dietary restrictions? It was simply symbolic of the fact that God's people are separate from the world They've been called out from that which is unclean and made clean in Christ Now that's not to say that God hasn't you know? changed man's diet over Time, you know, we understand that he has you know, the Bible might not it doesn't promote a vegan diet It doesn't promote vegetarianism But in the past, you know veganism was the thing we man did eat a plant-based diet solely no meats were you If you go over to well, I'll just read you we all probably pretty familiar I hope with Genesis that what the Bible says in Genesis about You know the Garden of Eden right in the Garden of Eden before the fall, you know God had given us every herb yielding seed which is upon the earth the face of all the earth at every tree In which is the fruit of the tree yielding seed to you it shall be for me So that's what God gave man to eat, right? That which is growing in the trees that which came of the earth Fruits vegetables that was God's diet. Okay? And it says in verse 13 to every beast of the earth and every fowl of the air and to everything that creepeth upon the Earth wherein there is life I have given green herb for meat and it was so So even the animals back then were also all what vegetarian they did not eat each other, okay, because you have to remember That man was sinless back then but there was no sin in the world, right and by one man sin entered the world It's so death passed upon all men, right? That's how that's how death came was through sin Look if we're gonna eat animals something has to die, right? We have to kill that animal and then we have to eat it But back then there was no death. That's why You know, we couldn't be eating animals. That's why man, you know, we don't understand it But obvious clearly obviously if this is what God deemed man to eat Our makeup our physical body was different in some way to where we were perfectly adapted To survive solely off of a vegetarian diet. Okay. So again, it's not that vegetarianism is Sinful or wicked. It's just not biblical anymore things have changed No death has passed upon all men sin has come into the world and God has deemed You know that since then that now yes, you are going to eat animals. That's what happened You know in Genesis 9 when Noah got off the flood or got off the ark after the flood He said that unto his sons and Noah that they shall that the fear and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of The earth right? So prior to that sounds like, you know You know the bird would land on your shoulder, you know, you could walk up to the wild animal There was no dread. Okay, but after the ark, you know, he's saying look after the flood He's saying the dread of you shall be upon the beasts of the earth and upon every fowl there, you know, this is why we have to hunt this food now and Upon moveth and all that moveth upon the earth and upon all the fishes of the sea into your hand They are delivered every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you So that was the change but prior to that man did eat a you know plant-based diet So again, it's not that plant-based diets are wicked It's just that you know, it's not the time for that anymore. That has something that is done away This is what we are to eat now the the beasts of the earth Now that doesn't mean we eat that to the exclusion of all fruits and vegetables Sorry to break that to you. Okay, you still have you know to be perfectly honest We'd all probably do better to maybe not have a plant-based diet or a plant centered diet But maybe just kind of get plants and vegetables and fruits and that it's somewhere in the picture of our diet Maybe it doesn't have to be the cornerstone of our of our diet, but you know, it does have you know some benefit there We should be eating getting the fiber getting the nutrients getting the vitamins that are in there You know, it's not that it's one or the other it's that it's both. Okay. It's not one to the exclusion of the other So veganism, you know is something that was practiced but clearly it is not anymore We have been adapted, you know, the creation was altered and we saw that in Noah's Ark The fear the dread of us came upon all men We hunted you know creation had changed our diet changed and here's here's the thing And this is kind of this is kind of hard for me to accept when I first heard it But here's the thing. We're gonna go back to veganism in in the future. I believe that I believe because again, what what what prevented man from eating beasts and animals in the Garden of Eden It was the fact that you know that there was no death Okay, and we know that in the new heaven a new earth, you know The last enemy that shall be defeated before that is death that death is something that is going to be done away with You know, I'm sorry, you know Elton John lied to you. Okay, don't believe the Lion King death is you know It's not the circle of life You know, they people want to romanticize death in this culture death is the enemy my friend death is a curse You know, it's not some beautiful transition that that that Hollywood tries to make it's not the circle of life It's the end of life Okay, death is the enemy God's going to remove death which means this that once we get into the new heaven and the new earth Guess what? No more meat. Oh You're starting out heavens not sounding so good. Is it? You know just get your fill. All right, that's all I'm saying Just get it in now while you can because I don't believe it's gonna be something that happens go over to Revelation 21 Revelation chapter 21 We'll read about this. There's not going to be any death in the new heaven the earth. Therefore You can't not you know, you can't go around killing animals to eat them. Okay It says in Revelation 21 verse 1 and I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth Were passed away and there was no more sea and I John saw the holy city new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a great voice out of heaven saying behold the tabernacle of God is With men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and shall be their God and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow No crying. Now. There should be any more pain for the former things are passed away. And what are the former things? Well death, you know killing this old and this diet that we're on right now where we're eating animals and animals Are eating one another that's all going to go away. We will go back to vegetarianism But in the meantime every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused You say well, I don't know if I really like the sound of that. Well, you know go over to Romans chapter 14 You know and maybe that when you like like me when I first heard of that, you know kind of rub you the wrong way Well, it might just be that maybe we're just a little too carnal Maybe we got to think of beyond just you know The meat of this world, you know meats and in our bellies It says in Romans chapter 14 verse 14. I Know and persuaded by the Lord Jesus that there's nothing unclean of itself But him that esteemeth to anything to be unclean to him it is unclean But if thy brother be grieved with my thy meat now walkest thou not charitably Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ died Let not your good be evil spoken of for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink But righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost So, you know he's talking about in the context of look if your brother You know if you if he sees you eating that which is sacrificed on the idols Him having a weak conscious that might cause him to stumble right? That's why he's saying look if he'd be grieved with thy meat Don't just say well you get over it, you know tough Don't you know what Paul told Timothy every creature of God is good. He said no He says destroy not thy destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ died Let not your good be evil spoken of he's saying you know What I if if meat breaketh maketh my brother to offend I will eat no meat while the world standeth Paul's saying look I'd rather just not offend my brother, you know and just pass on the ribs You know and have a second happy of the salad if you know if me eating that because it's gonna offend my brother because we know That that which is sacrificed unto idols is nothing But in every man there is not that knowledge, you know This is more obviously this isn't something we really deal with in 2020 America 2021 America Because we don't have people sacrificing things to idols, you know in every street corner, but in some parts of this world You know, this is still a thing today Where you know people get saved and then they see you eating that which is sacrificed unto idols They might say but I thought you were Christian I thought we weren't supposed to do that and look we could say look an idol is nothing It's you know, don't let the food go to waste You know might as well eat it, you know, but if that causes a weaker brother to be offended, you know we should not eat that then we should just Set it aside, you know pass and eat something else have an apple, right? Rather than caught, you know destroying him for whom Christ died Let not your good be evil spoken of They say look be more spiritual about it basically verse 17 for the kingdom of God is not me and drink Is that what heaven's all about for us Just eating and drinking man. I hope not. I hope that's we got more to look forward to than just eating and drinking You know, we were doing plenty of that now But you know and good news is it's not it's righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost It's dwelling with God, you know, God is going to be with man on earth. The New Jerusalem is gonna be on earth we're not even gonna be worried about you know, the fact that We're gonna sit and miss out on you know, the carne asadas, right? We're not gonna sit here and lament you when you're in the new heaven a new earth. You're not gonna lament You know smoky modes, you're not gonna lament the barbecue sandwich. You're not gonna lament these things They'll probably be they'll be the farthest thing from your mind. Okay? But in the meantime, you know food is something that is to be enjoyed You know food is something that God has given us as a gift and if you would go over to the book of Ecclesiastes We're gonna look at several Verses there go to Ecclesiastes chapter 2 and I'm almost done but the Bible says in Acts 14 verse 17 Nevertheless, he left not himself without witness and that he did good So Paul of course is talking to you know, the the pagans the heathens on Mars Hill He's telling look that God left not himself without witness that God left himself a witness To all men and that he did good and gave us, you know, everyone reigned from heaven He said and Jesus said look the rainfall upon the just and on the unjust, right? That's the goodness of God. He gave us rain from heaven and what fruitful season fruitful seasons filling our hearts with food and Good gladness, you know part of the witness of God is the fact that he gives us food and gladness And those things go hand in hand, you know food is something that brings joy to us. It's something that You know, we enjoy fellowship over food, I mean we talk at length about food especially around here I mean, it's a main topic of conversation, right? Have you tried this place said you tried that place when you go there, you know, they have they have the beans They have the rice. They have the cheese. They have it all on you know, particular Piece of whatever and you can you know, they go to this place We talk about food at length, right and I see a lot of heads nodding we all know that's the case Why is that because that's something that we enjoy together. We have fellowship over that, you know, and that there's nothing wrong with that That's what God has decreed That's what he's saying. Look God has given us these things and he's let and it's part of the witness of the goodness of God You know God isn't just up there expecting us just to live these austere lives of just Plain boring no fun allowed no enjoyment allowed. That's not God. Okay, that's not the nature of God That's not and people get this hyper spiritual attitude Sometimes where they think that they just have to deprive themselves of every good thing in life in order to be more holy than somebody Else that doesn't make you more holy and it just shows that you don't understand what God is really like The God is a God of goodness and love and he gives us these things to fill our hearts with what with food and gladness Okay, so God wants us to eat food He said Ecclesiastes chapter 2 verse 24 There is nothing better for a man that that he should eat and drink and that he should make his soul and joy good of His labor this also I saw that it was from the hand of God Now, of course Psalm in the book of Ecclesiastes talking about the vanity of life You know that we can we can invest ourselves and all these different things that at the end of the day Only that which is done for God is what's going to last And he's saying look you could you could worry about this and worry about that endeavor to do this and try to achieve that You know cure great wealth or or live for this pleasure or this vanity, but you know, they're all gonna go away You're gonna die one day There's nothing better for a man that just what to eat and drink and that make and to make his soul enjoy good in his labor Go over to Ecclesiastes chapter 5 Ecclesiastes chapter 5 will begin reading in verse 18. It says in Ecclesiastes 5 verse 18 Behold that which I have seen it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink and to enjoy the good of all His labor that he undertaketh after under the Sun all the days of his life You know what? God wants for your life for you to work, you know to raise your family and to enjoy Eating and drinking and the fellowship and that is God that is our portion in this life Which God giveth us for it is his portion right verse 19 every man also to whom God hath given riches and wealth And hath given him power to eat thereof to take his portion and to rejoice in his labor This is the gift of God Look, that's something that God has given us to enjoy now But there is going to come a time when that's not what we enjoy We're gonna have joy and fellowship in the Holy Ghost and fellowship with God on earth Go to Ecclesiastes chapter number 9 Ecclesiastes chapter number 9 I Begin reading in verse 7 Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verse 7 go thy way and eat thy bread With joy and drink thy wine with the merry heart for God now Accepteth thy works let thy garments be always white and let thy head lack No ointment live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity Which he had given thee under the Sun all the days of thy vanity for that is thy portion in this life and in thy Labor which thou Takest under the Sun saying look there's really nothing better for you to do There's to enjoy the things that God has given you to enjoy and God has given us our spouses God has given us work to do. God has given us food to enjoy friends to have that is our lot a lot in this life You know so don't let the vegan don't let the vegetarian come along and try to take away the portion that God has given you and And pull it the bacon and the sausage off of your plate and say no no can't have that okay No, we can't have that You know God has given us that but also at the same time don't become so carnal to think that that is all life is about Because there's more to life than that, isn't there? Go over to Luke chapter 12, so and we'll end here in Luke chapter 12 This is why we don't want to get so caught up in diets, you know now look I I'm all for you know People maintaining having a good diet eating good nutritious foods, you know and and taking care of themselves That is not vanity right and in fact a lot of people self-included We could probably be a lot better about that right all that weight I lost recently seems like it's sneaking back up on me. You know, it's like I People are like, oh you lost weight. I'm saying it's it's here somewhere. Don't worry. It didn't get far All right, and I found it. It's at the Culver's Drive-thru. Okay, that's that's where it turned out to be It's in that custard that they got there all 20 pounds of it's over there. Just waiting for me, right? Look, what am I saying? Is that you know? We shouldn't get so caught up in this it's good to you know Take care of ourselves and to be healthy, but some people make way too big a deal out of dieting I mean that's their whole life is just you know living in a gym getting down to a certain body fat percentage You know making sure they're only eating certain exact things and certain quantities so they can achieve some vain Goal of looking a certain way or feeling a certain way or whatever, okay No, I'm not saying we should go to the other extreme and just say it doesn't matter what we eat Let's just pour in every you know chemically chemical laden just you know Preservative laden piece of trash that's out there that let's just eat all the gas station food that we can along the way Look, we should take care of ourselves But we got to strike a balance here Okay, we got to find out you know because because life isn't all about food now, is it a part of life of course and It's something that God has given us to enjoy and it's something that we should enjoy Because you won't have it to enjoy in the future, you know, you'll be enjoying other things Okay, that's not something we're gonna miss out on but look at Luke chapter 12 verse 22 and he said in his disciples Therefore I say unto you take no thought for your life what ye shall eat neither for your body what you'll put on And when we understand the context is saying look God's gonna take care of you You don't have to sit here and worry about these things But look what he says in verse 23 the life is more than meat and the body more than Raymond, you know There's more to your life than just what we eat life's there's a whole lot more to life than that So don't get so caught up, you know, you know in obsessed over the vanity of these fad diets and you know That's what veganism vegetarianism and others are there just these bad Trendy diets for you know, you know, hopefully I'm not offending some vegetarian the crowd But you know if you're out there, you know You're disguising yourself quite well because it seems to me like a lot of these vegetarians you can see in a mile away Because it's always you know, this hipster looking dude or whatever, you know, if you're the type of guy that Likes to wear a scarf that matches your your wife's sweater, you know vegetarianism is probably for you I don't know But what am I saying a lot of people give these diets because they're just cool because they're just fats because they want to just Tell people I don't need anything with the face You know and it's just this kind of it's just a snobbery and it's vanity at the end of the day, right? And look if that's all we have to eat, you know, if all we have to eat is is you know The rice the beans the vegetables so what you know, there's nothing wrong with that We don't have to have meat all the time The Bible says better as a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred there with There's more to life than food. Look, I'd rather be poor and not have and be eating the fried bologna With my wife and be at peace with one another to have you know The filet mignon the the porterhouse frying up and hate each other. Okay, because there's more to life than Raymond There's more life than meat That's not to say that we can't enjoy the good things that God has given us and we should and in fact, you know And I and I really try to stay out of the nutrition aspect of this whole topic because I'm not a nutritionist Okay, and that's that's one realm you can that's a rabbit hole You can go down and just and live there for the rest of your life and get all these conflicting opinions About what is good for you? What isn't good for you? You know and and basically my model is just to take whatever the government tells me to eat and flip it on its head Okay, that's usually the best that's my diet advice for the sermon. Okay, just ignore what they say eat the saturated fats in abundance All right. There you go. Consult your doctor before taking my advice. Well, that's a little clause there Look, we should enjoy that the good things that God has given us, right? That's what it said at first Timothy 4 where we started verse 4 for every creature of God is good Nothing is off the table pun intended and nothing to be refused Right if it be received with Thanksgiving, you know, that's a very important part about isn't it? We should understand Look, this is the gift of God. This is something that he's given to me to enjoy Let me thank him for it that I have the abundance of food that I have That we can eat all these delicious things that we can have nutritional meals These are things that we should be thankful for and and not spend our lives, you know Getting caught up in the vanity of these fad diets especially ones that are unbiblical like veganism like Vegetarianism because every creature of God is good. Let's go ahead and pray