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What was that one? 328 on the second. 🎵Music🎵 Sing it out on the second. 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 Brother Moses? 401 on the third. 401 on the third. 🎵Music🎵 Set my soul afire 401 on the third. 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 319 on the first. 319. 🎵Music🎵 Just a closer walk with the 319 on the first. 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 And let's see, Lexi go ahead. 187. 187. Jesus loves me 187. 187. Sing it out on the first. Jesus loves me, this I know, For the Bible tells me so, If for us to live belong, They are weak, but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. And does she have one, Delia? Yes. Delia, go ahead. 24. What was that, 24? 24. Song number 24, this will be the last one this evening. 🎵Music🎵 And can it be song 24? 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 🎵Music🎵 Amen, all right. Well, let's go ahead and take our bulletins. We'll look at some announcements tonight. If you did not get a bulletin on your way in, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin tonight, just put your hand up and we'll get one for you. The verse this week, 2nd Corinthians 1.14. As also you have acknowledged us in part that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus. And that's a good verse there. We like that. We're trying something different with the orchestra. We put them somewhere else and we'll see how that goes. And so in case you're wondering, the orchestra did not get all backslidden. Well, they may have gotten all backslidden, but that's not why they're not sitting there. So we're just trying something different. If you open up the bulletin, we have, of course, our service time, Sunday morning service, 10.30 a.m., Sunday evening service, 6 p.m. And we're glad you made it out to the Sunday evening service. And then, of course, our Wednesday night Bible study at 7 p.m. And we started last week the best section of the book of Job where God is speaking. And we're going to continue on with that. God has a lot more questions for Job in chapter 39. So we'll be looking at that this coming week. And then, of course, we have our Saturday, our sowing time. Our main time is on Saturday at 10 a.m. Then we have additional sowing times on Thursdays and on Sundays at 2 p.m. If you're a first-time guest, it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church. We're glad you're with us. We have a gift we'd like to give you as we walk out of the church building tonight. As you go through the foyer or even our secondary foyer back there, you'll see a little table set up. And on that table, you'll see these little gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest. There are several things in this bag we'd like you to have. The one I'd like to highlight is this documentary of Church Main. It's called Being Baptist. And we want to give this to you as a gift. Please make sure you don't leave here without grabbing one of these gift bags. And if you are a guest, we'd also ask that you take a moment and fill out the communication card, which is inserted in your bulletin. If you need a pen, just raise your hand, and one of our ushers can bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen. When we're done with the announcements, we're going to sing a song. When we're done singing, we're going to receive the offering. And as the offering plate goes by, you can drop this card in the offering plate. We aren't going to do anything odd with their information. We just want a record of your attendance. We actually want to be a blessing to you, but we need your info to do that. So please take a moment to fill the card out. We, of course, are a family integrated church. Children and infants are always welcome in the service. We don't separate children from their parents. We do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, we've got the Rejoice series on Sunday mornings that we're going through. We just entered into Chapter 4, the last chapter in the book of Philippians. We're going to be there for a few weeks, and then we'll finish that up tonight. We are finishing up the Undisciplined series, so we'll be done with that tonight. The next Sunday night, I will be in Fresno, and we will be having the ordination service for Brother Jared Pazarski, and we're going to be turning Very Baptist Church Fresno, which is our satellite, into an independent Baptist church. It'll be called Whole Fast Baptist Church. If you'd like a ride in the church van to Fresno, you can sign up on your communication card. You can talk to Brother Shaw. The van will be leaving here at 1 p.m. to be there for the 5 p.m. service, and it'll be coming back the same night. So if you want a ride, you just have to be aware of those things. Also, we need volunteers to help us with assembling the Family and Friend Day mailers, and that'll be in the fellowship hall Sunday evening, so it's not this coming Sunday, but next Sunday, August 29th, and please see Brother Shaw about that as well. And we've got a special announcement for the kids on Sunday night, August 29th, so again, not this Sunday, but next Sunday night. We're going to be giving out Herb Meyer stickers to all the kids, and also if they'd like to take a picture with the Herb Meyer puppet, we'll have that available as well. Family and Friend Day is coming up on Sunday, September 12th. Choir, orchestra, they had practice, upcoming cleaning crew, you can check for your name. Homeschool group, I just want you to make a note that the date there is incorrect is actually the Thursday after that, so not August 26th, but the one after that. Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off, replace them on silent during the service if they're not a distraction to anybody. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of August, we have Gabriel Torres's birthday is on the 17th, and Ms. Joyce Nathan's birthday is on the 21st. Praise report, money matters, all those things are there for you to look at. We do have some discipleship certificates to hand out, so I'm going to do that real quick for our discipleship class, and I'll read these off quickly, and of course this is for our discipleship class that just concluded. The certificates are for anyone who completed at least six of the eight classes. So we had other people that were in the class, but they didn't finish all the classes, so these are people that went through at least six of the eight classes. I'll read one of the certificates, then I'll give you the names. It says discipleship class certificate of completion awarded to, and it has the name and recognition of successful completion of discipleship course, presented by Verity Baptist Church, awarded this 15th day of August of 2021. So we have one here, and I've got several of these to go, so please just clap at the end if you can, if that's all right. We have one here for Brother Keith Allen Courtney, so that one is for Brother Keith Allen Courtney. I know you want to clap, but let's just do it at the end, and it will just help this go faster. We have one for Miss Tamara Gutierrez. We have one for Brother George McQueen, and we have one for Miss Andrea McQueen, and do we have the kids? Nope, that's it, so Brother George and Miss Andrea. And then we have the Santos family. We have one for Brother Rusty Santos, and we have one for Miss Abby Santos and Daniel Santos, so that's the Santos family there. And then we have one for Brother Jay Miller, Brother Jay Miller, and I'll go ahead and read the rest of these. And we have one for Brother Shah Radari, so Brother Jay, Brother Sean, Brother Jay. And let's go ahead and give them all a round of applause. Crazy work for that. All right, well, let's go ahead and take our chorus of the week, and we'll sing That All the Earth May Know as we prepare to receive the offering tonight. And like we did this morning, we'll sing it through twice. It's a short one. It's the theme of our church, That All the Earth May Know, and let's go ahead and sing it out together. That all the earth may know, That all the earth may know, With the gospel of Christ we must go, That all the earth may know. Good, sing it out again. That all the earth may know, That all the earth may know, With the gospel of Christ we must go, That all the earth may know. Good singing. All right, guys, come up and help us with the offering at this time, and let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you for allowing us to gather together on a Sunday night. Lord, we pray that you would bless the offering, bless the preaching of your word. Lord, we pray that you would bless everything that's done tonight, that it would bring honor and glory to your name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In Jesus' name we pray. In Jesus' name we pray. In Jesus' name we pray. In Jesus' name we pray. In Jesus' name we pray. In Jesus' name we pray. In Jesus' name we pray. Let's open also to Proverbs 23. Proverbs, chapter number 23. If you need a Bible, put your hand up and an extra card might bring you a Bible. Proverbs, chapter number 23. If you need a Bible, keep your hand up and an extra card might bring you a Bible. Proverbs 23. We'll read the entire chapter as our custom. Proverbs 23, beginning in verse number 1. When thou sittest to eat with the ruler, consider diligently what is before thee, and put a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties, for they are deceitful meat. Labor not to be rich, seized from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings. They fly away as an eagle toward heaven. Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye. Neither desire thou his dainty meats. For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. Eaten drink, saith he to thee, but his heart is not with thee. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and loose thy sweet words. Speak not in the ears of a fool, for you'll despise the wisdom of thy words. Remove not the old landmark, and enter not into the fields of the fatherless. For they are redeemers and mighty. He shall plead their cause with thee. Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge. Withhold not correction from the child, for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. Yea, my reign shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things. Let not thine heart end be sinners, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. For surely there is an end, and thine expectation shall not be cut off. Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. Be not among winebibbers, among righteous eaters of flesh. For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. Harken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. Buy the truth, and sell it not. Also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice, and he that begat the wise child shall have joy of him. My father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bear thee shall rejoice. My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. For a whore is a deep ditch, and a strange woman is a narrow pit. She also lieth in weight as for her prey, and increases the transgressors among men. Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? Nay, that tarry long at the wine. Nay, that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. 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. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick. They have beaten me, and I felt it not. Once shall I awake, I will seek it yet again. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening. Dear God, I thank you for this house lord and for your word. I say please give your heart to the message, God. I say please be the pastor to strengthen him and fill him with his spirit. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Alright, we're there in Proverbs chapter number 23. And of course on Sunday nights we've been going through this series called Undisciplined. And we're actually ending the series tonight. And we've been going through these different lessons and different thoughts on things that we often do when we live undisciplined lives. And we've been learning about how to live disciplined lives, but we've been looking at these specific things. If you remember we started several weeks ago and we began the very first sermon in this series was entitled Laziness. We talked about the undisciplined life and how often times people that are undisciplined are lazy. Then we talked about tardiness. We talked about cleanliness. We talked about out of control words and the last time we were together we talked about out of control emotions. Tonight we are finishing the series and tonight I'm preaching on the subject of gluttony. And gluttony of course is something that is done in an undisciplined life. Gluttony is a sin that we often do not hear a lot about. You don't hear it preached a lot, but the Bible definitely talks about it. The Bible talks about this issue and we're going to look at it together. What I want to do is I want to give you three thoughts tonight regarding the sin of gluttony and what the Bible teaches in regards to gluttony. We're there in Proverbs 23. And if you're taking notes tonight I'd encourage you to maybe write some of these things down on the back of your course a week. There's a place to write some of these things down. Like I said, I realize most churches you're never going to hear this preached. You're never going to hear anything like this preached, but we want to preach the whole counsel of God. And we want to teach and preach everything the Bible teaches. And I'll be honest with you, I think gluttony is something that is often misunderstood. So I want to begin tonight by answering the question or talking about what is gluttony. When we're talking about gluttony, what is gluttony? And just simply stated, gluttony is overeating food. You're there in Proverbs 23. Look down at verse number 20. The Bible says this, be not among winebibbers. Now the word winebibber or someone who's a winebibber is someone who is a habitual drinker of alcohol or a drunkard. Or in our modern society we might call it an alcoholic. That's what a winebibber is. And I'm not preaching on drunkenness tonight, but I will say this. If you study gluttony throughout the Bible, you'll find that it's often mentioned hand in hand with drunkenness. Because it's the same idea of over excess, too much. He says, be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh. What does the word riotous mean? It means wild or uncontrolled. Whenever there's a riot, people are out of control. They're going crazy. They're wild. He says, riotous eaters of flesh. He said, you can get to the point where you're eating flesh in a riotous or a wild or uncontrolled way. Look at verse 21. For the drunkard, again, what is that? Over drinking. And I think all alcohol is, any alcohol is too much alcohol, according to the Bible. But a drunkard is someone that just takes it too far. Just even too much over drinking. Notice, for the drunkard and the glutton. So we have over drinking, overeating shall come to poverty and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. So when we're talking about gluttony, what exactly are we talking about? We're talking about, of course, overeating food. Let me just give you some like dictionary definitions on gluttony. First of all, it's derived from the Latin glutere, meaning to gulp down or swallow. It means overindulgence and overconsumption of a food or drink. An inordinate desire to consume more than what is required. It is when we consume more than what we need. It is when we consume more than what we require. It is an overindulgence and overconsumption of food or drink. So when we talk about gluttony, we're talking about overeating food. Now let me just say this. When we want to refer to or understand what is gluttony, it's overeating food, but it's not necessarily being fat. Now, of course, you know, gluttony can obviously lead to being fat or obese or all of those things. But oftentimes, you know, you tell somebody, oh, I'm going to preach on gluttony. And they think like, oh, you're going to preach about being fat. But, you know, let me let you in on a little secret. Somebody can be a glutton and not be fat. Because gluttony is an overindulgence of food. It's eating more than you need. Now let me just say this. There's nothing wrong with enjoying food. In fact, God created food and God created us to be able to enjoy food. The problem is when we overeat or eat more than we need. Go to Proverbs 25. You're there in Proverbs 23. Just flip over to Proverbs 25. Often in the Bible, the Bible refers to fellowship and fellowshipping with others around food. The Bible talks about breaking bread and having fellowship together. So there's nothing wrong with food, obviously. There's nothing wrong with enjoying food. The problem is when we overindulge. We just take it too far. We eat way more than we need. The problem is overeating the food, not just enjoying it. Proverbs 25, look at verse 16. Notice what the Bible says. Has thou found honey? He says, look, you found honey. Notice, he doesn't say, don't eat it, it's not good. He says, eat so much as is sufficient for thee. He says, look, there's nothing wrong with having honey. Nothing wrong with enjoying it. Nothing wrong with eating it. There's nothing wrong with enjoying food. The problem is when we overeat. Notice, has thou found honey? Eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith and vomited up. So you notice here that he says, look, God says, go ahead and eat just what is sufficient for thee. Eat what you need. Don't overeat, lest thou be filled therewith and vomited. I remember when I was in the Air Force, when we were in boot camp. I was in boot camp for eight weeks and for the first seven and a half weeks, they obviously, there was no sodas, no candy, no chips, none of that. You know, we were just eating what they were feeding us or whatever. But once we got close to graduation, you know, and the family started coming in for graduation, they started giving you days of leave and things like that. And one of the things that they allowed you to do there towards the end is that you could go and, you know, get a candy bar or go and get a snack or dessert or something, something you hadn't had for like seven and a half weeks. So I remember a lot of people just went out and just got a bunch of, you know, I remember writing to my wife, you know, because she's going to come for the graduation. I'm just like, bring me Kit Kats and, you know, Hershey bars and everybody's just talking about all the stuff they want to eat, you know, all these things. But I remember that there was a lot of guys that were throwing up afterwards because it is a such thing that you can eat so much junk and eat so much sugar and eat so much garbage that this is exactly what happens. You know, eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith and vomited up. So again, the problem is not enjoying food. Enjoy food. God created food for us to eat it, for it to nourish our bodies and for us to enjoy it. But when we're talking about gluttony, we're talking about overeating food and we're not necessarily talking about being fat. Now obviously, being a glutton can lead to somebody being fat or being obese. Go to Psalm 78 if you would. You're there in Proverbs. Just go backwards through the book of Psalms. Now, obviously this is a touchy subject in our nation today. And, you know, often times when you talk about these things, people get their feelings hurt and all that. But the truth of the matter is that, first of all, it's my job to preach the whole counsel of God. And, you know, when it comes to our nation, the problem is that we live in a country where there is an obesity epidemic. We are told that 36.5% of U.S. adults are obese. We're told that 19.3% of children are obese. We're told that 21% of our annual medical spending in the U.S. is due to obesity-related illness. $14 billion of that is spent on childhood obesity. So obviously, this is something that affects a lot of people. This is something that involves a lot of people. But you know what? My thought is this. Faithful are the wounds of a friend is what the Bible says. I would say like the Apostle Paul, Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? The truth is this, that obviously God wants us to not be obese. He wants to take care of our bodies, to not be overweight, to not be fat, all of those things. And gluttony is linked, obviously, and can cause somebody to become fat. Let me give you an example of that. Psalm 78, look at verse 17. Now what is gluttony? Gluttony is overindulgence. What does it mean to indulge? Indulge means that you really just love something, enjoy something. Now look, we all love food, right? Everybody loves food. But you can take it to the point where it's like that's your drug of choice. You know, it's just food, it's just the thing that just satisfies that you want. And in the Bible, we see that with the children of Israel. Now Psalm 78 is a psalm that is actually referring back to a story from the wilderness time. Notice Psalm 78, but I want you to notice what's highlighted here. Look at verse 17. Psalm 78, 17, the Bible says this, and they sinned yet more against Him. So the they there is referring to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and they're sinning against God, against Him. How? By provoking the most high in the wilderness. And they tempted God in their hearts by asking meat. You see the word meat there? Now in the Bible, in our King James Bible, the word meat means food. We often think of the word meat as what the Bible would call flesh. But in the Bible, meat is just referring to food. It says they tempted God in their hearts by asking meat, notice these words, for their lusts. Now often when we think of the word lust, we think of like a physical relationship between a man and a woman or something like that. But here he's talking about lusting after food. Why is that? Because the word lust simply means desire, and these people were desiring or wanting a lusting after food. And if you remember the story in the Old Testament, you have the children of Israel, and they're complaining to Moses because they've been eating manna. God has been sending manna down from heaven, and they've been eating this manna. And if you remember, they keep talking about, we remember the garlic and the onions and the leeks and the melons. And they're talking about all the food that they had in Egypt, you know, forgetting about the fact that they were enslaved. You know, they were getting beaten and killed and all those things. But this is what it's referring to. They tempted God because they were having a desire and a lust for meat by asking meat for their lusts, verse 18. Now skip down to verse 29. Notice what he says in verse 29. Now between verses 18 and 29, what we have is that God sends quail. Now it doesn't say it here in Psalm 78, but if you look at the story in the book of Numbers, what you find is that God sends quail, and he sends so much quail, they're just eating, you know, it's all they can eat quail. He's just having them eat at breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a month. Notice verse 29. So they did eat because God gave them what they wanted. And look, we're talking about gluttony here, and we're going to connect this later in the sermon, but it's really about just having desires that you do not control. And let me explain something to you, and you young people need to listen to me. One of the worst things that could happen to you in your life is for God to give you exactly what you're desiring. For you just have this lust, I just want this, I just want, whether it's food, whether it's drugs, whether it's a relationship, whatever it may, you say, I really want this, I'm going to get this, I'm not going to let anything. You know, one of the worst things that could happen to you is that God lets you have that, whatever it is you're lusting after. And here God says, okay, you want quail? I'll give you quail. So they did eat and were filled, for he gave them their own desire. They were not estranged from their lust. The word estranged means separated. Have you ever heard of an estranged wife or an estranged husband? They were not estranged from their lust. God said, I'm not going to keep you from what you want. But notice, but while their meat was in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them, and slew, don't miss it, the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel. I mean, here you have, according to Psalm 78, fat people complaining about food, desiring food, and how does God respond? He kills them. So the Bible definitely associates a desire for food with being obese, with being fat, with being overweight. And being overweight is definitely a negative thing in the Bible. God wants us to take care of our bodies, and this includes, of course, our weight. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. You know these verses, but let's look at them together. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, look at verse 19. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 19. The Bible says, What know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. The Bible says that your body does not belong to you. It's a temple of the Holy Ghost. And we should glorify God in our body and in our spirit. Our bodies should bring glory to God. And this is not talking specifically about obesity, but you can apply this to anything, God. This is why you shouldn't smoke. This is why you shouldn't drink alcohol. This is why you shouldn't do drugs. This is why you should not fornicate. Why? Because your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost and God wants you to take care of it. But this also has to do with the fact that we should try to be healthy and not be obese and not be overweight in those areas. This, you can apply that to this as well. I remember one time I heard somebody say, they were joking about the fact that they were kind of big and they were like, Man, if my body is a temple, I'm a mega church, you know. And here's the thing, we need to obviously realize that God wants us to honor, notice, glorify God in your body and in your spirit. Doesn't the Bible say, it says glorify God in your body. Doesn't the Bible say, Whatsoever you do, whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Now you say, well that's referring to the fact that we should pray before we eat. Well look, you should pray and thank God before you eat. But in everything we should glorify God, even when we eat, even when we drink, we should glorify God. So being a glutton can obviously lead to being obese, being fat, all of those things. And God's against it, God doesn't want us to live that life. But let me just say this, being a glutton does not necessarily mean that you will be fat. Because, you know, sometimes you could be a thin person and still be a glutton and still be unhealthy. It's really easy, you know, when you're preaching a sermon like this to just focus in on people that are overweight or whatever. And obviously some things are more obvious than others in regards to that. But let me tell you something, we all have sin, we all have things, areas in our lives we need to work on. And you could sit there and say, oh well this sermon doesn't apply to me because I'm thin. But just because you're thin doesn't mean you're not a glutton. Because you ever heard of somebody being, you know, skinny fat? I mean, there are people who, for whatever reason, they just got good genes or, you know, it hasn't caught up to them or whatever. But if you watch them eat, they're still overeating. They're still eating way more than they need, than their body requires. They're still giving in to the lust of just eating and eating. And just because, for whatever reason, they don't show it physically, doesn't mean... Look, the Bible doesn't say being a glutton means that you're fat. Now obviously gluttony can lead to being fat, but you can not be fat and still be a glutton. Someone could be thin and still be a glutton or unhealthy. You know, just because somebody's thin doesn't mean they're fat. Do you understand that? Being skinny and being fit are not the same thing. Thin people could still have diabetes. Thin people could still have high blood pressure. Thin people could still have high cholesterol. Thin people could still have fatty liver disease. Thin people could still have all sorts of unhealthy things in their body and they can still be... And so you need to understand, when we're talking about gluttony, don't get this idea like, oh, he's talking about fat people. No, the Bible's talking about people who eat too much, who lust after food, who eat more food than their bodies need. That's what the Bible's referring to. And by the way, let me just say this. You're there in 1 Corinthians 6, right? Look down at verse 13, but before I say that, before I go there, let me just say this. Also, realize that somebody could be overweight for reasons that have nothing to do with being a glutton. There's all sorts of reasons why. So let's just take the time to remember the last 38 chapters of the book Job that we've been going through. And before you start making assumptions and accusations, realize that you don't know what's going on in somebody's life. You don't know why they might be struggling with something. Or maybe you've never struggled with it so you just don't realize how difficult it is for a lot of people to try to keep their weight under control. I think of my brother-in-law who doesn't come to our church and doesn't watch. This will be the one sermon he listens to or something. But my brother-in-law, my wife's younger brother, his whole life growing up, he was just a rail, just a thin guy, just healthy. You look at him and he's just a skinny, thin, tall guy. And he had some medical issues or whatever and they put him on some prescription drugs that he needs to take, or it's good for him to take. And as soon as he went on those prescription drugs, he just blew up. And you might look at him and say, look at that fat guy, or whatever. But honestly, if he got off those prescription drugs, he'd just be back to being his normal self. So just be careful about being too judgmental and realizing that you don't know what people are dealing with and you don't know what people are struggling with. Because you're thin doesn't mean you're not a glutton. So gluttony, what is it? It is overeating food, an overindulgence of food. A lust and desire for food is not necessarily being fat, although obviously being a glutton can lead to being obese, being overweight, and all those things. Number two, let's talk about what is wrong with gluttony. So we said, what is gluttony? We defined it. But now let's talk about, well, what's wrong with it? Why does it matter? Why does the Bible even talk about it? Well, here's what's wrong with gluttony, is that being out of control in your food appetites, it's very dangerous. You say, why? Because being out of control in your food appetites can lead to being out of control in other physical appetites. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, look at verse 13. 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 13, notice what the Bible says. Meats for the belly, right? Meats referring to food. Food is for the belly and belly for meats. Notice these words. But God shall destroy both it and them. You know, somebody might say, well, you know, food is to eat it. And, you know, my stomach likes it and my belly likes it and it's there to eat it, so I'm going to eat it. But you know what? To have this attitude that, well, if it's there, I'm just going to eat it. If it's there, I'm just going to enjoy it. If it's there, I'm not going to restrain myself. If it's there, I'm just going to have as much as possible until I vomit it out. The problem with that is that that type of attitude towards the physical desire of food may lead to a similar attitude with other physical desires. To say, well, meats for the belly and bellies for meats. Okay, but here's what God says, but God shall destroy both it and them. Notice what he says, now the body is not for fornication. Now you say, well, wait a minute, are we talking about food or are we talking about fornication? Here's the thing, we're talking about physical appetites. Fornication is a physical appetite. Eating is a physical appetite. All sorts of sins are physical appetites. And here's what God is saying, look, the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body. So don't have this attitude like, well, if it feels good, do it. Who am I hurting? Isn't that what our society says? If you're not hurting anybody, just go ahead and sleep with that person. Just go ahead and shack up with that person. Just go ahead and eat what you want, drink what you want, smoke what you want, inject what you want. You're not hurting anybody, but wait a minute, you can't have this attitude that God gave me an appetite, a belly, and I'm just going to fill it with whatever I want. Because here's what God says, the Bible says that your body is not for fornication. And you could swap that word fornication with any other sin that is gratifying to your flesh and it would still apply. The body is not for fornication, the body is not for drunkenness, the body is not for gluttony, the body is not for drugs, the body is not for smoking, the body is not for, look, pornography, the body is not for, add whatever you want in there and the truth, the same truth rings true that your body belongs to God. It was created for the Lord and the Lord for the body. So you say, what's the problem with gluttony? The problem with gluttony is that you cannot be undisciplined in one area of your life and expect to be disciplined in every other area of your life. Discipline has to be applied to every area of your life and a lack of discipline, you say, well, I'm just going to be undisciplined when it comes to food, but that will creep in to other areas. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 21, and this is what the Bible teaches. When you look at gluttony in the Bible, the interesting thing is that the problem of gluttony is not necessarily put forth in the Bible like, this is a big problem, but what is put forth is that people, when they indulge in food, they often will indulge in other areas. Deuteronomy 21, look at verse 18. You have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. You say, what's wrong with gluttony? Well, out of control food appetites are dangerous because they may lead to other out of control appetites. Deuteronomy 21, look at verse 18. If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, notice here's a young man who's stubborn and rebellious. Who wants to have a child like this? I mean, already this doesn't sound good. If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, notice, which will not obey, why? Because he's stubborn and rebellious, will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and that when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them. So they're chastising him, they are correcting him, they're disciplining him, and he's not listening. Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of the city and unto the gate of his place, and they shall say unto the elders of the city, this is our son. Now notice how they describe this son. Notice the characteristics of this son. They said, this is our son, stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. We already read that earlier in the passage. Here's new descriptions. He's a glutton. He's a glutton and a drunkard. Notice how he's out of control in his authority structure. He's out of control in his position as a son. He's out of control in his life. He's stubborn and rebellious, but he's also out of control with his food. He's also out of control with alcohol. He's a glutton and a drunkard. Look at verse 21. And all men of his cities shall stone him with stones that he die. So shalt thou put evil away from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear. And people often will take this passage of scripture and say, like, that's ridiculous. I mean, God has just put him to death because he won't listen and he's a glutton and a drunkard and all these things. Let me tell you something. First of all, we don't have anything in the Bible ever recorded that this law was ever implemented or used. I'm not saying it wasn't used. It's just the Bible never tells us. But I'll tell you this. If we lived in a society that upheld this law, you better believe that's a law that would often be threatened to children. You better obey or we're going to take you out to the elders of the city. And you say, well, why would God add this? You know, you kids, listen to me. You know why God would add this? Because God, it's a big deal to God when young punks are rude and stubborn and rebellious to their parents. So before you become a little teenager and start mouthing off at your mom, you better realize, or mouthing off at your dad, you better realize that this is how God feels about being stubborn and rebellious. He says it's so serious that in a society that he controlled the laws, he would put that type of person to death. But here we have this young man out of control, stubborn, rebellious, and we also find out he's a glutton and a drunkard. Why? Because out of control food appetites may lead to other out of control appetites. Let me give you another example. Go to 1 Samuel chapter 2. 1 Samuel chapter 2. You're there in Deuteronomy. Go to Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel chapter 2. We saw the stubborn and rebellious son. Let's look at the sons of Eli. Remember the sons of Eli? 1 Samuel chapter 2 verse 12. What was the sin that is first highlighted for us from the sons of Eli? What is it? It's gluttony. It's a lust for food. Look at verse 12. Now the sons of Eli, you know, start off right here, were the sons of Belial. These guys are not saved. They're reprobates. They're the sons of the devil. The word Belial is a reference to the devil. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial. They knew not the Lord. They were not saved. And the priest's custom, and by the way, these were priests. You know, you better believe that there's a bunch of preachers out there today that are sons of Belial and are not saved. Just because they have a position of spiritual authority does not make them saved. They knew not the Lord, the Bible says. And the priest's custom with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servants came while the flesh was in seething, the word seething means boiling, with a flesh hook of three teeth in his hand. Now the Bible is telling us here, this is what they did. It was their custom. This is not exactly what the book of Leviticus says they should have been doing, but this was the custom of the people. When the people would bring a sacrifice, they would bring the flesh of that sacrifice and they would begin to boil it. It was seething and then these young men would take a flesh hook. Notice, a flesh hook of three teeth in his hand. Now, today, the flesh hook of three teeth is often associated with the devil, right? You've seen the devil with that pitchfork? He has that three-tooth pitchfork. Well, that comes from this story because these guys were the sons of Belial. They were the sons of the devil. And notice, they took this flesh hook of three teeth in his hand, what did they do? Look at verse 14. And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot, all that the flesh hook brought up, the priest took for himself, so they did in Shiloh until all the Israelites that came hither. Now again, the Bible is just telling us here what they did. This is not what they were supposed to do, but the Bible is saying they had this custom, they had this ritual where somebody brought meat to sacrifice and they would put it in a cauldron or put it in a pot. They'd begin to boil it and the priest would come and he would take this flesh hook of three points and they would kind of just stab the meat with it and they would pull it out. And whatever they pulled out, the priest took for himself. Now again, many of the sacrifices in the Old Testament were to be divided. And if you study the book of Leviticus, and we've done verse by verse studies and chapter by chapter studies through the book of Leviticus, you remember that there were certain sacrifices that it was a burnt sacrifice, the whole thing went to God. But then there were other sacrifices that were supposed to be divided. The first and the best portion went to God. And then the second portion was for the priest. And this is basically how the priest got paid. He got paid in the Old Testament because he would do these sacrifices because it's a lot of work to take an animal and kill it and chop it up and do all those things. So there was a certain portion that went to God, a certain portion that went to the priest and that's how he fed himself, fed his family. And then there was a third portion that would go to the people or they would eat it together in fellowship or all those things. They were not supposed to take all that the flesh hook brought up. There was a certain portion that was meant for God, a specific part, like if you remember reading Leviticus, it'll say like the breast or the right shoulder belongs to God and then a certain amount belongs to them. So they're not doing it right to begin with. But they're doing something, you know, and it's like they just kind of take this flesh hook and they stab the meat and they pull it out and whatever comes out, that becomes their portion. That was just a custom that they had. Nobody had a problem with that. Look at verse 15. Also, before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came and said to the man that sacrificed, give flesh to rose for the priest, for he will not have sodden flesh of thee but raw. So these young men, they were, you know, getting this portion, right, because they're priests and they're getting a portion of the meat. That's how they get paid. That's how they eat. That's how they survive. They have this custom where the meat's being boiled and it's being cooked and they take a portion, but they don't want food that's been already cooked and boiled. They want to roast it themselves. Notice what they said. Look at verse 15. They're saying, give flesh to rose for the priest, for he will not have sodden. The word sodden means boiled flesh of thee but raw. He says, the priest wants it raw. Before you cook it, he wants it raw because he wants to cook it up just the way he wants it. You say, well, what's the problem with that? The problem with that is that now the priest was taking his portion before God took his portion. They were taking their part before God took their part because they wanted raw meat. Why? Because they wanted to cook it up just how they wanted it. Why? Because they're lusting after food. They're saying, I want my, you know, medium rare so much that I'm going to take it before God even gets his portion because when God gets it, he cooks it or whatever. They're making decisions based off food. They want their food a certain way. Look at verse 16. And if any man said unto him, let them not fail to burn the fat presently. So if any man said to them, no, no, we're going to do it the right way. We're going to give what belongs to God first. We're going to burn the fat presently and then take as much as thy soul desireth. Then he would answer him, nay, but thou shalt give it me now and if not, I will take it by force. I mean, people were saying like, hey, you can have as much meat as you want. You can take as much as thy soul desireth. And by the way, look at the words, as thy soul desireth. People were understanding that these guys were lusting after food. And the people, they're not even upset about that. They said, you can have as much as you want. Let's just do it the right way and make sure God gets his portion first. And these guys, their response is no, nay. Look at the last part of verse 16. But thou shalt give it me now and if not, I will take it by force. They're like, I will fight you for this meat. I will fight you for this food. Why? Now look, it's not like they're starving and they're not getting fed and they're like, hey, this food belongs to us and I'm going to fight you for it. No, they just want it so they can prepare it a certain way. Which again, nobody would even care about that. The problem is, they're trying to get it before God gets his portion. They say, why are they making these decisions? Because they're lusting after food. Because they're gluttons. Notice the impact, verse 17. Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord. Men did not even want to come and bring a sacrifice to God. Why? Because of how these guys were acting in regards to food. Now notice, these two young men, these sons of Belial, what was their sin? A sin of gluttony. A desire and a lust for flesh. They wanted, just give it to me raw. I know that means that I'll have to take it before God. But give it to me raw because I want to cook it just the way I want it. That was their sin. You say, well that's kind of silly. Yes, but here's the problem. Out of control food appetites are dangerous because they lead to other out of control appetites. Look at verse 22. Same chapter. First Samuel 2, verse 22. Now Eli was very old and heard that his sons did, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel. And how, notice what the Bible says, and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. You say, oh I thought these guys were just lusting after food. Well they were lusting after food and then they started lusting after other things. They allowed themselves to get out of control in the food area and now they're fornicating. Eli heard how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he said unto them, Why do ye such things? For I hear that you are evil dealings by all those people. Nay my sons, for it is no good report that I hear. You make the Lord's people to transgress. And look, you say, what's the big deal with gluttony? Here's the big deal with gluttony. People who lack self-discipline, who lack self-restraint, who lack self-control in overeating are likely to lack self-restraint in other areas as well. You can't be undisciplined in one area and say, well I'm going to be very disciplined in all my other areas and I'm going to be just undisciplined. Listen to me. Once you realize that somebody is undisciplined in any area, just realize they're probably undisciplined in lots of other areas. I mean we were talking about being undisciplined, right? So you realize somebody's undisciplined with their cleanliness. Somebody's undisciplined in their tardiness. Somebody's undisciplined with their words, with their emotions. Somebody's undisciplined. Look, once somebody's undisciplined in one area, it will carry into other areas. That's the problem. That's the issue with gluttony is that God says, look, I want you to be self-restrained in every area. I want you to be self-controlled in every area. I don't want you to give yourself permission to over-indulge in any area because when you do it in any area, it will transfer over to other areas. And it may transfer over to every area. So you talk about what is gluttony. It is over-eating food and over-indulgence of food. It may lead to being obese but not necessarily. You could be thin and still be a glutton. What is wrong with gluttony? What's wrong with it is that out of control food appetites are dangerous because they may lead to out of control other appetites. When you don't learn to restrain yourself in one area, you may not restrain yourself in other areas. So let's talk about real quickly tonight how to overcome gluttony. How do we overcome gluttony? Go back to Proverbs 23. And look, just mark it down. You find somebody and they can't control themselves with fornication. You say, don't fornicate. Don't do it. It's not right. Don't do it. And they're like, I just want to do it anyway. Mark it down. They're not going to be unrestrained in other areas as well. They're going to be drunks. They're going to be drug addicts. They're going to be gluttons. There's something else in their lives. Why? Because it all goes hand in hand. So look, in your life and in my life, we must learn to be self-restrained. And you say, well, why does it matter? Well, here's what Jesus said. He said, if any man shall follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. You can't even be a follower of Jesus Christ until you learn to first deny yourself. Until you learn to first say to yourself, no, I'm not going to do it. So let's talk about how to overcome gluttony. What are some steps for overcoming gluttony? How can you have victory in this area? Let me give you three steps. Excuse me, four steps. I'm going to give you three steps and then a bonus. How can we overcome gluttony? Number one, well, let's read the verse. Proverbs 23. Are you there? We started this evening with it. Look at verse one. When thou sittest to eat with a ruler. The idea there is that you're sitting to eat with somebody you care about, right? Your boss. Somebody that you care about, you care about how they think of you. How about Jesus? When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee, and put a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given to appetite. Now obviously, I believe that Solomon here is using a little bit of hyperbole. I don't think he's actually telling you to slice your throat open if you can't control yourself. But he's trying to make a point. Jesus had the same point when he said cut off your right hand or cut off your eye or all those things. The point is this. You say, how do I control? How can I overcome gluttony? Well, first of all, consider what you eat and how much you eat. Consider. Before you sit down and eat, consider what you eat and how much you eat. When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee, and put a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given to appetite. You're there in Proverbs 23. Go to Ecclesiastes chapter 10. Just one book over. Ecclesiastes chapter 10. You ought to consider what you eat. And you know, we have been raised, and I'm not saying there's anything wrong with this, so please understand what I'm about to tell you. But we've been raised, and it was right and proper, by our parents and grandparents who lived in a different era than the one we live in. And we've been raised to just, you know, it's good character to eat all your food and clean your plate and all that, and I'm not preaching against that. And especially in your homes, your mom put some food on that plate. You eat your vegetables and eat everything you're supposed to eat. But let me just explain something to you. You know, the Great Depression era that taught us, you know, clean your plate and eat all your food, they didn't live in the America of 2021 where you go to a restaurant and they literally bring you on a platter like this filled with food and say, this is your one serving. This is your serving for one individual. And it's this obscene amount of food, and you're just like, grandma said I've got to clean the plate, you know. You really need to consider how much food, you know, grandma has never served a basket full of food for dinner, you know, just this ginormous plate full of food. So when it comes to eating, you've got to consider what you're eating and you've got to consider how much you're eating. You say, well, how much should I eat? You should eat till you're satisfied. You should eat till you're satisfied, not till you're stuffed. And you should learn to tell the difference. There's a difference between being satisfied and being stuffed. And you should eat till you're satisfied, not till you're stuffed. Here's what I'm saying. Not every meal needs to be like Thanksgiving. You know, Thanksgiving, and look, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with this. It's Thanksgiving and you're like, I'm not going to eat breakfast, I'm not going to eat lunch, you know. Well, I'm just going to, you know, eat all the food and all that. Look, praise the Lord, be thankful, all of that. Every once in a while, doing stuff like that is not a big deal. But when every meal is just like, I'm just going to eat till I drop, that's a problem. Eat till you're satisfied, not till you're stuffed. Ecclesiastes chapter 10, look at verse 17. Ecclesiastes chapter 10 and verse 17, notice what the Bible says. Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles and thy princes, notice what it says, eat in due season. Eat in due season for strength and not for drunkenness. You say, what does that mean? God says, look, you're blessed when you can eat for strength. Look, we're supposed to eat for strength, for nourishment. You need food to be able to do what God has called you to do, to go to work, to raise your children, to do all those things. Look, you're blessed when you can eat for strength, but eat for strength, not for drunkenness. And again, drunkenness here is being referred to in regards to food. What is drunkenness with alcohol when people are just drinking too much? They're over drinking, just drinking more than they should. And he's saying, look, when it comes to food, don't eat for drunkenness, eat for strength. Eat till you're satisfied, not till you're stuffed. You're just vomiting over. He says, you're blessed, blessed art thou, O land, when thy kings and thy sons of nobles and thy princes eat in due season for strength and not for drunkenness. So eat till you're satisfied, not till you're stuffed. Number two, eat at appointed times. Notice what it says there again, verse 17. Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles and thy princes... Notice these words, eat in due season. You notice, notice these people, they're not grazing all day. They're not just snacking all day. They eat in due season. You know, you have to decide when you're going to eat. If you're going to eat breakfast, I'm going to eat breakfast. You're going to eat lunch, have lunch. You're going to eat dinner, have dinner. But don't, you know, have this attitude where like, well, I'm just going to be eating all day, grazing all day. What are you, a cow? Grazing all day? You know, that's not something that you need. You need to just decide when am I going to, I'm going to have this set time to eat, I'm going to have this set time to eat, I'm going to eat at these set times. Because why? Because blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles and thy princes eat in due season for strength and not for drunkenness. So you got to eat till you're satisfied, not till you're stuffed. You got to eat at due seasons, at appointed times. You should not just be eating all day long, snacking all day long. Number three, and you can, you know, take this or leave it, do what you want with it, you know. I'm just giving you some thoughts here. Don't eat late at night. Have a cut off time. Remember eat in due season? You know, just decide because look, it's so easy. And look, honestly, confessing your faults one to another. One of my biggest temptations is just, you know, after a hard day, a tough day of dealing with things or whatever, it's just to have some ice cream late at night or have a bowl of cereal late at night. And here's the thing, I'm not saying it's wrong to do that every once in a while, but you want to just be careful about just eating late at night all the time, you know, having that midnight snack all the time. It's not good for your health, you know, just you should eat in due season. You got to decide, you know, I'm going to have dinner, have your snack, have your dessert and say I'm going to stop eating after seven or eight or nine, whatever you decide. I'm not here to tell you, you know, specifically what to do, but I will say this. You should eat till you're satisfied. You should eat at specific times and not just be grazing all day. You should not eat late, have a cut off time. And then also this, go back to Proverbs 25. You got to limit sweets, desserts and sugary drinks. Proverbs 25, look at verse 16. Has thou found honey? Eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled there with and vomited. Look, I'm not going to sit up here and tell you, you know, don't have sugar, don't have soda, don't have dessert. You know, I think the Bible says if you found honey, eat. I think it's fine to have something sweet or to have a dessert, to have, you know, a soda or whatever you like. Look, when it comes to food, one of my favorite things in the world is a glass bottled Coke. You know, I've got a whole office, you know, filled with them. And sometimes when the ministry gets hard, you know, I just drown my sorrows in a Coca-Cola made from Mexico or whatever. But, you know, but the truth is this though, so I'm not against it. I'm not up here like some Nazi telling you, you know, don't have any sugar, don't have any fun. Look, enjoy food, enjoy desserts, enjoy those things, but just limit. You know, have a limit. You know, have water with your meals. And obviously, you know, like at home, my wife cooks, obviously, she cooks great food. And I try to just have water at home. When she's making a meal, we have water. If we're doing something special every once in a while somewhere else and, you know, somebody invites us to their house and they have a Coke or whatever, of course, you know, we'll drink it or I'll drink it, not will, my wife will never drink a Coke. But, you know, what I'm saying is this, have fun, eat, do all those things, but just be limited. When you're just having ice cream every night, you're having, you know, sugary drinks every day, it can be a problem. So just, you know, limit sweets, limit desserts, limit sugary drinks, just, you know, have water with your meals. You shouldn't be daily consuming just junk and sugar and sugary drinks. And look, when you do have a dessert, when you do have a soda, when you do have some ice cream, great, just don't overdo it. Don't binge. You know, just limit the amount of sweets and all those things. And look, and again, I don't want to stand up here and tell you I'm not against it. You know, I think it's fine every once in a while and my wife and I go on a weekly date night and I plan on those date nights to have a Coke, you know, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. The point that I'm making is you just want to live a life of limits and boundaries. Where you're not just overdoing things and just going, and look, let me tell you something. Getting a Slurpee or getting a milkshake from a place called Starbucks, you know, getting a milkshake masqueraded as a coffee drink is still a sugary drink. And I'm not against it. I like Starbucks. Look, I have a vanilla latte every Sunday. You know, you say why? Because preaching two times in a day is hard, you know, and sometimes I, but you know, you say, but what do you drink at home? Just black coffee in the morning, you know, and sometimes in the afternoon, maybe a coffee with milk and sugar. And I'm not here to tell you it's all bad or whatever. I'm just saying just be limited. You know, if you're going to have a sugary coffee, great, but you know, why do you have to get the big ginormous, you know, the frappy cappuccino milkshake, add a little bit of coffee so I can justify it and just, you know, hook the IV directly into my bloodstream? You know, I'm not against, you know, but get the small. And look, and if you're super fit and you're skinny and you're fit and you're in good shape and all that, then just do what you're doing. But if you're struggling with your weight, why not, you know, just go with the small? You walk up to McDonald's and you're like, supersize me. They're like, we don't do that anymore. You're like, I said, supersize me. It's like, look, maybe just get the small. You know, just, they're like, sir, you're out of control. So just limit, limit the sweets, limit the sugars, limit, and I'm not, look, I'm not up here telling you, don't get, don't ever have sugar. That's not realistic. That's unsustainable. But what you can say is, I'm going to limit it every once in a while, once a week, whatever, you know, or if I have it, I'm going to not binge. I'm not going to just overdo it and just indulge. So number one, consider what you eat and how much, how much you eat. Number two, limit the influences of unhealthy people. You know, be careful with food pushers. Proverbs 23, look at verse 20. Proverbs 23, verse 20, be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh, for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. Look, the Bible says, be not among winebibbers and among riotous eaters of flesh. And you just want to be careful, look, when you get around people, they're going to rub off on you and you're going to rub off on them and you want to just limit the influence of unhealthy people. You know, just don't allow people to influence you to live unhealthy lives. Here's just a little cut out from an article called Obese Friends Could Make You Fat. The research found that when a person becomes obese, the chances that a friend will become obese increases by 57%. Siblings of obese people have a 40% increased risk of obesity and their spouse's risk increased by 37%. On average, having an obese friend made a person gain 17 pounds, which put many people over the body mass index BMI measure of obesity. So just be careful about allowing people to influence you. Just decide, you know, I'm going to have one co, you know, I'm going to, you know, this is my one time a week or whatever and stick to that. Number three, go to Leviticus chapter 16. Leviticus chapter 16. Number three, exercise regularly. Now, let me just say this. If you're a guy and you've got some job where you're just, you know, sweating all day and, you know, just doing manual labor and all, I'm not telling you that after just eight hours of just, you know, swinging a hammer or doing whatever you're doing that is just, you know, physical labor that you need to go home and go on the treadmill. Okay, that's not what I'm talking about. But if you have like a sedentary job, then, you know, you have a job where you're not burning a lot of calories, you're not getting a lot of exercise, then you may need to consider the fact that you need to just, you know, add exercising to your regular schedule. Leviticus 16, look at verse 21. Leviticus 16, 21. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Leviticus 16, 21. And look, I have a job where there's not a lot of manual labor, you know, and my primary job is to produce three sermons a week, is to, you know, plan events and provide strategy for our church and what we're doing and whatever. And a lot of that happens in front of a computer. A lot of that happens sitting down. And I personally have to just make an effort of, you know, getting on that elliptical for 30 minutes every day because I don't have a job where I'm just sweating away and doing those things. And here's all I'm saying is if you find yourself in that situation where you're not getting regular exercise you need to purpose to get regular exercise. Leviticus 16, 21. Notice what it says. And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel and all their transgressions and all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat. Notice what the Bible says here at the last part of verse 21. And shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. You know, God here is looking for a fit man that can do a spiritual work, that can do a spiritual job. Here they were looking for this fit man, this man that was in good shape. Go back to Proverbs if you would. Proverbs 24. And look, I'm not talking about that you need to go to the gym and just be staring at yourself in front of a mirror. Look, you take this however you want and I'm just going to say it and whatever. You take it however you want. I don't even think married men should be going to gyms. Just go work in your garage or do whatever. Be careful about just going around where a bunch of women in spandex are doing a bunch of things. I said married men, how about all men? Because single men shouldn't be around that either. You know you can do push-ups in your house. And I'm not again, you find, whatever, somebody's going to send me an email about some gym where it's all a bunch of guys and that's weird too. But the point is exercise. Get exercise. You know, and regularly, get some regular exercise in your life. Proverbs 24, look at verse 5. Proverbs 24, 5. Notice what the Bible says, a wise man is strong. Yea, a man of knowledge increases strength. Notice the Bible says someone who's wise, they realize that look, this is the only body I've got. Till the rapture, right? We talked about that this morning. Till this vile body is transformed into his glorious body, this is all I got. So I should take care of it. A wise man is strong. Yea, a man of knowledge increases strength. And look, and I'm not saying you need to be some body builder. I'm not saying you've got all those things, but if you're a man, you need to be strong. Alright? And look, if you're a young man and you're maybe a little thin or whatever, start doing some push-ups, start doing, you know, do whatever you've got to do. Because why? Because a wise man is strong. Yea, a man of knowledge increases strength. Notice Proverbs 31, verse 17. Here we have the virtuous woman. Proverbs 31, verse 17. She, talking about the virtuous woman, girdeth her loins with strength and strengtheneth her arms. And again, I'm not saying this is some body builder woman either, but here we have a woman that's strong. She's fit. She's got the, her body is in shape. And we ought to, if you want to overcome gluttony, you ought to consider what you eat and how much you eat. You ought to limit the influences of unhealthy people and unhealthy society. You ought to exercise regularly. Here's a bonus point. First Samuel, chapter 4. A bonus point. First Samuel, chapter 4. You're there in Proverbs. Just find the 1 and 2 books. They're all clustered together. 1 Samuel, 1 Kings, 1 Chronicles. 1 Samuel, chapter 4. So how do we overcome gluttony? Consider what you eat and how much you eat. Limit the influences of unhealthy people and unhealthy society. Exercise regularly. Here's a bonus point. For parents, set a good example for your children. 1 Samuel, chapter 4. Look at verse 18. Remember, remember the sons of Eli? They were gluttonous young men and fornicators. And they died as a result. But notice what the Bible says about their father. 1 Samuel 4, 18. And it came to pass when he made mention of the ark of God that he, referring to Eli, fell from off the seat backwards by the side of the gate and his neck break and he died. For he was an old man, and God just makes sure to mention this, and heavy. And he had judged Israel 40 years. And look, I'm just saying we should, and obviously as people get older they gain weight. We understand all that's normal and natural. But God mentions this for a reason. It seems like Eli did not set a good example for his sons. Now Eli was not a fornicator. Eli, he was a man of God and he was a good man. But the Bible tells us he was heavy. He set this example and what do we see his kids doing? They're just desiring this certain type of flesh and they want to cook in a certain way. But because they were out of control in that area, they became fornicators. Look, as parents we should set good examples for our children. And look, it's not just weight. It's every area. Say, I want my kids to be good readers. Then they should see you reading. I want my kids to read the Bible. Then they should see you read the Bible. I want my kids to be a soul winner. Then they should see you soul winning. And if you want your kids to be healthy, then you need to take the lead. You need to set the example. And people often, they want to say, oh well, you know, it just runs in my family. You know, being overweight just runs in my family. Obesity runs in my family. But here's the thing. Studies show that when obese couples adopt children, those children have extremely high rates and likelihood of becoming obese themselves. And it's not people that they're physically related to, but they're raising them, they brought them into their culture, and that shows that this is by and large a thing of nurture, not nature. So, you know, just be careful with this idea. I remember I heard Pastor Anderson say this one time. He said, it's not that being overweight runs in your family, it's that no one runs in your family. And, you know, that's what Pastor Anderson said, so you can send the email to him if you don't like it. The point is this. We need to set good examples for our children. We need to set examples of self-restraint for our children. Go to Ezekiel chapter 16. We're going to finish up right here. If you find the major prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations of Ezekiel, and I'm not saying that you need to be some super fit individual, but you know what? Your kids should see that you care. You're going out and taking a walk or doing a run or riding a bicycle or getting on the elliptical. They should see that you care about spiritual things. They should see that you care about your health. They should see that you care about education, all those things. Set a good example for your children. Ezekiel 16, look at verse 49. I brought this verse up recently in another sermon, and I just thought it fit really well with this sermon as well. Ezekiel 16, 49. Notice the Bible says, Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom. Here, the prophet Ezekiel is going to tell us the sin, you know, problems with Sodom. Now, obviously, we know that Sodom had a bunch of Sodomites, and that's why God destroyed it. But there were certain characteristics of Sodom, and notice, I feel like they're very close to the characteristics of the country you and I live in, the United States of America. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom. What is it? Pride. You know what America is filled with? Pride. But notice, also, fullness of bread. They had a lot of food in Sodom. You know what America has? Fullness of bread. Let me tell you something. If you starve in the United States of America, you're not trying. I mean, there's literally food everywhere. There's food everywhere. There's food anywhere. You can get food from anywhere. We live in the most prosperous nation in the world. Sodom had pride. What does America have? Pride. Sodom had fullness of bread. What does America have? Fullness of bread. And, notice, abundance of idleness. You know what Sodom had? A bunch of idle people. You know what the United States of America has? A bunch of idle people. Abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughter. Neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. There was this abundance of idleness. And, look, you and I have been blessed by God to live in the most prosperous nation in the world. You may not realize this, but we live like kings in this country in comparison to the rest of the world and in comparison to all of human history. And praise the Lord for it. God has given us opportunities. God has given us opportunities to do all sorts of things. But just realize that you live in a country that has fullness of bread and abundance of idleness. I mean, young men are not just getting up at six in the morning and just working their hands to the bone, you know, trying to provide for their wives and provide for their children. That's not the country we live in. We live in a country where a bunch of 30-year-olds and 40-year-olds are playing video games all day. Where the vast majority of men and women are spending just hours and hours on social media and Facebook and all sorts of things that is a bunch of idleness. And here's all I'm telling you. Realize that's the nation we live in. So don't allow yourself to be influenced. Just because you can eat a lot doesn't mean you should eat a lot. Just because there's fullness of bread, just because there's bread everywhere, just because there's food everywhere. And again, I'm not telling you not to enjoy your food. Enjoy your food. You know, take pictures of it or whatever you got to do. Enjoy it. But don't indulge in it. And, you know, when you have this abundance of idleness, praise the Lord. God has blessed you. You've got a lot of time and energy. Well, do something productive with it. And make sure you're not just becoming this obese glutton because God says your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. And He wants you to care for your body and take care of your body. That's why I had to have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you, Lord, for your word. Thank you for the Bible. And Lord, I realize that sermons like these can be touchy and offensive and all those things. And I pray that everyone would know that the Spirit in which I preach the sermon like this, Lord, and I just think we all need it. I need it. And Lord, there's a temptation for all of us to just overindulge and overdo it and just do too much. And we get that and we understand that. And Lord, help us just live lives of restraint and control. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We're going to have Brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song. I just want to remind you that if you can help us with the mailers, make sure you see Brother Shaw and let him know. Not this coming Sunday, but the next Sunday, August 29th. If you can help with that, let Brother Shaw know so we can make plans for everyone that's going to help us with that. And if you need a ride from the church van, if you didn't fill out a communication card, make sure you do that so we know who's planning on going to Fresno next week on the church van. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. We'll have Brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song. Turn to song number 10. Song number 10, Near the Cross. Song number 10, let's sing it out on the first. Jesus, keep me near the cross, where a precious fountain, Free to all our healing streams, Wors from now resounded, Near the cross, near the cross, Be my glory ever, Till my raptures fly, As beyond the river, Near the cross, a trembling storm, Love and mercy found me, Where the bright and morning sun, Tries its wings around me, Near the cross, near the cross, Be my glory ever, Till my raptures fly, As beyond the river, Near the cross, a trembling storm, It seems before me, Help me walk from pain to pain, With its shadows on me, In the cross, in the cross, Be my glory ever, Till my raptures fly, As beyond the river, Let's sing it out on the last. Near the cross, a trembling storm, Love and mercy found me, Near the cross, near the cross, As beyond the river, In the cross, in the cross, Be my glory ever, Till my raptures fly, As beyond the river, Amen. Good singing before we leave here. If anybody has questions about salvation, church membership, or baptism, the pastor will be at the door. He'd love to talk to you or direct you to someone who's trained to talk to you about that. I'm going to ask, let's see, Brother George, you want to close the prayer? Yeah. Amen.