drunk – Praying Pint

28.b. “Those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.”

Ephesians 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

Galatians 5:22-25  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16   But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Romans 8:5    For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

Paul contrasts the effect of the Holy Spirit with the state of drunkenness. Alcohol is a depressant; it “loosens” people because it depresses their self-control, their wisdom, their balance, and judgment. The Holy Spirit has an exactly opposite effect. The Holy Spirit is a stimulant and influences every aspect of our being to better and more perfect performance. (Guzik)

Man alone may attempt a state of display of the fruits of the Spirit, but it is unattainable by training, reasoning, and human will and wishing. It is God the Holy Spirit alone who transforms us into a continual display of supernatural effects of the Holy Spirit within us. (Moule)

There must be a complete surrender of self and a complete yielding to the Holy Spirit to experience this in our lives. Though the completeness is ongoing as we continue to mature our lives in what we say, think, and do, we will display the work the Holy Spirit is doing in and through us. The desire of our heart must want to be lead and moved by the Holy Spirit.

12.i.”And the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

Habakkuk 2:15 “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies! You will be filled with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! Drink and let your nakedness be exposed! The cup from the Lord’s right hand is coming around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.

Jeremiah 25:15    Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it.

Revelation 17:2     with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.”

Revelation 18:3    For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.”

We read of drunkenness both literally and metaphorically in Scripture. When consumption of alcohol is used to dull the senses to the point of affecting reason, this is bad. When alcohol is used literally a person becomes void of reason and allows a person to do what they would normally not even consider doing. When inhibitions are lost there is a host of sins just waiting to come to life and produce the fruit of the sinful nature. This sin has no bounds or limits. How many families do you know of that has been affected by the use and abuse of alcohol? It is not that alcohol is bad but there is a fine line that can be stepped over very easily. People say and do things under the influence of alcohol that they would not even dare think or do sober. It seems alcohol is used to dull senses and replace the need for prayer, reliance on Jesus Christ, and hearing the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit of God. In this dullness, there appears to be a reprieve of what troubles the soul. How many TV or movie shows do see where after something bad or taxing has happened they reach for a bottle of whiskey or some other strong drink to calm their concerns. They would have us believe this is the normal thing to do rather than calling out to God for help. “Come unto me all who are heavy laden and I will give you rest”. This comes from God alone and not a bottle.

Metaphorically drinking is used to show uninhibited drunkenness with power, luxurious living, and sexual immorality. People as well as nations fall because of this. Remember the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, in the prosperity they drank from the cup of sexual immorality and as well from the cup of the Wrath of God. When God is removed from the heart and soul a person’s mind will be filled with uninhibited sinful desires. Some of these will manifest themselves with things we can see and other things we cannot. The cup they blindly choose to drink from is filled with worldly sinful passions and will result in also drinking the cup of God’s wrath. The end result is separation from the One and True God who is able to save, comfort, and encourage us now and throughout eternity.

8.c. “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.”

Revelation 17:1 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

Babylon of old seems to be the birthplace of many false teachings and worship and is spiritually void of God. We have a political system established by the Antichrist and a religious system established by the false prophet. Babylon, both politically and religiously, has once again become great and not in a good way. The spiritual adultery people are graving and lusting after will give them their fill of false hopes, false ideas, and a false sense of security. This unfaithfulness toward God is voluntary and intentional. People during the tribulation, like now, have a choice to commit or not commit adultery with the world and what it has to offer. Every day we have choices we make that take us deeper with God or not. Do not be swayed by the eloquent speech of those who have an outward appearance of godliness but inwardly they are void. Do not we taken in by the cultural thoughts that lead to a lukewarm watered down Christian life. Do you want to grow spiritually and have a deeper understanding of God’s word? Spend as much time in it as what you spend watching sports, reading news, or surfing the internet. You will find an amazing release from world influence and will see a maturing of your faith over and over again. Watering down the gospel now points to a time in the near future where people will not even be aware of their adulterous acts against God.

154. Provoking me to anger with their sins

1 Kings 16:8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah, Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

When he began to reign, as soon as he had seated himself on his throne, he struck down all the house of Baasha. He did not leave him a single male of his relatives or his friends. Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols.

1 Kings 16:1-4 And the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, “Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house

Do we take sin serious? Do we see God as this generous, benevolent, free giving, ever wanting to do whatever it is we want, blessing us no matter what we endeavor to do, absent from judgment, and our personal good luck charm? When we have a limited view and understanding of sin our knowledge and understanding of who God is will also be limited. Scripture is full of history and works of God, promises of God, and the wisdom of God. They speak of His unfailing love and jealous anger, His unlimited power, might, strength, His plan and purpose for mankind, His plan of redemption/salvation through Jesus Christ, His call to us for confession, repentance, and belief in His redemption plan through Christ alone, Heaven, hell and eternity, Coming judgement.

We will do well to spend time in His word with intentional purpose to know Him, to serve Him, to honor Him, to follow Him, to obey Him, to trust Him. When His anger is unleashed against those who choose to lead others astray and those who do not heed warnings blindly following with deaf ears and blind eyes. We see this time and time again in scripture. We should learn from it and be different because of it. What is the difference in your life compared to someone who gives little to no thought about God? You see there ought to be a difference if God is first and Jesus is real in your life.

Hearts far from God

“Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me,”

“the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful.”

John 15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John 9:41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

John 12:48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

Ezekiel 2:5 And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house)

Ezekiel 33:31 And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it.

Acts 17:30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

Hebrews 6:4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Romans 1:20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Romans 2:1 Therefore you have no excuse

1 Peter 2:16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

Revelation 3:15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

How do we know if our heart is hard? How do we know if we are only serving God with our mouth and not our heart, mind, and soul? What are we going to be held accountable for? What does it mean to be without excuse? What does it take to be rejected or, for that matter, restored? How do we know if we are lukewarm? I remember it being considered normal to attend Sunday morning bible study, then worship service, then Sunday evening study, having a couples bible study during the week, Wednesday evening prayer meeting, and a mens bible study one morning during the week. Being in God’s word throughout the week. It does not seem this is the norm any more. In fact it appears that if we are attending Sunday morning worship service every week we are considered a fanatic. The expectation for what it means to humbly serve, honor, follow, and obey God has dropped to a very low expectation in our culture. We need to be mindful of our heart, mind and soul and the influence of the world and it’s expectation making us think we are in some way serving God with a lukewarm life. We are meant to be a light shinning in the darkness, making disciples, serving God, feeding on His word, knowing His word, meditating on His word, hearing His whispers of guidance, being led by the Holy Spirit, finding purpose each day seeking to honor Him. How is this done if our we neglect His word? Scripture is clear we are without excuse for being complacent. Praise be to God that He pursues us and draws us back to Himself. Praise to Him for not leaving us in a state of being lukewarm. Praise to Him for standing at the door of our heart knocking. Praise to Him for His steadfast love. Forget doing right and wrong and thinking this in someway makes it right with God. Come to Him broken and seek His building you up into a humble servant. Seek to honor Him. Desire to follow and obey Him for the purpose of glorifying Him. Run to Him for His leading in your life. Yield fully in service to Him. SPEND TIME IN HIS WORD

Secretly

“For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’” David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.”

Psalms 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

2 Samuel 11:2-27 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.” So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, then, if the king’s anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’” So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.” When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD.

Nehemiah 4:5 Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.

There is no sin that God does not know. There is nothing done in secret no matter what we may believe. Why is it that we close our eyes to our sin. Sometimes I think we are so far from humbly serving, trusting, honoring, and obeying God that we have shut the door to our heart, and having any ability to hear God speaking to our mind and soul. Scripture tells us that His word is sharper than a two edged sword and able to divide the intent and will of our soul. We fill this void with everything but God’s word. Do we think we will not be held accountable for neglect of His word? Christ went to the cross, suffered and died and rose again. He did this to redeem all who would believe in, trust in, and rely on His sacrificial redemption. He did this so that we would be made whole and white as snow. He did this so that we would have forgiveness of our sin and in this forgiveness have a victorious life, peace, joy, hope, rest, faith, strength, and power. This victorious life grows with knowledge and understanding of God’s word, warnings, and promises. Our faith grows in line with the amount of time in His word, prayer, and obeying the still quiet voice speaking into our life in alignment with His word. Staying in His word speaks to our heart and soul. Apart from His word we allow the culture we live speak into our lives and nothing truly good comes from this. Commit to being in His word today. Stay in it, read it often, think about what you have read, and obey His leading.