Category: WHAT ABOUT…

FERMENTATION is a process of chemical change by which a molecule of sugar is split into 2 molecules of ethel alcohol and 2 molecules of carbon dioxide gas. The gas escapes and the alcohol remains.
Grape juice will ferment quite naturally left all by itself. Three things must be present for grapes to ferment and become alcohol: Juice, Saccharromyces, and Oxygen (air). The juice comes from the fruit. The saccharromyces form on the outside of the skin ad the fruit ripens. The wine the Bible speaks of is very easy to make. REMEMBER, Wine is a living thing. It is born, grows to maturity, and dies. How long is lives in unpredictable and depends on the ripeness of the fruit at squeezing time at sugar content. Until the wooden barrel was developed (cooperage) in the last days of the Roman Empire, (about 300 AD) Wine was placed in stone or skin containers and had to be drunk soon after squeezed or it would die (become vinegar). The wooden barrel prolonged the life of wine to a little over 3 years by keeping it out of the air, which causes aging. Full maturing of wine was impossible until the 17th century when the (cork and) bottle was developed.
It wasn’t until 1860 when Louis Pasteur discovered the hows and whys of fermentation did the wine industry enter into a new era.
REASON TO DRINK:
Well, I drink for refreshment — try water, milk, juice, soda
Well, I drink for my health yeah but don’t use the Bible as an excuse
Don’t say you drink Beer because Jesus did …… He didn’t.
Don’t say you drink Whiskey because Jesus did …… He didn’t.
Don’t say you drink Wine because Jesus did …… He didn’t.
WHAT DID JESUS DRINK? — Glad you asked.
Matthew 26:29 He drank fruit of the vine, He drank grape juice.
What did Jesus Create in John 2? Grape Juice.
He refused to drink wine as He hung on the cross John 19:29.
What does the Bible really say about Wine?
Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging;
whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Proverbs 23:31 Look not thou upon the Wine when it is red, when it giveth
its color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
Every reference in the Holy Bible to someone drinking, beginning with Noah, lead to no good, to ruin, to sin.

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But the Bible does mention STRONG DRINK and does condemn drinking of it.
Lev 10:9, Num 6:3, Deu 29:6, Jud 13:4,7,14, Isa 5:11,22,28:7
Hebrew word is SHE-KAK and implies an intoxicant, intensely alcoholic.
Compare Luke 1:15 (Greek SIK-ER-A) intensely fermented liquor
Note: If the KJV Bible were translated today,
Whiskey could replace STRONG DRINK.
WINE (the last of the 3 words): The Holy Bible has lots to say about the subject of wine. The above quoted scripture condemned drinking of it, but just what is WINE when refereed to in Scripture?
Wine is the juice of fruits, mostly grape and comes in four classifications:

1. Still or Natural wine is juice which fermented naturally
2. Sparkling (Champagne, Burgundy) processed through a double fermentation
   Sparkling Wine was developed in the 17th century.
3. Fortified (Sherry, Port) during fermentation, additional alcohol is added
   Fortified Wine was developed in the 1750’s.
4. Aromatized (Vermouth) fortified & sparkling with a scent added for smell
   Aromatized Wine came along after the above.
   The KING JAMES VERSION of the Holy Scripture was published in 1611 AD when the only wine available was the Natural or Still Wine.
   Christian Friend if you are drinking Sparkling, Fortified, or Aromatized Wine, you are not drinking wine from the Bible, you are drinking BOOZE.
   Now, before you go looking for a bottle of natural or still wine, let’s define what these terms meant at the time Jesus walked on earth.

Wine is a living thing, in a constant state of change. It has life. It is born grows old and dies. What does this mean?
Fruit, usually grape, is gathered and put into a squeezing devise. As the fruit is squeezed or crushed, the juice is caught in a vat. This juice is now drinkable, fit for human consumption Depending. when the fruit was harvested, fermentation could have already started. The birth of wine.

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The two Bible passages commonly used by Christians to defend drinking are found in Matthew 11:19 and John 2:1-11.
Matthew 11:19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.
John 2:1-11 JESUS TURNED THE WATER INTO WINE.
Keep these two texts in mind.
Just what does the Bible mean when it uses the word Wine?
There are 3 basic types of (alcoholic) drink: Beer, Whiskey and Wine.
Beer and Whiskey are not found in the Bible. Does the word wine mean to include these? Just what does the Bible mean when it speaks of Wine?
SOME FACTS … PLEASE. All three, Beer, Whiskey and Wine have histories of antiquity. (That means nobody really knows when then they began).
WINE is first mentioned in Genesis when Noah over indulged and got drunk.
BEER and WHISKEY can be dated back to Egypt, the days of the Pharaohs.
All three of them were around in basic form when the Bible was being written and most defiantly when it was translated into English.
BEER – ALE (similar but some differences) not named in the Bible.
The word BEER came from Latin: bibere, which means to drink
Beer is made from malts and cereals. During the brewing process, the liquid is drained off for drinking. This liquid is high in food content, bitter to the taste and very low in alcohol content. During the 14th Century HOPS was introduced, which increased the alcohol content and the forerunner of today refined beer alcoholic drink began. THUS beer is not condemned by the Bible because it was non alcoholic or did not exist in Bible times.
WHISKEY (Spirits) is not named in the Bible.
Note: For ease of purpose, whiskey is used to mean all distilled liquor.
Whiskey is simply made by taking beer (before hops is added) or wine and distilling it. (Distillation is boiling the liquid, catching the steam and converting it back into liquid).
The word whiskey is an Irish work that came into existence (was coined) in the 14th century. THUS: Whiskey is not condemned by the Bible because the word did not exist in Bible times.

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James, half brother to the Lord Jesus, warned Jewish believers about the dangers of Lust:
James 1:14-15 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
James 4:1-5 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

The Apostle Peter, writing to the same people, also warned of the dangers:
1 Peter 1:14As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
1 Peter 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
1 Peter 4:2-3That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
2 Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2 Peter 2:10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
2 Peter 2:18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
2 Peter 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

And the Apostle John sums it up best:
1 John 2:16-17 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

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The Lord Jesus warned of LUST:
Matthew 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Mark 4:19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

The Apostle Paul had much to say about Lust and what believers should do about them:
Romans 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Romans 1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error …
Romans 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
Romans 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
Galatians 5:16-17 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
Galatians 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Ephesians 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Ephesians 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

1 Thessalonians 4:5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:
1 Timothy 6:9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
2 Timothy 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
2 Timothy 3:6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
Titus 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
Titus 3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

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In the Pentateuch are several forms of LUST. Be sure to put these verses back into their context to better understand:
Exodus 15:9 The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
Numbers 11:4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?
Numbers 11:34 And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted.
Deuteronomy 12:15 Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.
Deuteronomy 12:20 When the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.
Deuteronomy 12:21 If the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the LORD hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after.
Deuteronomy 14:26 And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household,

Another form of Lust:
Judges 3:29 And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man.

A rehearsal of God’s Dealing with Israel:
Psalm 78:18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.
Psalm 78:30 They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths,
Psalm 81:12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.
Psalm 106:14 But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.

A warning to men:
Proverbs 6:25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

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TIME FOR SALVATION

ACTS 26 The apostle Paul was to appear before King Agrippa,
(he was obeying the Lord – and so should we).
Agrippa was a Jew, the King of Israel under the Romans.
Paul begins by telling Agrippa who Paul was: A Jew, A religious Jew, A pharisee.
He believed in God, but not the Son of God. Not the precious blood of Jesus.
Saul hated Christians. He persecuted them, punished them, even had them put to death. Saul hated them so much that he got a letter from the Chief Pharisee so he could chase them to other cities.

But God loved Saul (and God loves you, even though you are guilty of sin). At midday, on the road to Damascus, a bright light shown (brighter than the Sun) so bright it forced Saul to the ground. And then Saul heard a voice — it was the Lord Jesus, God’s Son! The Lord spoke to Saul, and told him what he wanted him to do. Saul decided to obey the Lord and follow Him. When he made that decision, Saul received eternal life, saved from his sin. Since that day Saul, who would later be called Paul, he has put the Lord Jesus first in his life.

Upon hearing Paul’s testimony, King Agrippa said, “Almost thou hath persuaded me to be a Christian”.
The Bible doesn’t tell us if King Agrippa ever got saved or not. But Paul was found innocent of the charges the Jews had accused him of and he was sent to Rome where he would tell Caesar Austus how to be saved.

How about you?

2 Corinthians 6:2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

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TIME TO STUDY GOD’S WORD

God wants everyone to know His word.
There was a time when the scripture was Lost. 2 Chronicles 34:14-18

An 8 year old boy had become King. Some wicked men had killed his father. The boy’s name was Josiah. When he became King, the whole country was wicked and evil. Hey worshipped false gods, including Balaam. God’s house, the Temple was not used and nobody knew where the Scripture was.

Josiah was different from his people. He believed in God. As he grew older he ordered his people to quit worshipping false gods. He ordered them to clean and fix God’s house, the Temple. They were to bring their offerings and the priests were to collect it and pay the men who fixed up the Temple. And while this was going on, HILKIAH a priest found the Scripture…It was the word of God, (The Pentateuch, 1st 5 books of the Bible).

HILKIAH was very excited and took it to the King. Oh, the King was happy.
Now he could find out more about the Lord God. So, the King ordered the book to be read out loud, for the people.
The book told about God’s Love…
It told about a coming Saviour…
It told about God’s Laws ….
It told about how sinful man is….
It told about how God must punish sin …..

The King was very sad, for he found out how evil his people were ant that they must be punished for their sin … He was very sad, even rent his clothing.

God want us to know his word. His word helps keep us from sinning and tells us about God’s forgiveness. Then we don’t have to be sad or punished.

King Josiah decided then to obey God’s word, keep His Law. God sent a message to the King thru a prophetess who said that all the days of the King’s life, God would not sent the punishments upon Israel.

Only when we know God’s word and obey it can we be truly happy.

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Some questions for you to ponder….
What are false god’s?
How often should one read God’s Word?
How old do you have to be to believe in God?
What’s the first 5 books of the Bible called?
What are the two parts of the Bible?
How many Books in the Bible?
How many Books in each part?

TIME TO PRAY

ACTS 12, John 16:24 Believers should always Pray!

The assemble in Jerusalem was growing, more and more were believing that Jesus was the Messiah.
The Jewish leaders were getting angry!
King Herod (Jewish King of Israel under Rome) had James, the brother of John, an apostle killed.
This made them happy. So, he planned to have Peter arrested and killed. But it was time for the Passover. So Peter was held in prison and killed later.
The Jewish believers started praying. They had an all night prayer session at someone’s house.

In prison Peter was taken to an inner cell. There, two guards were chained to him. Outside the first door were two more guards and outside the second door were two more guards. He was NOT to escape.

As Peter slept, and the believers prayed, God sent an Angel to free him. The guards slept, the chains were removed and Peter followed the Angel right through the locked doors and past all the guards to freedom. Even as Peter stood on the street, he thought he was dreaming. Finally, he knew it was real, he was free. He went to the house (God led him) where the believers were praying.

Believers should always pray! God will answer according to His will.

When Peter knocked on the door, Rhoda answered, but didn’t believe it was Peter. Neither did anyone else when she told them. Finally, they let Peter into the house and they rejoiced that God had answered their Prayers and Peter was safe.

We should pray always, whether we are in trouble or not.

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TIME TO WORSHIP

1 Samuel 3:1-10, 1 Corinthians 6:19 The boy who worshipped God.

(When we worship God, He will guide us).

Samuel’s parents didn’t have any children.
His mother went to the temple and promised God her son would be given to Him to serve Him.
When Samuel (the son God gave her) was about 6 years old his mother took him to the temple and gave him to the high Priest.
Samuel lived in the Temple and served God. Eli the Priest was getting old, his sons who served in the Temple did bad and wicked things. God didn’t speak with they because they were so evil.

(When we worship God, He will guide us).

One night as Samuel was in bed sleeping the Lord God called to Samuel.
Samuel awoke and ran to Eli and said “Here I am”. Eli told him to return to bed.
Again, Samuel heard the Lord God call to him and Samuel ran to Eli and said “Here I am”. Eli told him to return to bed.
For a third time Samuel heard the Lord God call to him Samuel ran to Eli and said “Here I am”.
This time Eli knew what was happening, so he told Samuel to go back to bed, but this time when he heard his name being called, to answer “Speak, for thy servant heareth”.

Yes, when we worship God, He will guide us. Oh, not verbally but we will know.

Samuel did what Eli told him to do and God gave Samuel instructions for the Nation of Israel. From that time, Samuel was a Prophet and Priest, serving the Living God.

Yes, believers today serve a Living GOD.

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