I RECENTLY HAD A DISCUSSION WITH A BEER VENDOR FOR THE LARGEST BEER MAKER IN AMERICA. WHAT HE TOLD ME MADE ME ASHAMED OF MY CITY:
THE WAL-MART IN MY CITY SELLS MORE BEER THAN ANY OTHER WAL-MART IN OKLAHOMA!
IT GETS WORSE:
ALSO IN MY CITY IS A VERY LARGE INDEPENDENT GROCERY STORE WHICH SELLS MORE BEER THAN ANY OTHER INDEPENDENT GROCERY STORE IN OKLAHOMA !!!
THE ABOVE IS WHAT WE HAVE. WELL, NOT EXACTLY, HERE'S WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS WE HAVE:
IN FACT, I HAVE SIX POINTS, NOT CANS, FOR "JOE SIX-PACK" AND ALL OF HIS GOOD OLD BOYS AND GOOD TIME CHARLIE FRIENDS.
GENESIS 4:7
"......But if you do not do what
is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you
must rule over it.” (HCSB)
UP FRONT AND ON TOP: THIS SIX POINT SERMON IS INTENDED FOR JUST THE FOLLOWING SIX GROUPS OF PEOPLE:
1. BAR TENDERS &
2. ELBOW BENDERS
3. LOST WEEKENDERS&
4. ENABLING MONEY LENDERS
5. MISERABLE CHRISTIAN PRETENDERS &
6. EVERYONE ELSE
Before I go too much farther, I want to dispel some well- practiced deceptions.
If every Baptist preacher in America had a 100 dollars for every time they have been told these---the Annuity Board could close up shop!
1. I don't drink a lot, I am just a social drinker. That is a social cope-out, probably a social lie.
2. Preacher, he doesn't drink, but he does like his cold beer. "How much beer does he drink each night?" Only a six-pack---"Wow, that's 72 ounces which is close to five pounds of beer!"
3. Does he ever take a six-pack of beer fishing? No, no, but one of his fishing buds might bring a suitcase! They fish and drink beer.
4. OK, preacher he does drink lots of beer, BUT at least he is not doing drugs! Somebody needs to get this person a dictionary.
OUR BIBLE TEXT REVEALS:
1. Doing Right Starts By Not Doing Wrong
A black candidate for the deacon ministry was asked to define the Biblical term: "Election". Without any delay he replied, "That's easy, God voted yes, the Devil voted no, and God let me break the tie!"
Believe it or not God is still waiting to count your ballot. He is not waiting for the votes to come in from Florida. Rather, He is earnestly, tenderly waiting for yours. The Bible says, "Choose you this day whom you will serve. How will you vote???
Your decision is much, much more than just the next 4 years, much more than the next 40 years; it is for Eternity. There are no Courthouse Calendars, Classroom Clocks or Cheap Casios (mine cost $15 at Wal-Mart) in Heaven. No Minutes, Months or Moon in Heaven. No Shadows, Sundials or Sun in Heaven. The Bible also tells us there will be Singing, Serving and most of all, our Saviour in Heaven. Years ago I heard a preacher say we will probably have two big surprises in Heaven: There will be some folks there we didn't think would be there AND there will not be some folks we thought would be there! My dear friends we have to get our destiny determined right and right now. Because someday the polls of life will close!
2. Sin And Sinners Are Everywhere
Sin has been defined a number of ways by a number of different sinners. Yes sinners, we are all sinners (IF YOU LEAVE NOW YOU'LL MISS THE BEST PART!) by our nature and choice. Here's an illustration that might help you, it helps me understand sin: While parked at a stoplight some years ago I was facing head on into the blinding afternoon sun. My sunglasses didn't help, the visor didn't help, only my well-placed hand blocked the sun. The light had just turned Red so I knew I had time for a little experimentation. I discovered, like any boy scientist, that two fingers would block the sun, IF, I brought them closer that my full hand. Next, one finger would block the sun but I had to bring that one finger ever closer. Finally, a thumb nail within an inch of my eye blocked the sun. What does this have to do with sin: Anything that blocks our view of God's S-O-N is sin. Some here know the first of the 10 Commandments in which God says, "Thou shall have no other gods before me" Translated: Big or small they all block your view of Jesus--that's sin!
3. Sin Doesn't Wear A Bell Collar
Have you ever heard anyone say that beer, or any alcohol, makes them feel like a tiger? This verse directly and indirectly says a lot about tigers (here it means sin) Tigers crouch---so too sin. Tigers are concealed----so too sin---Ever wonder why bars and honky- tonks are nearly dark?. Have you ever noticed that when the lights come on cockroaches scatter? Tigers do not wear bell collars---ditto sin. Here's a big, big point, they are always close--ditto sin. But my dear friends the Bible says Jesus will stick closer than a brother.
A former Navy Seal once told me that during a fire fight in Vietnam he was forced to take refuge alone in an old vacant building in the jungle. Charlie and a violent thunderstorm were just outside. During the lightning flashes he noticed a tiger resting in a corner diagonally opposite where he was squatted down. Here is perhaps the ultimate dilemma: Shot the tiger and risk almost certain death or capture. Run out of the building and risk a tiger attack and death or capture by the VCs. His decision was to wait and pray for deliverance. Hours later the storm stopped, the enemy had withdrawn, and the tiger left unnoticed. In this instance the tiger was not crouching outside the door; he was in the house with an American GI! Prayer made all the difference!
4. Desire Can Get Thick In A Hurry
A six-pack desires you more than you desire the six-pack. The hospital desires YOUR money more than you desire the six-pack; ditto the insurance companies; ditto the auto repair garages; ditto the lawyers; ditto the beer makers; ditto the bars and honky tonks, ditto all of your supposed friends and buddies.
A fellow once told me that when he went to work at a new job he was told by one of his new fellow-workers, "We'll stick with you through thick and thin. When things get thick we will thin out!" A lot of beer drinking buddies are just like that. But my dear friends the Bible says Jesus will not THIN out on you when things get THICK. Seven plus decades of life have demonstrated at multiple times, in multiple places, and to multiple people things will sooner or later get THICK. We have His Word on it that He'll walk with us through the valley of shadow of death. He'll meet you at the point of your need. He'll pull you down off a binge high and He'll lift you up when you are passed out cold or even puking your guts out in the bathroom. Someone has observed, "When Jesus is all you have--Jesus is all you need. Do you have him today? Are you sheltered in His arm? You can be.
Please listen to this story---Many years ago, when horse and buggies were the primary mode of transportation, a young 9 year boy was sitting alone in a buggy when a teenager ignited a firecracker near the buggy. The horse broke free of the hitching rail and sped down the street with a frightened and crying boy. A lawyer was just leaving his office when this mobile tragedy was heading his way. He ran out and grabbed the harness and stopped the run-away buggy. Fast forward a decade: The lawyer was now a judge and the young buggy rider was 19 and an accused murderer. Just before the sentence was announced the young murderer cried out to the judge, "Judge, I am the young boy you saved 10 years ago. Have mercy on me." The solemn judge replied, "Young man, then I could save you, now I must judge you." The Bible clearly says that it is appointed unto man once to die, then the judgment. Today Jesus is your soul-saving friend; after you die He must judge you. Are you ready for His judgment?
5. The Crosshairs Of Satan vs. The Safety of the Saviour
Every human heart has a bulls-eye on it that enables Satan to zero in on you from close or long range. You may have seen where one of our highly trained snipers took out a terrorists a mile away. I actually talked to a woman who was the daughter of the man whose company makes long range sniper weapons. Satan's mission statement concerning you is found in John 10:10: 10 The thief (may I say that old crouching tiger) cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. Folks I didn't write that, neither did anyone in St. Louis Mo; Denver, Co; Boston, MA; or Old Milwaukee, WI. Those are the words of the Creator of the Universe, the Giver and Sustainer of All Life, our only hope of Heaven--The Lord Jesus Christ. Notice too what Jesus said about Himself, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I love what Dr. Roy Fish said about Jesus' statement---He is not only talking about a home in the sky by and by BUT how to make it through the dirty here and now !!!! That's what you and I need everyday.
6. With Jesus All Things Are Possible
The controlling of passions for love, leisure or long necks cannot be done by yourself. But with Jesus the Bibles says, "All things are possible." The desire for a six-pack, let me expand that to be the desire for anything that blocks,dims or cuts Jesus out will ultimately lead to making yourself you own God! Paul said he was "Crucified with Christ---his selfish, sinful, selfie-driven god of his own making---nevertheless I live ! That starts with admitting to God what He already knows------- that you are a sinner-----a Hell-deserving sinner---- and that you are sorry enough for letting that crouching tiger take over your life you ask for His forgiveness and promise to make Jesus Lord of your life. Why would you want to do that? Because God loved you so much He gave His Son as a substitute sacrifice for your sins. Jesus said it best: I am the way the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me. He is our one and only way to Heaven. He is the only way for our sins to be forgiven; He is our only way to resist that crouching tiger that has you dead center on his evil radar--as the weather guys say when a tornado is heading your way---RED LINE--CENTER LINE! You are target number 1!
Finally, you maybe here feeling real good about never wanting to drink a beer or any alcohol--- s-o-o-o this sermon is for those other guys, right? Hang on to your self-absorbed I AM OK & EVERYBODY ELSE IS NOT OK; incorrect, false, holier than thou attitude. The Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. This same Bible says there is none righteous no not one. Furthermore this Bible says that the wages--the grand payday---of sin is death---but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The late R.G. Lee preached his "Payday Someday" sermon an estimated one thousand times. But people who leave this life without Christ will cry out after their first second in Hell, " Mayday! Mayday!"
I am going to guess there are some beer and other substance abuse overcomers here who are thankful and courageous enough to come and stand by me as a testimony of what Jesus has done and is doing in their lives. And there are probably several here who are prime candidates for a soul-saving, bought by the blood, sin delivering, Eternity-changing miracle of a New Birth. Today Jesus can save you--Tomorrow He will judge you!
Two frogs sat on the edge of a pond. One decided to jump in. How many were left? Two---he only decided and never followed through. This is the right time, the right place, the right opportunity to not only decide to follow Jesus but to follow through by coming forward as your first act of obedience to His claim upon your life. Come on! Come now! Please don't delay you may not have another day. Come on! Come now! The Saviour wants to meet you in the polling booth of your life. He is waiting for you.
JUST WEST OF YESTERDAY
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