Sermon Tone Analysis

Last week we began this message on, “Our Bodies Are not Our Own.”

My desire for us is that I want you to see based on God’s Word that Our bodies are not our own because God is ultimately the one who has given them to us.

He has uniquely designed each and everyone of us and He has fearfully and wonderfully made us.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6 this good news about our bodies.

So today we are going to dive into Part 2 of this message.

Introduction: In the Game of Basketball there are rules about how you play, and what you do to score and what to do with the basketball.

One of the big rules has to do with being in bounds with the ball or being out of bounds with the ball.

When you dribble the ball or the ball goes out of bounds this can result in turning the ball over to the other team.

You want to stay in bounds and score a basket, and if you score more than the other team you win.

For many year the state and country have said NO for such a long time on what is right and wrong, that the church didn’t really have to think about addressing certain behavior.

Everyone just thought certain behavior was out of bounds.

So, now that states have begun to legalize certain behavior like gay marriage, the legalization of marijuana, and even abortion, which happened many years ago, the church is still not speaking about such matters.

What begins to happen now is that I think many people begin to say well I guess that this sin or behavior is ok or all right now.

I mean think about this with me.

Behaviors that were once illegal, but are no more.

Here are just a few.

-Divorce use to be illegal.

-Adultery and fornication as we talked about last week.

This was once illegal.

-Homosexual Practices.

Illegal.

-Even indecency when it came to movies and such was illegal.

-Then there was Sabbath breaking and not taking a day of rest.

-And of course abortion in every state was illegal.

Today I want to do my best to help us see several other areas where there is abuse with the bodies God has given us.

1.

The Abuse of Drugs and Strong Drink.

The reason why we need to speak on this is because we know that noe everyone will choose to consume pot or drink alcohol, but most everyone will be in a position to advise someone who is considering it.

So, we want to give wise biblical advise.

I think it is important for me to state or express that I am not an expert in this field of drugs and I have never taken this drug so I don’t know a whole lot about it other than some personal study.

Here is what I do know.

Marijuana is generally used as a mood-altering, mind-altering drug.

People take this drug to get high or to create a kind of euphoria.

The effects vary widely from person to person.

All you have to do is Google, “What does Marijuana feel like?”

I will just say that people don’t smoke or take it to get unhappy.

Taking marijuana produces a temporary state that is felt to be better than ordinary life.

That’s why it’s called a “high” and not a low.

Even those who advocate most strongly for the legalization of marijuana concede the impaired functioning that research has shown.

One such site acknowledges,

The short-term effects of marijuana include immediate, temporary changes in thoughts, perceptions, and information processing.

The cognitive process most clearly affected by marijuana is short-term memory.

In laboratory studies, subjects under the influence of marijuana have no trouble remembering things they learned previously.

However, they display diminished capacity to learn and recall new information.

This diminishment only lasts for the duration of the intoxication.

There is no convincing evidence that heavy long-term marijuana use permanently impairs memory or other cognitive functions.

Some people have compared the use of marijuana too that of caffeine or alcohol.

So, let me begin with caffeine.

First of all many people including myself have a cup of coffee to get going in the morning.

Caffeine gets me going and allows me to be more alert to reality.

If caffeine didn’t do that, I think we should run away from it.

There is a significant difference in the mind being sharpened instead of made more blunt or more out of touch with reality.

I don’t think marijuana is generally thought of as an empowering drug that enables you to be a more competent dad, a more competent mother, a more competent employee, or a more competent citizen.

It is, rather, a recreational escape, and from the little I know about it, what I do know is that over time it becomes a destructive force in the brain.

It has lasting negative effects on the mind’s ability to do what God created it to do.

So, what about the comparison to alcohol?

When it comes to this comparison there is a definite state of not being in the right mind because someone can be intoxicated or even given over to that of drunkeness.

Now, clearly from Scripture we would say that moderate drinking is permissible.

Also Colossians chapter 2 speaks to this.

My point in this is, that Scripture permits the moderate use of alcohol, when it can be enjoyed in faith.

Alcohol was served at weddings and festivals during biblical times however we should not be given to drunkeness.

This was clearly prohibited.

Galatians 5 and 1 Peter 4 address this as well.

Marijuana is like alcohol in that they are both an organic thing.

They both have the potential to intoxicate or distort reality.

They also both have different affects on people, and they both can be habit forming.

When it comes to the abuse of drugs and alcohol I would say this then from the principle from God’s Word that I think would lead a believer away from the recreational use of marijuana.

Why?

Because once again we would say that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).

I would say the same thing about smoking.

I would say it about excessive use of alcohol which many times leads to drunkeness and I would say it about marijuana or lots of other things.

I would say, “Your body is sacred.

God is for your body.

Your body is for the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:13).

Keep your mind clear and able to think.

Let’s be mature or sharp in our thinking and with the bodies Christ has given us.

One last thing that I want to address here.

So, what about the issue of medical use?

We see a lot of talk about the medical use of marijuana these days.

I don’t think that we should oppose a regulated medical use of marijuana, controlled by appropriate physician oversight and prescriptions.

Many drugs are sold by prescription which, if they were abused, would be even more destructive than marijuana.

For those who are believers today and know Christ and He has truly changed your life than I think you would want to turn away from marijuana and other destructive, mood-altering drugs, and move toward a sound mind and clear thinking for the glory of God.

2. The Abuse of Food or Overeating.

Gluttony is having a craving for food that conquers you.

God’s Word tells us that food in and of itself is not bad but it becomes sinful or abusive when food dominates us or controls us.

I think one of the most subtle sins or abuses to the body is gluttony.

What happens so easily for me is I overeat or snack too much.

I get home from a long day at work or from a difficult meeting.

It’s eight o’clock in the evening, and i head to the kitchen to reward myself.

I have a ton of chips, lots of snacks and of course a Dr. Pepper, Mt.

Dew or Cherry Coke.

I didn’t eat what I should have because I just ate a ton of snacks and a whole lot of sugar.

For the last several years, as my schedule and responsibilities have grown more crazy, I get regularly tempted to use evening snacks as a way to deal with my end-of-the-day depletion.

And I have grown more and more convinced that, while drugs, alcohol or adultery may be able to destroy our bodies more quickly and decisively than snacking and overeating both kinds of temptation can appeal to the root issue of gluttony.

Again we should desire to “glorify God in [our] body” (1 Corinthians 6:20) — especially when we get depleted at night.

We should also do the best to take care of our bodies by having a time of exercise and getting rest.

So often, we feel that we have to work hard a meet all the deadlines that we don’t get proper exercise and rest.

We need to take a day off and rest.

It is good for our bodies.

So, the next time you deal with hunger or the temptation of snacking and overeating use that time to worship God and to talk with him and ask for his help.

Pray for your meal and choose to eat healthy.