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QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (14)

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.  When you look up the phrase, “Questions & Answers” on Google, many different sites are available.

1.    Job interview questions and answers

2.    General questions and answers

3.    Questions and answers about health

4.    Questions and answers about U.S. cities

 

B.   People ask questions about all areas of life.  Now, it is easier than ever to find answers to these questions because of the internet.

 

C.  People have many questions about religion and the Bible.

1.    You have questions about these things.

2.    That is why we have set aside the first Sunday night of every month for our Questions and Answers night.

3.    Tonight, we will give an answer to two questions that you have asked.

 

I.         QUESTION #1:  GOVERNMENT AND VOTING

 

A.  Stated:  Please explain the Christian’s relationship to the government and how voting plays a part in the process.

 

B.   Answer:

1.    There are some who believe that because the church and government are separate institutions, that they two should never cross paths. 

a.    However, God instituted government (Rom. 13:1).

 

Let every soul be subject to the higher powers.  For there is no power but of God:  the powers that be are ordained of God.

 

1)     Did God put an institution upon the earth and leave it in charge of the children of the devil?

2)    Does God want His children to have an influence on all areas of this world, including our governments?

b.    We have several examples of those in the Bible who had an influence upon the government.

1)     Daniel was one of the wise men under Nebuchadnezzar and he was a prophet of God.

2)    Esther was a queen of the Persian Empire.

3)     John the Baptist was a prophet who preached to Herod and was eventually beheaded by him.

4)     The apostle Paul stood before kings and Caesar himself.  While in prisoned at Rome, he said that the gospel was spread throughout the palace (Phil. 1:13).

2.    One way you and I can have an influence on our government is through the voting process.

a.    When you study governments, you will find that there are many types.

1)     Military dictatorship

2)    Absolute monarchy

3)     Limited Monarchy

4)     Oligarchy

5)     Direct democracy

6)     Republic (also called a representative democracy)

7)    Theocracy

8)    NOTE:  Where there is no government, there is anarchy.

b.    We live in a republic wherein we elect government officials to represent us at the community, State, and Federal levels.

1)     NOTE:  This type of government give its citizens the right to vote.

2)    The Amendments to the Constitution such as the 14th, 15th, and 26th Amendments protect our rights to vote.

c.    Our vote:

1)     No one has to vote.  Voting is not an obligation forced upon us by the government.

a)    Question:  Does one vote make a difference?

b)    Question:  Do my actions, to vote or not to vote, have consequences?

2)    When we vote, we need to consider at least three things.

a)    The teachings of God’s Word.  We should desire officials who conform as closely as possible to God’s Word.

b)    We need to consider the character of the person for which we are voting.  We need leaders of honesty, integrity, and morality.

c)    We must understand the issues that impact our nation and how the candidates view these issues.

d.   The Providence of God

1)     Some believe that man should just get out of the way and let God take care of things.  God can take care of things without man.

2)    God also often works His providence through the actions of men.

a)    Haman had the King of Persia draw up legislation that would destroy the Jews.

b)    Mordecai convinced Esther that she might be the very one through whom God would work to save the nation (Esth. 4:14).

 

For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed:  and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

 

II.       QUESTION #2:  GLUTTONY

 

A.  Can you please discuss the subject of gluttony?

 

 

 

B.   Answer:

1.    First, obesity and gluttony do not always go hand-in-hand.

a.    Obesity has many different causes.

1)     Eating more calories than you burn.

2)    Poor diet – eating food high in fat and calories

3)     Sedentary lifestyle

4)     Genetics

5)     Pregnancy

6)     Getting older

7)    Medical conditions

b.    NOTE:  Just because a person is overweight does not mean that he/she is a glutton.

2.    Second, let’s look at the word “glutton” from a Biblical perspective.

a.    The word “glutton” is only used two times in the Bible.

1)     Deuteronomy 21:20

 

And they shall say unto the elder of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.

 

2)    Proverbs 23:21

 

For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty:  and drowsiness shall clothe a man in rags.

 

3)     In Proverbs 23:20, the Hebrew word is same Hebrew word as above is used, but it is translated as “riotous eater.”

 

Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of the flesh.

 

b.    The word “gluttonous” is used two times in the New Testament (Matt. 11:19; Luke 7:34).

 

The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.  But wisdom is justified of her children.

 

c.    It is interesting that the Bible always connects the word glutton with the drunkard and winebibber. 

1)     The evil, carnal people of the first century would have their revellings or banqueting parties.

a)    They would drink large amounts of alcohol.

b)    They would also gorge themselves with large amounts of food.

c)    Sometimes they would binge and purge to be able to continue in the festivities.

2)    It is this type of sinful activity that is being condemned as gluttony in the Bible.

3)     The Bible never connects the word “glutton” with someone who merely overeats and gets fat and heavy.

3.    Third, the concept of gluttony as it is presently known was developed after the first century by man.

a.    The Catholic Church developed what is known as “The Seven Deadly Sins:”  Hubris, Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, and Sloth.

b.    Gluttony was developed to include several different practices.

1)     Eating too expensively

2)    Eating too daintily

3)     Eating too much

4)     Eating too soon

5)     Eating too eagerly

c.    NOTE:  The Bible does not address each of these issues under the subject of gluttony.

4.    Fourth, some approach this issue from the standpoint of the body being the temple of God.

a.    The passage used is I Corinthians 6:19-20.

 

What?  Know ye not that your body is the 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

 

b.    This passage has been pulled out of its context and made to say things that were never intended (See v. 18).

 

Flee fornication.  Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

 

5.    Fifth, the Bible does teach temperance.

a.    I Corinthians 9:24-27

b.    Does this apply to every part of our lives, or, just to the fight that we wage against the sinful activities of life? (See Heb. 12:1-2).

6.    Sixth, when it comes to eating there is a common sense approach.  We need to ask:  Do we want

a.    Good health?

b.    Long life?

c.    Lower medical bills?

d.   Better sleep?

e.    Better body functioning?

f.    Less body pain?

g.    Better mental health?

h.    More enjoyment in life?

i.     If we do, we need to eat properly.  This teaching needs to begin in the home by parents.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.  We have looked at two touchy subjects:  government and gluttony.

 

 

B.   These two subjects dovetail when we look at them from a Scriptural standpoint.

1.    Some believe the Bible says nothing about government and the Christian when it has a lot to say about it.

2.    Some believe the Bible has a lot to say about gluttony when it really addresses the matter in only a few places.

 

C.  What we have to do it look in the Scriptures honestly on all topics and rightly divide the Word of truth (II Tim. 2:15).