Author: ShapedByTruth

Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

if it has a name, then you already have victory over it in Jesus

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him [Jesus], and given Him a name which is above every name (Phil 2:9)

Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

How can I have faith for something that is not in the Bible?

Gen 3:5b ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil

Being made in the image of God, Adam and Eve were already “like” God.   Appealing to pride, Satan’s temptation was that knowledge would enable them to decide good and evil for themselves thereby making them as gods.

Instead of trusting in God’s words (the tree of life), they sought knowledge so they could decide good an evil for themselves.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.  There is no other avenue to the Father. (John 14:6)

Gen 3:24b a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Eph 6:17b the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

God’s word is truth (John 17:17)

Godly wisdom, a wholesome tongue, and the fruit of righteousness is a tree of life (Prov 3:18; Prov 11:30; Prov 15:4)

So many ministries and movements start out full of glorious beauty, however, at some point begin to fade…

Isaiah 28:1-8 

1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.
3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:
4 and the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower,
and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth,
while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.
5 In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
6 and for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way;
the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine,
they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.

The spiritual leaders and elders, instead of wearing a crown of glory are wearing a crown of pride.

Proverbs 16:31 The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.

The crown of pride is worn by those who should be spiritually mature (wearing a crown of glory), but instead of submitting to and maturing in God’s truth, they are drunk on their own authority (ie: bible correctors) and produce immature fruit.

Notice how a “crown of pride” leads to drunkenness.

They are drunk on the strong drink of old (fermented/corrupted) wine from the vine of sodom.

Drunkenness leads to error in vision, stumbling in judgement, and being “out of the way”.

The judge at the gate is put to sleep.

What was once glorious beauty is now become a fading flower to the point that there was no longer any place not corrupted (no place clean).

Some folks who seek to defend the “drunk in the spirit” behavior are often long on experiential anecdotes and philosophical musings but short on scripture.  One scripture that is often cited is Acts 2:12-15.

Acts 2:12-15 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?  Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judæa, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:  for these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

The mockers said “These men are full of new wine”.  The sugar in unfermented new wine brightens your countenance in same way as honey (see 1 Samuel 14:27) and can make you feel and appear joyful and energetic.

No doubt that those who had just heard the mighty rushing wind, seeing the tongues of fire, and been filled with the Holy Spirit for the first time were very excited, jubilant, and rightfully full of the joy of the Lord!

Read Isaiah 28:1-13 – God contrasts drunkenness on the fermented (corrupted) old wine from the vine of Sodom (Deut 32:32) in Isaiah 28:1-8 to His plan of “new wine” from the True Vine (John 15:1) that is refreshing in Isaiah 28:9-13.

If you are drunk on “old wine” you stumble in judgement, your senses dulled, and the judge at the gate is put to sleep.  Your only goal is to increase and prolong the drunkenness (Prov 23:35).   You are not interested in new wine as it would not help you get drunker — to the contrary new wine would begin to “wake you up”.

Luke 5:39 No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better

Notice Peter had stated in Acts 2:15 “these are not drunken”.  How can we say they were “drunk in the spirit” if Peter plainly states that they were “not drunken”?

Contrary to promoting drunkenness, Peter admonishes that we should “be sober”:

1 Peter 5:8-9 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Notice that the way to resist steadfastly in the faith hinges on being sober and vigilant.  The adversary the devil seeks who he “may” devour.  Those who he “may” devour are those who are not sober and vigilant.

We must be sober and vigilant because the brethren (believers) are vulnerable to the same afflictions (weaknesses) that are accomplished in the world.  Being sober is an antidote to the affliction of drunkenness.

Paul also says in Ephesians 5:18 to “be not drunk“.

Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

Paul links drunkenness with darkness in 1 Thess 5:7 “For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.”

He also tells the Corinthians in 1 Cor 6:10 that drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul tells Timothy in 1 Tim 3:2 that a pastor should be sober and of good behavior and also says in 1 Cor 14:26, “Let all things be done unto edifying”.

How is behaving drunk edifying to the church or any different than the flesh driven distractions and incoherent behaviors Paul is correcting the Corinthians about in his letters to the Corinthians?

1 Cor 11:20-22 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.  For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.  What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.  

Paul says that what they are doing when they are coming together is NOT the Lord’s supper. Some are there only to appease their fleshly appetites in drunkenness (both physical and spiritual) and this leaves others famished (both physically and spiritually) – the pursuit of fleshly experiences is a distraction and not edifying to the body, resulting in people go hungry for not hearing the words of the Lord — a famine in the land for a lack of hearing the words of the Lord (Amos 8:11).

If there remains any doubt concerning drunkenness being a work of the flesh, please read:

Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Haggai 2:5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.

2 Tim 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

do not change God’s words to match your thinking

change your thinking to match God’s words

John 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

Romans 11:7-12 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (according as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:  let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.  I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.  Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?

Romans 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

Most of talmudic judaism is corrupted with the tradition (Kabbalah, Zohar, Babylonian Mysticism) [Matthew 15:6; Mark 7:8-9; Col 2:8; 1 Peter 1:18] .  They are currently blinded, mistake the darkness for light [Isaiah 5:20; John 12:35, Matthew 6:22-24], and the Gospel is a stumblingblock [1 Cor 1:23].

The current nation of Israel is a fulfillment of prophecy [Isaiah 66:8] and they are gathered together in unbelief in preparation for the rise of the false messiah [John 5:43].

Even so, we should always remember that those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed.  Pray daily for the peace of Jerusalem.

God has never abandoned or forgotten Israel. The God of Israel has always been faithful to keep a “remnant” of believing Jews to Himself.  Many Jews are getting to know the Messiah spoken of in the Tanakh (Torah and Prophets) on a daily basis.  Additionally, in the last days God will send 144,000 servants of God [Rev 7:3-8;Rev 14:3-5], two witnesses [Rev 11:3], and an angel proclaiming the Gospel [Rev 14:6].

Messiah Himself will return and establish His Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.  He will rule over the whole earth from Jerusalem and Israel.

God acts, the devil re-acts.

God is the one who has the plan and is acting on it